Preview: With ‘Monster Hunter Stories 3,’ a spin-off spreads its wings

Slowly but surely, “Monster Hunter Stories” has established itself as more than just a spin-off of Capcom’s famed action role-playing game. It has gone from a small project on the Nintendo 3DS to an ambitious Japanese RPG on the Nintendo Switch that punched above its weight.

Now in its third iteration, “Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection” is the franchise’s coming-out party. The entry is launching across multiple systems for the first time, and it’s taking a different approach to the story.

Executive producer Ryozo Tsujimoto said previous entries focused on newbie and growing riders, reflecting a series in its infancy. That changed in “Twisted Reflection,” he said the team wanted “to depict more of an elite rider” and illustrate a more fleshed-out world.

A NEW ROLE FOR A NEW GAME
That’s why players are thrown into the role of royalty as the Prince or Princess of the Kingdom of Azuria (depending on the character creation). As a member of the crown, players are also the captain of the Rangers, who ride Monsties and are environmental stewards.

The group protects the kingdom against a strange phenomenon called the “Crystal Encroachment,” which is slowly seeping into their land. It has wreaked havoc on the neighboring nation Vermeil, and it has heightened tensions between them. It’s a lot of politics compared to previous ones, which focused on simple save-the-world plot.

Similar to previous entries, players ride Monsties, which are essentially Pokemon-like creatures that protagonists can ride. They do battle with enemies in turn-based combat, and like the main “Monster Hunter” games, once players defeat the targets, they carve the parts so they’re used weapons and armor.

EVOLVING COMBAT
The turn-based combat has a rock-paper-scissor foundation. Players choose an attack that’s focused on power, speed or technique. Over the years, “Monster Hunter Stories” has evolved the system by letting players choose, which weapon to use and what parts to attack. Players can also pick more powerful skill attacks. It added a Kinship Gauge that builds up over a fight, and when that fills up, players ride their Monsties for more powerful attacks.

In “Twisted Reflection,” the team introduced a stamina bar for skills, so players are freer to use them without worrying about draining the Kinship Gauge as in the previous entry. Monsties also have their own stamina bar, which they use for their own skills. Interestingly enough, players can also build up their Kinship Gauge to higher levels. Players can also choose to damage a monster to eliminate its Wyvern Soul Gauge to open it up to more attacks.

Although it may sound complicated, and it sometimes is, it takes a few hours until it becomes second nature, and players learn the attack patterns of monsters and what attacks they tend to use.

THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMPONENT
The other part of “Twisted Reflection” is collecting Monsties in the wild just like in Pokemon, and Capcom streamlined this element so there’s less sneaking but still the same tension. Players will still rifle through nests for potent eggs, and risk a fight with monsters guarding it. They’ll build up a huge collection of Monsties with different genes and stats, but the developers said they built a release valve this time around.

Because players are Rangers, they work toward helping the environment, and they do that by releasing Monsties they raise back into the wild through the Habitat Restoration menu. The more creatures players release, the higher the rating goes up in the environment, and if players restore enough of the monsters to the habitat, they have a chance to trigger mutants or other rare subspecies in the field. Some of them will have dual elements. It’s an aspect of the game that diverges from the main series and establishes “Twisted Reflection” as its own thing.

With the Habitat Restoration concept in the game, it raises the question of whether players can hunt certain Monsties into extinction. The developers said that’s not possible.

What players can do is hunt for invasive species such as Yian Garuga, these are incredibly powerful creatures, and they take some work to overpower so that they retreat. Once players do that, they can head into its den and steal incredibly powerful Monstie eggs.

The other major challenge is Feral creatures, which have been infected with crystals. They have unusual attack patterns and conditions that players have to figure and adapt to. It makes battles more difficult and forces players to think on their feet as they look for openings to attack.

It’s just another way that “Twisted Reflections” differentiates itself from “Monster Hunter” and establishes itself as a JRPG that can surprise and innovate as much as the main series games.

“Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflections” is scheduled for release March 13 on Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, PC and Xbox Series X and Series S.