Which is the best version of Monster Hunter Stories 3? Switch 2, PS5, Steam Deck, PC, & Xbox Series X covered

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection from Capcom launches this week worldwide for Nintendo Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (Steam). With this being the first fully multi-platform launch for a new entry in the series, I've been working on a comparison feature to cover how the full game scales across consoles and PC handhelds. This feature covers how Monster Hunter Stories 3 feels across PS5, Switch 2, Xbox, and PC handhelds to go over visuals, performance, load times, and more including the different console graphics modes when available.

Before getting to the comparisons, I wanted to cover how Monster Hunter Stories 3's full game in its current state feels on different platforms. 

Monster Hunter Stories 3 full game Switch 2 impressions

Monster Hunter Stories 3 on Switch 2 doesn't offer any graphics options like the other consoles. Both handheld and docked have the same uncapped experience with the frame rate hovering just above 30fps during exploration with it hitting well above that during some indoor areas and in specific combat animations. The lack of a 30fps cap is really disappointing here because movement does not feel good in many parts of the game when playing handheld. Even VRR cannot really do much here unfortunately and the whole game feels worse handheld than docked which feels a bit better across the board. If there was an optional 30fps cap, it would be a lot easier to recommend.

Right now, Monster Hunter Stories 3 on Switch 2 doesn't even feel as good as Monster Hunter Stories 2 did on Switch 1 because the frame rate here constantly is in the 30s with poor pacing. A 30fps cap would have addressed this issue for me and made it easier to recommend. Frame rate issues aside, I'm also a bit surprised by the overall image quality on Switch 2 when playing in handheld mode. It looks a bit softer than I expected, and while I got used to the 3D elements and still think Monster Hunter Stories 3 itself looks excellent on Switch 2, the UI being subnative on Switch 2 is baffling. I hope that at least gets addressed by or soon after launch. When Monster Hunter Stories 3 was revealed, I figured it would be great on Switch 2, but there are a few too many caveats to the game for both docked and handheld play. 

I want to stress that the performance issues do not bother me like say Persona 3 Reload's initial release, but it is just confusing to see no 30fps cap in a game that rarely goes above 35fps in most areas on Switch 2. In addition to the frame pacing, I also noticed some hitching in Monster Hunter Stories 3 on Switch 2 and no way to turn off the motion blur like on other platforms. While Monster Hunter Stories 3 is a much larger game than the first two, Capcom should have done a better job with the Switch 2 version. 

Monster Hunter Stories 3 full game Steam Deck recommended settings and PC impressions

Monster Hunter Stories 3 on Steam Deck is usually a great portable experience that delivers better graphics settings than Switch 2 handheld, but there are some instances of hitching that are more regular than the version on Nintendo's platform in more open areas. The overall performance is more stable though, and I would prefer the Steam Deck for portable play in its current state. Using a mix of high and medium settings with FSR set to balanced, I was able to get a stable 30fps experience with good image quality. If you want a 40fps experience, you will need to use mostly the low preset with FSR set to balanced. I opted for a more stable 30fps experience and better visuals instead of worse image quality to get 40fps with some drops. Monster Hunter Stories 3 on PC is also a 16:9 game so you have black bars on the top and bottom when playing on Steam Deck.

Monster Hunter Stories 3 ROG Ally impressions

When testing on my ROG Ally, I decided to try out Monster Hunter Stories 3 on my ultrawide monitor to see if it supports 21:9 aspect ratios. It unfortunately does not. It also doesn't appear to be able to deliver a locked 60fps experience on ROG Ally using turbo mode, but the VRR helps a lot here. I am a bit surprised by the performance though. Out of the box, it defaults to the high preset with no upscaling on ROG Ally and you cannot even get a solid 30fps here. Using FSR at balanced and turning down shadows delivers a good handheld experience targeting 1080p (upscaled). This is not as good as the first two games on ROG Ally, but it is a better experience than Switch 2 across the board.

In its current state, there is no handheld I own that can deliver a native experience at 60fps. After seeing how it runs on ROG Ally even using the 30W Turbo Mode, I didn't expect to get 60fps on Switch 2, but I will continue to hope for an optional 30fps cap since I don't like how it feels right now. I prefer a stable experience over one that hovers in the mid 30s. 

Monster Hunter Stories 3 visuals and performance differences across PS5 and Xbox Series X

Monster Hunter Stories 3 on both base PS5 and Xbox Series X features three different graphics priority settings: quality, balanced, and performance. All three modes run at an uncapped frame rate though. Both PS5 and Xbox Series X deliver much higher frame rates across the board compared to the Switch 2 version docked, but the uncapped nature and forced 120hz container on PS5 are only good if you have a VRR display. If you don't have VRR, I recommend turning off the 120fps mode from the system settings when playing Monster Hunter Stories 3 for a more stable experience. I hope Capcom adds a 120hz option in-game instead of forcing the game to run in 120hz even if you don't have VRR.

