Monster Hunter Stories 3 is exactly the uplifting adventure I needed right now

On its face, Monster Hunter Stories 3 doesn't sound like much of an 'escape' from today's fraught geopolitical climate. It opens with top advisors fanning the flames of war between two neighboring regions. The land of Vermeil desperately seeks answers to an unprecedented climate crisis that has laid waste to its soil and food reserves, leaving its people on the brink of starvation. As its rulers put increasing pressure on Azuria to help, you, the daughter of the Azurian King, are told to prepare to join the fight, with the near-extinct Rathalos who serves as your trusted partner considered a valuable weapon in the conflict to come.

Fortunately for my mental health, Monster Hunter Stories 3 isn't here to offer a grim reflection of our real-world realities, but instead a tale of hope and restoration, led by bold rebels and the plucky younger generation. It's a little cheesy, perhaps, but I'm absolutely in love with it. Like its predecessors, Stories 3 adapts the creatures and aesthetics of the Monster Hunter series into a turn-based JRPG full of bright colors and fantasy optimism. It's warm and enthusiastic, boasting all the charm of Dragon Quest and backed by Capcom's incredible, decades-spanning roster of weird and wonderful monsters (or 'Monsties,' as they're known here once you take them under your wing).

While the elder politicians and rulers squabble, a lone voice makes a daring play - Eleanor, the princess of neighboring Vermeil and thus your protagonist's direct counterpart. She offers to act as both envoy and hostage, accompanying you on your mission to revitalize Azuria and simultaneously binding her own nation from attempting any strong-arm tactics. As a Ranger by trade, your work is in ensuring invasive monsters aren't allowed to throw the natural order out of line, helping to encourage struggling species back to a healthy population, and investigating the rise in crystallized 'feral' monsters across the land.

This means plenty of battling beasties, and the combat system is familiar if you've played past entries, although the presentation gets a serious step up. You and a companion fight alongside your Monsties of choice, with you able to swap between various recruited creatures, as well as your own weapon type, on the fly. Stories 3 interweaves three simple systems together - the power/speed/technique triangle, elemental strengths and weaknesses, and the standard Monster Hunter damage types (blunt, slashing, and piercing). The result is something that's easy to pick up, but feels greater than the sum of its parts.

The combat is satisfying to puzzle out, but what I love most about Stories 3 is its overarching approach to conservation and an understanding of the ecosystem. It's something that's always been pushed to the background of mainline Monster Hunter, and especially so with the increased focus on the fighting in Rise and Wilds. This is a world of the future where the likes of Rathalos and Rathian are on the brink of extinction, and you're encouraged to find baby monsters, nurture them, and then release them back into the wild to help grow the local population.

Succeed in your restoration efforts, and you watch the world change around you. Those rare creatures become more commonplace, and they grow stronger, opening up the potential for you to bring them on board as powerful allies. You'll even see some evolve to take on the properties of the local region, creating unique variants that span multiple elemental affinities. I don't feel like I'm simply carving my way through the local populace in Monster Hunter Stories 3; I'm making a concerted effort to think about how I can better the land I live in.

Visually, Monster Hunter Stories 3 is a big step up from its predecessors, and I can feel my heart glowing as I leap from a high mountain and glide across the open world on the back of my Rathalos, the castle and kingdom rising up in the distance in picturesque detail. Its cast are a joy to be around, and the dialogue, while very much in the traditional fantasy JRPG mold, is strong and certainly outpaces anything we've seen in the main series. That classic Monster Hunter charm and humor is here in spades, too, and you can certainly expect some mouth-watering cooking animations.

The systems feel more player-friendly, too. The Rite of Channeling returns, allowing you to swap 'genes' between your collected Monsties to trade the skills and attributes of one to another, but unlike Stories 2 there's no penalty to worry about. You can swap the position of genes freely, and don't lose the creature you're taking them from. It's another welcome factor that contributes to the lighter, breezier feel of Stories 3, encouraging you to experiment without the fear of messing something up. Capcom has even ramped its Monstie storage up to an impressive 700 slots so you've got more space than ever to play with.

If you already like the past Stories games, I probably don't need to convince you to try this one. If you're a long-time Monster Hunter fan who hasn't touched them, I'd urge you to give Stories 3 a go - you'll be instantly pulled in by fan-favorite terrors such as Deviljho and Khezu making early, teasing appearances, frozen in crystallized eggs of quartz. If you don't know the series, this is a great jumping on point that doesn't assume prior knowledge (it's a standalone tale, not a continuation), and you've got its vast roster to look forward to.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection launches Friday March 13, 2026, priced at $69.99 / £54.99. You can find it on Steam.

Stories 3 couldn't have arrived at a more perfect time for me. At a moment when everything feels so precariously on edge, latching onto those glimmers of optimism and improvement is what inspires us to keep driving forwards. Capcom's latest combines my deep love for Monster Hunter, and all of its associated creatures and charisma, with the firm and bright-eyed belief that if enough people stand up for what they believe in, maybe we can build a better world together.