Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection Review

Stories has always been the odd branch of Monster Hunter: no cart timer, no hitbox reading, just a rock paper scissors of power, speed and technical attacks resolved a turn at a time, with monsters you hatch and ride rather than skin and wear. The third game is where the pretence that this is the children's version stops holding. Azuria and Vermeil are rival kingdoms whose Crystal Encroachment is killing the ground under both of them, and the plot pairs your heir with Eleanor of Vermeil in a working diplomatic relationship rather than a rescue, which gives the writing somewhere to go across forty hours.

Capcom's monster models are the series assets put to their best use yet, and watching a Rathalos you raised from an egg wing over a painted valley is something the mainline games never get to offer. The combat has more depth than its friendly presentation suggests: reading which attack type a monster will lead with, then committing your Monstie's inherited genes to punish it, is a real puzzle by the back half.

What holds it at good rather than great is the front end. The first dozen hours explain themselves relentlessly, and returning players will spend that time waiting. Push through and it is the strongest turn based role playing game Capcom has made.