Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection PS5 and Xbox Series X full game preview impressions

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection launches next month for Switch 2, Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series consoles. I've had access to the full game for a few weeks now. While I will be doing a complete comparison closer to launch covering every single version, I wanted to focus on the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions for one of my two features today. Note that this is without the day one patch but is based on the full game and not the free trial available. For this feature, I played both the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions to check out all three visual modes and recommend what I think is the best way to play the game on home console depending on what display you use.

Monster Hunter Stories 3 runs at an uncapped frame rate across all three visual modes on PS5 and Xbox Series X. While both consoles deliver much higher frame rates across the board compared to the Switch 2 version docked, there are some areas Capcom can and should improve the game for launch or even soon after. I've tried the opening hours of the game in all three modes on both consoles now to get an idea of not just what mode I like across both consoles, but what I hope to see fixed.

Monster Hunter Stories 3 full game impressions on PS5 — quality vs balanced vs performance mode

I want to note that some indoor areas or even combat sections end up running at a higher frame rate than the actual exploration or free movement. If you played the demo, you've likely gotten a good idea of how each mode feels. I say that because after playing the demo to compare with the build I had of the full game, the demo is actually a good representation of the game right now. Things could change with a pre-release patch of course. Right now, all three modes on PS5 are uncapped including the "Prioritize Graphics" mode that you'd expect to be capped at 30fps. 

Note: The image above uses PS5 gameplay captured at 4K and then cropped to showcase the differences between the three graphics modes. In addition to the resolution change, the modes gradually cut back on the foliage in the distance and shadows as you can see in the PS5 comparison above.

As you go from graphics to balanced and performance, not only is the overall image quality cut back a bit, but even shadows and draw distance see adjustments to allow for a higher average frame rate. On PS5, I don't have VRR, so I found the best way to play Monster Hunter Stories 3 was the Balanced mode with my console set to not use the 120hz output. I wish I could do that in-game, but Monster Hunter Stories 3 triggers the 120hz output regardless of the mode you play at. With VRR, this would have been fine, but I don't have VRR so I ended up forcing the console to not use 120hz. The Balanced mode worked well with only minor notable drops and an otherwise solid experience with fast loading. 

Note: The image above uses PS5 gameplay captured at 4K and then cropped to showcase the differences between the three graphics modes. In addition to the resolution change, the modes gradually cut back on the foliage, level of detail for some aspects, and shadows as you can see in the Xbox Series X mode comparison above.

Monster Hunter Stories 3 full game impressions on Xbox — quality vs balanced vs performance mode

I have VRR on my Xbox Series X so I decided to see how the full game holds up when I play at 120 and 60hz. I tested hub locations and the open zone exploration and the results were pretty similar for the frame rate range across the three modes. Thanks to VRR, I stuck to using the performance mode on my Xbox Series X when playing on my monitor. So far, and I say that because the day one patch isn't available yet I assume, Monster Hunter Stories 3's performance mode appears to run between 70 and 90fps on Xbox Series X. The balanced mode opts for a higher resolution and delivers 60-75fps. Note that I didn't spot drops below 60fps here, but if there were any, VRR helped.

Note: The image above uses Xbox Series X gameplay captured at 4K and then cropped to showcase the differences between the three graphics modes. The comparison above shows how the modes cut back on the shadows for foliage in addition to the resolution. 

The quality mode ran between 30 and 45fps in the four areas I tested on Xbox Series X. I was not happy with this mode without VRR, but thankfully my 1440p monitor supports it and it wasn't too bad after. Capcom really should offer a locked 30fps option for the graphics mode though because it doesn't feel good without VRR. I recommend this mode only if you play at 4K and want the best possible graphics including draw distance and other settings.

One more thing I want to note is while I am happy Monster Hunter Stories 3 supports Quick Resume, it is disappointing for this, like Monster Hunter Stories 1 and 2, to not be an Xbox Play Anywhere title. It would have been good to have it to play portably on my ROG Ally and on my Xbox Series X with the same save file. It does work with remote play though as you can see in the photograph I used in the beginning of this article. 

Hopefully Capcom allows us to toggle the 120hz mode while in-game for PS5 and even offers a 30fps cap for the graphics mode for those who want it. Barring that, I'm very happy with the visuals and state of the game so far on both PS5 and Xbox Series X. This is definitely a big step up over the Monster Hunter Stories 2 ports we had to Xbox and PlayStation platforms a little while ago. 

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection launches on March 13 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC (Steam).