Monster Hunter Stories 3 Switch 2 Review

Monster Hunter Stories 3 Switch 2 Review
Version Reviewed: Nintendo Switch 2

My first-ever interaction with the Monster Hunter series came during a weekend of leave. I headed into town and purchased a PSP along with Monster Hunter Portable. I spent nearly all of my downtime glued to the game, captivated by its depth and technicality. From last-minute dodges and theory-crafting the perfect gear to taking down truly colossal monsters, it quickly sank its teeth into me. Monster Hunter Stories continued the franchise’s tradition with a monster-battling spin-off that embraced a more cutesy and accessible style, until now. Monster Hunter Stories 3 marks a more mature entry in the series, offering a darker and more grounded tone. But does it do enough to satisfy the hordes of fans who have come to love these adventures? What’s It Like? Sharpen your greatblade, tighten your saddle, and prepare to ride as we review Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection on Nintendo Switch 2.

Monster Hunter Stories 3 weaves a more mature narrative for the series, one full of strife and war. Two neighbouring kingdoms, Azuria and Vermeil, are not only on the brink of conflict but are also facing a challenging ecological disaster known as the Crystal Encroachment, a mysterious phenomenon impacting monster survival and behaviour. As the heir to Vermeil and a member of the Rangers, it is up to you to restore monster populations and discover the cause of the Crystal Encroachment. While the more mature look and storyline of Monster Hunter Stories 3 are a big departure from the first two entries, it is a gripping one, and it had me pressing forward to uncover new areas. Fan-favourite monsters from across the series, up to Monster Hunter Wilds, can be found here, and I genuinely enjoyed exploring each region. While the first two games centred around smaller tribes and the challenges they faced, Monster Hunter Stories 3 gives us an exciting look at how these monster relationships are utilised in large-scale conflicts and in the everyday lives of more bustling kingdoms. It feels like the perfect evolution of the series.

Much like the narrative evolving, the gameplay in Monster Hunter Stories 3 also introduces a host of new and exciting mechanics, while refining and streamlining classic ones. Combat stays faithful to the series with its rock-paper-scissors battle system, focusing on Power, Speed, and Technical attacks. If you work in sync with your Monstie, you will build up a Kinship Gauge, allowing you to ride them in battle and eventually unleash a devastating Kinship Move that always entertains. You can also now topple monsters and follow up with a Synchro Rush attack, unleashing strikes from everyone in your party while building the Kinship Gauge faster. Combat remains as fun as ever, and the stylised moves and action sequences never cease to amaze, even if you have seen them for the 30th time. As you grow stronger, you can automatically play out battles or instantly defeat enemies in the overworld for some quick experience and items.

I found Monster Hunter Stories 3 to be a step up in difficulty over the first two games, and I was unable to blitz through the story with ease. There were plenty of times when I was humbled by a monster and needed to try a different set of Monsties and armour to succeed. These diversions managed to avoid feeling grindy, as it was often a case of fighting one or two of the same monsters to earn enough parts to craft a new set, or forcing a particular Monstie to retreat in order to obtain an egg.

Monster collecting has been streamlined for the better. Monster dens are now a single room full of items and eggs, in lieu of the randomly generated mazes that grew tiresome in the first two games. This change works seamlessly with the new Ecology feature, which sees you release hatched Monsties back into the wild to restore their population. While largely optional, this system is key to unlocking some of the game’s best Monsties. Building up ecology levels introduces special variants, rewarding players with rare and powerful allies. Gene upgrades and egg quality also return, continuing to influence Monsties’ strengths and abilities.

On top of this, the game is filled with more side quests that you can poke a longsword at, along with special missions that further build out the story and your relationships with characters in the Rangers. These are optional for story-focused players, but I found many of them to be a great way to learn more about those you fight alongside. Most standard side quests also do an excellent job of leading you to new Monsties. It is all very well done.

With a more mature narrative, Monster Hunter Stories 3 also comes with a more mature visual style, moving away from the chibi-esque characters of the first two games in favour of more fully realised designs. There is still the classic Stories humour and charm, especially with the over-the-top Kinship Moves, but the new game, running on Capcom’s RE Engine, does an amazing job of bringing the world of Monster Hunter to life with an almost cel-shaded look. Monsters and environments look fantastic, and combat is packed with excitement and flair thanks to its exaggerated animations and dazzling effects. Everything comes together to create a more cohesive and believable world than ever before. I found this new visual style to be incredibly immersive and simply gorgeous to take in. Each biome is varied and interesting, the main towns give the world a distinct look and feel, and the monsters themselves appear menacing while keeping their unique traits and quirks intact.

Performance-wise, Capcom has tuned the RE Engine close to perfection. There are some areas that dip below the 60 fps target, likely hovering around 45 fps at times, which can create the impression of slight stuttering in certain sections. Handheld mode introduces a few more noticeable performance hiccups, but these are still few and far between and rarely detract from the overall experience. All of this is backed by Monster Hunter’s traditional triumphant score, stellar voice acting, and excellent ambient sound design that fully immerses you in its world.

For my Rangers looking into accessibility features, Monster Hunter Stories 3 includes some thoughtful additions to make your time hunting more comfortable. These options include the ability to choose between a fixed or rotating mini-map, add a background to subtitles for higher contrast, adjust subtitle size, and toggle speaker name visibility. Players can also adjust how long objective markers are displayed, change battle speed, enable auto-centering for the camera, reduce camera shake, and isolate audio sources for a more tailored listening experience. As always, I recommend further research to determine whether Monster Hunter Stories 3 suits your individual needs. Thankfully, there is a demo available on the Nintendo eShop, allowing you to try before you buy.

At just under $108 AUD, Monster Hunter Stories 3 provides excellent value for money, with well over 40 hours of gameplay for a straight story run, and potentially 100+ hours for those looking to complete side quests and build the ultimate monster team. Monster Hunter Stories 3 pulls you into its world with its vibrant, more mature art style and narrative, and keeps you entertained with its rock-paper-scissors battle system and streamlined approach to collecting eggs. There are monsters from across the series here, including some forgotten fan favourites, and running into them felt like meeting an old friend… if that friend is trying to eat you. While Stories has always been a spin-off, Monster Hunter Stories 3 feels like the series has evolved into something much bigger, and if I’m being honest, it has cemented its place as my favourite game in the entire franchise so far. This is one story you do not want to miss.

So, What’s it Like? Monster Hunter Stories 3 is like Monster Hunter crossed with Pokémon.

Monster Hunter Stories is a What’s It Like Certified Exceptional game.

In the interest of full disclosure, a review copy was provided by the publisher, but this doesn’t influence my score.

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