As for image quality, Monster Hunter Stories 3 cuts back image quality, shadows and even draw distance as you move from quality to balanced and performance modes to allow for a higher average frame rate. On PS5, I don't have VRR, and I found the best experience was the balanced mode with my console not using the 120hz mode. I have VRR on my Xbox Series X when connected to my 1440p monitor, and I found the balanced mode basically perfect. I'm happy with the frame rate here, but if you want to play at a higher frame rate, the performance mode usually runs above 70fps at worst so you will have a solid experience with VRR. 

Quality mode on both PS5 and Xbox Series X is where I wish there was a 40fps at 120hz option and better optimization. It appears to just run between 30 and 45fps on Xbox Series X but with better graphics settings and resolution compared to the balanced and performance modes. If you have VRR here, it will help, but a locked 30fps option would've been the ideal option here for playing on a 4K display with the best image quality and higher graphics settings the mode brings on console.

As of this writing, both the PS5 and Xbox Series X deliver great experiences when playing on TV, but you will get an even better experience with VRR. Monster Hunter Stories 3 on PS5 and Xbox Series X is a massive step up over how Monster Hunter Stories 2 was on PS4 and Xbox One and also over the Switch 2 version of Stories 3 right now. 

Monster Hunter Stories 3 load times across Switch 2, PS5, Xbox, Steam Deck, and PC

To test the load times, I measured the time taken from the dashboard to the game's title screen and how long it takes to load an early game save. I mashed confirm to skip any logos and also waited until you had control of your character when in-game after loading the save. I installed Monster Hunter Stories 3 to the internal storage on Switch 2, the console storage on PS5, the internal storage on Xbox Series X, and also the Steam version on the internal storage on my Steam Deck OLED and ROG Ally. The results below are in seconds.

Overall the PS5 version has the best load times, but I'm more impressed by how quickly the Switch 2 loads all things considered. It isn't as fast as Xbox when in-game, but the initial load is a lot faster than even PC handhelds right now. 

Which version of Monster Hunter Stories 3 is the best?

For the best portable version, playing on a PC handheld is currently the best version because you get to control the frame rate and get a stable experience with better graphics settings compared to how it is on Switch 2. Once Capcom fixes the performance with an optional cap and also hopefully addresses the UI resolution in portable play, it will be easier to recommend the Switch 2 release. 

For playing on TV or at home, a high-end PC is going to be the best assuming you have hardware that is more capable than the PS5 and Xbox Series X. On the console side, PS5 has the best load times, but you might want to play it on Xbox Series X if you have VRR there since Quick Resume helps a lot and it supports VRR (or even AMD's FreeSync on Xbox) with more displays than PS5. 

Which version of Monster Hunter Stories 3 should you buy and play?

Everyone has their own priorities for what they want, so I'm going to list the advantages and disadvantages of every single version of Monster Hunter Stories 3 based on the builds I have of the full game today as a conclusion to this feature below:

• Monster Hunter Stories 3 on PS5: If you want to mainly play on your TV, care about trophy support, and don't care about portable play (unless you stream to a PlayStation Portal or phone), this is the version to get. Having played a few hours of the game on my PS Portal, the gameplay doesn't really suffer from remote play's latency. The PS5 version is also the fastest version when it comes to load times. If you have VRR, you can safely buy and play this with no major caveat.
• Monster Hunter Stories 3 on Xbox Series: Like PS5, Monster Hunter Stories 3 is a great experience on Xbox Series X. If you have VRR, you will get the most out of this version and can make use of Quick Resume to play it in short bursts. With Monster Hunter Stories 3, both the PS5 and Xbox Series X are excellent experiences, but VRR will be a deciding factor if you don't have it on both consoles. Unfortunately Monster Hunter Stories 3 is not Play Anywhere. I wanted to make a note of this since some might want to play it via a PC handheld. You can remote play though, but I've found Xbox Remote Play isn't as good as Steam or PlayStation's implementation for in-house streaming. 
• Monster Hunter Stories 3 on Switch 2: If you value the hybrid nature of the Switch 2, this is the version to get, but the image quality handheld and also uncapped frame rate with hitching make for a subpar experience compared to other platforms right now unfortunately. Hopefully Capcom can patch in a 30fps cap and improve at least the UI quality handheld because this would ideally be the version I play the most, like I did with the first two games on Switch. Right now, Monster Hunter Stories 3 is better docked than handheld. 
• Monster Hunter Stories 3 on PC Steam: Monster Hunter Stories 3 is a heavy game for PC handhelds, but it does deliver a more stable experience than Switch 2 to play on the go. As for the PC port itself, Monster Hunter Stories 3 is good and scales well, but isn't great right now when it comes to features. It does allow you to scale above the console versions with a powerful enough system though and it doesn't suffer from the plethora of issues that Monster Hunter Wilds had for months on PC compared to both PS5 and Xbox Series X.

Note that while my impressions are based on the full game and not the demo, the demo build is a good representation of what you can expect in the full game when it comes to visuals and performance. I recommend downloading it and running around in the hub and open fields to see how the game runs for you on PC or to see if you are ok with the performance on Switch 2 before buying the full release. Save data also carries over so you can get a head start before the full game launches later this week. 

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