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Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection - Reviews Thread

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Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Game Information

Game Title: Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection

Platforms:
  • PlayStation 5 (Mar 13, 2026)
  • Xbox Series X/S (Mar 13, 2026)
  • PC (Mar 13, 2026)
  • Nintendo Switch 2 (Mar 13, 2026)
Trailer:

Publisher: Capcom

Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - 84 average - 93% recommended
Metacritic - 86 average - based on 15 reviews (PS5 version)


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Critic Reviews


8Bit/Digi - Stan Rezaee - 10 / 10
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection takes players on a mystical journey through a world they may find familiar, but from a different perspective.


Atarita - Seyidcem Öztürk - Turkish - 84 / 100
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection offers a refreshing personal narrative and engaging turn-based combat, though it's frequently bogged down by repetitive filler quests and a somewhat lifeless open world.


CGMagazine - Jordan Biordi - 8 / 10
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is the best the series has been so far, balancing a playfulness that is approachable for newcomers with a maturity that is perfect for longtime fans.


Cat with Monocle - Seth Hay - 5 / 5
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection delivers a visually stunning RPG with deep strategic combat, an engaging story, and exploration that rewards players for their efforts. While its complex mechanics may be challenging for newcomers, its beautiful presentation and gameplay systems make it a standout and a contender for the best RPG of the year. It's pawesome!


Console Creatures - Bobby Pashalidis - 8 / 10
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection continues the spin-off series' success with style, brutal battles, and tons of monster hunts.


Gameblog - French - 8 / 10
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Gameliner - Rudy Wijnberg - Dutch - 4.5 / 5
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is by far the best installment in the spin-off series.


Gamer Guides - Echo Apsey - 80 / 100
Despite not shaking off all of the series' gameplay issues, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection benefits from a huge graphical boost and a more mature story.


Gamersky - Chinese - 8.5 / 10
For fans of Japanese RPGs, the changes and trade offs in Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection are largely welcome. Its combat and progression systems offer impressive depth and strategy, making the moment you finally overcome a powerful enemy feel especially rewarding. At the same time, its fairly straightforward story and solid world exploration keep the experience relaxed and enjoyable as you go about stealing eggs and completing quests.


Gfinity - Andrés Aquino - 8 / 10
My experience with Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is an odd one. I love the vast majority of the gameplay it offers, but having played a clearly inferior version on Nintendo Switch 2 really soured me on its otherwise incredible visual presentation. The story and its characters are better than you'd expect if you've played or even glanced at previous Stories games, but it's not the sort of tale you'll be reminiscing about once you put the game down.


Just Play it - Merouane OULED SI BOUZIANE - Arabic - 8.5 / 10
We embarked on an enjoyable JRPG adventure in the vast world of Monster Hunter Stories 3, featuring stunning visuals that deliver a beautiful visual experience. The game offers a massive amount of content within an explorable world filled with exciting events, alongside a deep gameplay system that may initially feel complex for newcomers, but becomes easier to grasp over time. All of this makes MHS3 a clear evolution compared to the previous entries in the series, making it an excellent choice for players looking for a world they can immerse themselves in for long hours full of challenges.


Loot Level Chill - Mick Fraser - 9.5 / 10
With a story that really goes places, a massive roster of monsters, and a stack of interlaced systems that combine to give the player a huge amount of choice and agency, Monster Hunter Stories: Twisted Reflection is the best in a trilogy of superb titles.


Nindie Spotlight - Justin Nation - 9.8 / 10
Absolutely stunning visually, packed with cool ways to upgrade your monster game, and stands again as a more friendly inroad to overall franchise


NintendoWorldReport - Neal Ronaghan - 6.5 / 10
The story wound up being a highlight, but even the streamlining of monster dens couldn't solve the heavy-handedness of monster collection and enhancement. If you want to painstakingly tweak the dials on habitats and splice monster genes while dealing with an acquired taste of a combat system, you'll find a better time than I did in this game. Maybe at the end of the day, the twisted reflection was a metaphor for the entire game.


