At the beginning of the year, someone asked me which game I was most excited about in 2026. While looking through the list, my eyes completely skipped over Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection. Instead, I stopped at Star Wars: Zero Company. Playing Monster Hunter Stories 3 wasn’t even part of my plans.
Then January arrived, the game landed on my desk, and now – after burying dozens and dozens of hours into it – I have to admit something: this is easily my favourite game of the year so far. Every second spent in this world feels worth it, and I genuinely hope it wins Game of the Year title, because it absolutely deserves it.
This is the third entry in the Monster Hunter Stories JRPG series, and in my opinion, it is the best game in the series.
You’re not just another random monster hunter. Instead, you build bonds with monsters, raise them, and fight alongside them. The comparison that instantly comes to mind is Hiccup from How to Train Your Dragon. Instead of slaying monsters, you form relationships with them and grow together. That’s very much the spirit of this game.
The story introduces two kingdoms, Azuria and Vermeil. Their relationship is… tense, to put it mildly. War seems to be brewing, as strange disturbances begin appearing in nature itself. In the middle of this crisis, something unexpected happens – an egg of the supposedly extinct Rathalos species is discovered. When the egg finally hatches, however, it doesn’t produce one Rathalos, but two. According to the wise men, the birth of the Rathalos twins is a terrible omen. What happens next is something I’ll leave for you to discover on your own, but I can say this much: the story is excellent, and I genuinely enjoyed it.
But the story isn’t the only reason why Monster Hunter Stories 3 is so good.
Let’s start from the beginning – the character editor. Here you can shape your protagonist exactly the way you want. If later in the game you decide your character doesn’t look quite right, you can always change it again through the chest in your camp. That same chest also lets you manage your companions’ outfits. There are quite a few costumes available. Some characters get more choices, some less. Your cat companion can wear adorable outfits, while the princess gets some sexy ones. There’s a pretty generous selection to choose from.
If you’re playing on PC, I strongly recommend grabbing a controller. Playing with a keyboard and a mouse feels awkward and clumsy. You can even see in my footage how I struggle with the controls at times. Later, I went to the other room, grabbed my Xbox controller, and suddenly everything felt so much smoother. Exploring the world while riding your monster simply feels right with a controller.
If you’ve played previous Monster Hunter Stories games, the combat system will feel very familiar. Battles use a classic rock-paper-scissors mechanic while you fight alongside your companions and monsters. On top of that, there are six weapon types that work better against different body parts. And of course, elemental strengths and weaknesses become more important as the game progresses.
There’s also the Wyvernsoul Gauge – essentially a monster’s fighting spirit. Once you break it, you and your companions can unleash a massive team attack. Between weapon types, elemental effects, monster abilities, and Wyvernsoul mechanics, there’s plenty of tactical depth in battles.
Of course, not every monster is a pushover that you can simply smack with a club and move on. The world also contains Feral monsters that can become surprisingly dangerous, especially if you attack the wrong body parts and trigger their rage.
But as I mentioned earlier, you’re not just a monster hunter in this game. Besides fighting monsters, you also steal eggs from their nests, raise the creatures yourself, and then release them back into the wild to restore ecosystems. The more you do this, the stronger the monsters in that region become, and their genetics evolve. Mutations can even create entirely new monster variations. This whole system is actually quite fun and occasionally addictive.
Except for stealing eggs.
That part becomes repetitive very quickly. After visiting normal nests once or twice in each area, I mostly stopped bothering with them. Instead, I only hunted eggs when I encountered rare golden or diamond nests.
Now let’s talk about the pigs. Yes. Pigs.
The escaped pigs might be the most annoying thing in the entire game. Early on, you unlock an ability that warns you when a pig is nearby. Sounds helpful, right? Not really. You hear a pig snorting somewhere, but the game gives you absolutely no indication where it actually is. Even worse, the pigs are hidden underground and only pop out when you’re practically stepping on them. Way too much time is wasted trying to locate these things. Technically, you can ignore them, but when something keeps snorting nearby, and there’s an unfinished task sitting in your quest log, it becomes hard to let it go.
There’s also something called pig racing.
Honestly, that could’ve been left out entirely. I understand it has a place in one of the side stories, but the whole thing feels strange. It almost feels like rubber-band racing. Even if you ride perfectly, the pig stays right behind you the entire time. In one race, I completely messed up and thought I’d have to restart because the pig had run far ahead. But then, suddenly, I caught up with it around the next corner. Almost like it had been waiting for me, I suspect that losing the pig race might actually be impossible.
Another complaint involves the empty linear corridors scattered around the world. While the game mostly presents itself as an open world, there are many sections where you simply walk through a long corridor with absolutely nothing happening.
Also worth mentioning: there’s no cat chef this time around. Instead, the princess personally cooks your meals while cats assist her in the kitchen. According to your feline companion, the food she prepares isn’t always exactly… edible. Let’s just say the princess still has a long way to go before earning a Michelin star.
Speaking of the princess, some cutscenes are unintentionally funny. During several conversations, the camera seems strangely fascinated with focusing on her chest instead of her face.
But jokes aside, the scale of the game is impressive. The main story alone takes around 50 hours to complete. If you want to explore the world, finish companion storylines, and complete side quests, you’re easily looking at over 100 hours of gameplay. And you really should complete the companion stories, because they provide useful bonuses for both you and your party. Unfortunately, the side quests themselves can feel repetitive and somewhat dull, which is a shame because they could have been much more creative.
Despite a few annoyances, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is one of the best JRPGs I’ve played in recent years. The game looks beautiful, the story is excellent, the world is fun to explore, and the battles are smart enough to keep you thinking. Yes, some side activities can get tedious, but those are small issues in the bigger picture.
If you like JRPGs and monsters, I’ll say it very simply: buy this game. It’s a good one.
