Despite a clear focus on more ambitious storytelling, complete with loads of big budget cutscenes, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is just about as long as its relatively humble predecessors.
This is according to a 4Gamer interview that's been doing the rounds, in which series veteran and executive producer Ryozo Tsujimoto confirms that the RPG will take most players somewhere between 40 and 50 hours to complete.
Again, that's right in line with Monster Hunter Stories and Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin, both of which feature core campaigns that last roughly 40 to 50 hours.
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But of course, you can quite easily double or even triple your playtime in those titles by engaging with endgame content, or the simple grind of training stronger and stronger monsters.
Tsujimoto doesn't comment on that side of Monster Hunter Stories 3, but it's broadly assumed that it'll follow the same structure. After all, even in the game's demo — which you can try for yourself right now on PS5 — there's clear depth to the monster-rearing process.
Indeed, the upcoming adventure has an entire system based around hatching monsters and then releasing them back into the wild in order to bolster the power of their species. From where we're sitting, the game's set to be another huge time sink, if that's what you're looking for.
Are you looking forward to Monster Hunter Stories 3? Are you a fan of the series' previous instalments? Get planning your ultimate team of monsties in the comments section below.