One More Game - Chris Garcia - 8.5 / 10
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is another standout title from Capcom, which has been on a tear with a string of outstanding releases. This is not an exception and shows how a spin-off can proceed to evolve and become successful in its own right. The habitat restoration system is superb, encouraging players to interact with the world in many ways and get rewarded for it.

The game performs splendidly, looking and playing well at the same time, making for an enjoyable experience that even newcomers to the Monster Hunter series will appreciate. Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is an essential experience and the best installment in the series.


PSX Brasil - Bruno Henrique Vinhadel - Portuguese - 85 / 100
Maintaining the structure that made the series famous and without abandoning its roots, while also evolving within what it used to become different as a spin-off, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is an excellent game and the high point of the trilogy. Although it lacks a slight refinement in parts of its gameplay, it's a worthwhile title for any Monster Hunter fan.


Press Start - Harry Kalogirou - 9.5 / 10
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is the crown jewel of this spin-off series. It builds on the best elements of Stories that make all of its core systems even more appealing, creating more depth and complexity that'll keep you coming back till the credits roll, and perhaps even beyond.


Push Square - Robert Ramsey - 8 / 10
Monster Hunter Stories 3 is the pinnacle of the series in so many ways - especially from a storytelling perspective. At its core, it's a ridiculously addictive monster taming RPG, boasting in-depth progression systems and satisfying combat mechanics - but it does take quite a long time for everything to truly click.


ReGame It - Taha Omar - Arabic - 10 / 10
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection represents the evolution that the spin-off series needed to stand on the same level as the main Monster Hunter titles and in many aspects, it even surpasses them. With its perfect combination of a compelling story, a gorgeous art style, and addictive, highly refreshing gameplay, the game delivers an exceptional JRPG experience. It sets a new standard for creature-collecting games within the genre, and many titles that focus on gathering and raising creatures should look to it as a reference and learn from its design.


Region Free - Joonatan Itkonen - 5 / 5
Intricate, immense, and incredible. Twisted Reflection is the biggest and most immersive expansion of the iconic franchise so far.


Reno Gazette-Journal - Jason Hidalgo - 9 / 10
Despite living in the shadow of the far more successful Monster Hunter mainline games, Monster Hunter Stories continues to grow into its own as an excellent role-playing game franchise. In fact, it has the better story as far as Monster Hunter franchises go. While Monster Hunter Stories 3 improves on its predecessors in many ways such as visuals, Twisted Reflection also takes a step back with a less cohesive endgame and the removal of multiplayer. Most everything else is better, however, and the characters and monsters remain a bright spot. If you're a Monster Hunter fan who also loves JRPGs, give this one a shot for sure.


Saudi Gamer - Arabic - 9 / 10
Monster Hunter Stories 3 Twisted Reflection deserves to be studied as a benchmark for how to craft a spin-off. It fully embraces the DNA of the traditional experience while confidently iterating on its formula with creativity to make a sick JRPG first and a great MH experience second


SmashPad - 4 / 5
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is a lovingly intrepid take on the series' conventions. There's a palpable whimsy to its character-driven moments and punchy, elephantine vigor to its action that rivals the greats. All series fans need to give this a go, even if you were repulsed from the spinoffs before.


TechRaptor - Brittany Alva - 9 / 10
Monster Hunter Stories 3 delivers on every level, creating a thrilling story with beautiful visuals and satisfying and fun gameplay.


The Nerd Stash - Julio La Pine - 9.5 / 10
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection isn't just the evolution of the series, but of the genre. It's in-depth systems, memorable story, and plethora of Monsties to hatch will draw in Riders and Hunters alike.


The Switch Effect - Richard Heaton - 5 / 5
It's pricy at $70, but it's as good as many of the other turn-based RPG's and monster catching games that came out recently.


