Developed By and Published By: Capcom
Category: RPG
Release Date: 03.13.26
Price: $69.99
*Game Download Code graciously provided for the purpose of review
Monster Hunter has already been one of my top gaming franchises for a long time. I’ve been hooked ever since the PSP days nearly twenty years ago. When Rise and Wings of Ruin came out for the Switch, I was super hyped. Now Twisted Reflection is the first game in the entire franchise to have a dedicated Switch 2 version, so of course I had to check it out. But how is the game compared to the rest of the Stories series or the overall franchise?
Well, I only have good things to say. If I’m being honest, I’m surprised by how far the Stories sub series has come. The Monster Hunter franchise has been a behemoth for more than a decade, but Stories never had the same momentum. The first game came out in 2016, but it was on mobile devices only. This meant it was limited with a bunch of classic mobile game restrictions.
Wings of Ruin came out in 2021 for the Switch, but it didn’t feel like a Switch game. To me, it felt more like an overblown 3DS game. But Twisted Reflection actually feels like a dedicated Switch 2 title and feels closer to modern Fire Emblem and Digimon than anything else. It’s still nothing like the mainline series but Capcom is using Twisted Reflection to turn Stories into its own powerhouse that’s independent of the main series.
You play as the Prince of Azuria, who is also the captain of the Rangers. He’s tasked with training a recruit while also researching mysterious egg quartz. The story has two story sides where one involves the monster ecology and dangerous beasts, like the mainline games. The other side of the story involves the tension of possible war between Azuria and the neighboring kingdom.
From a story perspective, Twisted Reflection has some mature themes and is very similar to that of Fire Emblem. I’d also say that it has possibly the best story of all the Monster Hunter games. That’s not really saying much because many of the mainline games revolve around quests and big hunts. But the overall story here is really interesting.
Combat is very detailed and engaging. It’s a turn-based RPG and during your turn, you can command one of your monsties to attack or you can attack using your own weapons. One helpful thing about the combat system is that you can easily and quickly swap out to different monsties to take advantage of a type. Did I say type? Attacks and skills have types, but they’re not like the traditional ones that you find in games like Pokemon.
The three types are Power, Speed, and Technical. You can use any of the three whenever you like, but you want to make sure that you’re using one that has an advantage over the enemy. Monsties and skills also utilize these types and balancing how you and your monsties attack can create dozens of possible outcomes. Despite being a turn-based RPG, the combat system is very interactive with a lot of moving parts that require you to put some effort into battles.
You also get to ride your monsties, which is great because the world is MASSIVE. Azuria is open-world with a lot of ground to cover. You can run around like normal while collecting material and hunting for eggs. Or you can ride your monstie to speed up travel. You can even pick up items while you’re riding, which makes gathering even faster. You can also use your Rathalos to fly, glide. This makes travelling quick but also lots of fun.
The game looks great and it runs pretty well. From a visual standpoint, it reminds me of games like Fire Emblem Three Houses and Genshin Impact. Everything that’s near you looks great and the monstie designs are great. The render distance is also realluy good, you can see a huge chunk of Azuria from wherever you’re standing. But the textures for stuff in the distance aren’t that great and a bit blurry.
There were also a few hiccups here and there. Every now and then there was some stuttering during cutscenes and occasionally there was some flickering when it came to lighting and shadows. I also found the game to be way more responsive playing in handheld mode than docked. But other than that, the game is taking full advantage of the Switch 2 hardware.
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. I can’t understate how far this series has come over the past ten years. It might have the Monster Hunter name attached to it, but anyone can jump in and play this game and fall in love.
The only other franchises that I can think of that did a monster catching spinoff is Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. Square Enix released World of Final Fantasy in 2018, but it was one and done. It was a monster catching RPG that relied on the success of the Final Fantasy brand and world. Dragon Quest Monsters is a bit more complicated, but more of the same. However, Twisted Reflection is proving that Monster Hunter Stories has more than enough momentum to be its own thing.
There’s no prerequisite of playing or even knowing any of the Monster Hunter games. If you never played any of them or aren’t a fan of the gameplay, Stories is independent enough for you to get into this but not the mainline series. If anything, I believe Twisted Reflection is creating a situation similar to how Persona branched off from Megami Tensei. You don’t have to play the first two Stories games or even the other Monster Hunter games if you don’t care too much but give Twisted Reflection a shot.
5/5