Oh, look! The geniuses behind Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection have discovered something revolutionary: modern RPGs exist and people seem to like them! Who would’ve thought that after watching Metaphor: ReFantazio and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 absolutely dominate the gaming landscape, Capcom’s developers would suddenly develop an interest in “studying” these “high-profile turn-based RPGs”? What an absolutely shocking development! It’s not like they’ve been making games for decades or anything.
Lead gameplay designer Daisuke Wakahara dropped this bombshell revelation during an interview, casually mentioning how his team looked at games that “let players progress smoothly and quickly” without “levelling feeling like a chore.” Groundbreaking stuff, truly. I’m sure nobody in the history of game development has ever considered making progression feel rewarding before. What will these mad lads think of next? Actual gameplay innovations? Hold my potions!
The team apparently focused on incorporating that refined industry approach where players receive rewards for specific actions. Wow, what a concept! It’s almost like they observed that giving players dopamine hits for doing things makes them want to keep playing. Truly, we’re witnessing the cutting edge of game design philosophy here. Someone get these visionaries a Nobel Prize in Entertainment!
But wait, there’s more! The Monster Hunter Stories 3 team apparently understands the subtle difference between “making things convenient and making them easy.” Oh my goodness, stop the presses! A game developer who understands that players want QoL improvements without the game playing itself? Alert the media! This is revolutionary thinking that will surely change the industry forever.
The demo apparently lets you speed through low-level battles on the map itself, which is definitely something that’s never been done before in any RPG ever. Definitely not something you’ve seen in Final Fantasy, Pokémon, or literally any other JRPG with random encounters in the past three decades. Nope, this is brand new, never-before-seen innovation from the brilliant minds at Capcom.
Wakahara further enlightened us by saying they “didn’t aim to artificially simplify things just to speed up the pace.” Instead, they focused on “level design that delivers battles with a sense of accomplishment.” What a novel concept! Making players feel good about overcoming challenges? Why hasn’t anyone thought of this before? It’s almost like good game design has been a thing for quite some time now, but sure, let’s pretend Capcom just invented it.
The first two Monster Hunter Stories games were fine, I guess, if you enjoy relatively simple combat systems that pale in comparison to other games in the genre. But now, with this third installment, we’re promised increased complexity while still retaining the heart of what makes “Stories” games special. And by “heart,” I’m sure they mean “slightly more complicated rock-paper-scissors mechanics.”
So mark your calendars for March 13, when Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection launches on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2 (because of course there’s already a new Switch), and PC. Get ready to experience the revolutionary gameplay innovations that Capcom has graciously borrowed from other successful games! It’s not ripping off if you call it “inspiration,” right?
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