TheSixthAxis - Dominic Leighton - 9 / 10
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is the best entry in the spin-off series yet, with gorgeous artwork, impeccable world-building, and an excellent Monster Hunter tale to tell. I can't imagine a better gateway to the world of Monster Hunter than this.


VGC - Dave Aubrey - 4 / 5
While its battle system is going to divide some players, the monster hatching and raising is some of the best in the business. Monster Hunter Stories 3 might be the best turn-based Monster Hunter yet, and shouldn't be ignored by fans of Capcom's larger-than-life series.


Worth Playing - Chris "Atom" DeAngelus - 9 / 10
Overall, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is best described as a refined and improved Monster Hunter Stories 2. It doesn't really change the core concept, but pretty much every change in the game is for the better. The new story is easier to engage with, the combat system is more fun than ever, and in general, it's a great leap forward without losing anything that made the previous games fun. Only some minor frame rate issues drag down the Switch 2 experience, and they're not enough to sour an otherwise fantastic game.


Xbox Achievements - Richard Walker - 85%
Not all spin-offs are a success. See Mortal Kombat: Special Forces or Umbrella Corps for proof. The Monster Hunter Stories series, the first two in...
 
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Already did 80 hours in the demo

So I'm balls deep into this
 
I tried the first one on PS+ but wasn't really feeling it. It was ok just not that great. I heard #2 is way better so maybe I'll just jump straight to that.
 
I will get it during it's first sale. Capcom has been fairly predictable to the point where just like Ubisoft there is no point in buying day 1. I got MHWilds and BL4 day one last year, could have easily saved 20-30% and had a better experience by waiting for 2-3 months.
 
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This dude unironically thinks MH Stories HD is better than MHS 3, to a level that by himself he downs the entire average score a good few points.

Now Stories 3 could be an absolute pile of garbage, but given they had more simplified dens in the first game than 3 has, less monsters, lower quality graphics and more importantly a god awful story, which even he admits is a highlight of 3, I am struggling to line up with what I played in the demo and the other reviews how he came to this fucking score.

I got next week off to play it (and toxic commando) so im sure to come to my own opinion, but this just feels wrong considering how much of an upgrade 2 was over 1, and how the demo for this blows 2 out of the water.
 
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Hmm...They downplay the Switch 2 version yet SwitchUp says it's great/good...🤔



Looks good on the portable screen from what they showed...Either way this looks like it's the best MHS yet, can't wait!

I personally buying this game for my PS5 but I think Switch 2 won't have much issue with it.
 
Hmm...They downplay the Switch 2 version yet SwitchUp says it's great/good...🤔



Looks good on the portable screen from what they showed...Either way this looks like it's the best MHS yet, can't wait!

Switch Up is a great channel.i enjoy their videos but they are a little bias towards positive impressions. Lucky there is a demo out for it choppy in the open world but solid enough.
 
I will get it during it's first sale. Capcom has been fairly predictable to the point where just like Ubisoft there is no point in buying day 1. I got MHWilds and BL4 day one last year, could have easily saved 20-30% and had a better experience by waiting for 2-3 months.
I don't blame you! I got roughly 20% off with Green Man Gaming, so that's good enough for me to bite at launch. Game looks great!
 
Switch Up is a great channel.i enjoy their videos but they are a little bias towards positive impressions. Lucky there is a demo out for it choppy in the open world but solid enough.
I was going to try the demo but decided to wait until the full game before jumping into it. That said I don't always trust demos as they don't always reflect the final product when it comes to performance and polish. Sounds like it has an unlocked framerate that gets the job done mostly.

Wouldn't be surprised if Capcom (like many other devs on Switch 2) drops a patch or two to further improve the performance.
 


Saddle up your Monsties and get ready for a brand new Monster Hunter Stories adventure! But 'new' isn't always 'great stuff', so you'll need all the expert opinions you'd find in this here review. Don't forget Alex's personal thoughts, either; he has them.
 
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