Gamespot rated it 6.5 but yet its the number 1 psp game on their charts and on many other charts. Ask yourself how/why?
Graphics
The graphics are absolutely stunning. It is most likely the most detailed game out on the psp. Everything from the lush environments to the characters. The armor and weapons are awesome in all respects and it is easy to craft your own unique armor combination.
Sound
I love the sounds massively. They sound of the environments are very accurate. In the jungles, u can hear all the finer details like birds chirping, water flowing, trees swaying etc. The monsters all have very authentic and convincing sounds. A lot of attention was made into making these beasts sound and feel like the awesome creatures they are. There is also an Dolby Surround sound option which actually makes you feel like your actually there. The audio is beautiful.
Gameplay
The gameplay is ABSOLUTELY AWESOME. I won't lie, at first it might take time getting used to the controls and the camera but after a few plays you'll forget that your adjusting it manually. What people don't seem to understand about this game is that you don't level up as an ingame character YOU as a player do. Every monster has a specific movement pattern and particular weakpoints and elemental weakness. You have to find a weapon and a technique to defeating that monster. Once you've figured that out the game becomes very fun and rewarding. Its not always about raw power, its about strategy and timing. Plus weapons with particular weakness or some player movements may be restricting so their are armor armor skills you can obtain that eliminate them. The idea is to create armor and weapon sets, which work well with your style of playing.
Combining certain types of skills can make life much easier. For instance, drinking a potion or eating a welldone steak or sharping your blunt sword has a long animation that leaves you vulnerable in the middle of a fight with a raging dragon.There are skills like quick eating and fast sharpening which significantly shorten the time it takes.
Apart from actually fighting and hunter, there are addition things to do like growing crops, mining for ore, collecting honey, fishing, bugnet hunting. These can be done in the middle of the quest, in your private farm (which can be upgraded) in gathering quests, which are designed solely gathering resources.
There is also a felyne kitchen where you can hire cats to cook food for you.These means boost states and give addition skills, can eliminate certain annoying gameplay mechanics.
The game has a lot of grinding but it is extremely rewarding.
Multiplayer is so much fun especially if your friends have the game to. Its also a great way of showing off your skills and new gear. With the recent release of adhoc party this game can now be played online through the psp with other MH hunters around the world.
Note:In previous versions, loading between areas and when starting quests was borderline awful and generally is annoying in most psp games. You'll be happy to know they've added a background loading option which preloads areas before your enter them as well as a data install option whcih installs frequently used files onto your memory card for quicker file access. These have significantly reduced the loading speed of the game. Great work Capcom.
Replay Value
The replay value of this game crazy. I have about 600+ hrs game play on just this version alone and i haven't even got everything there is to get but im working on it. Its a constant grind to get the best armor and level up weapons but it is very rewarding. If you have adhoc party or have friends that hav a copy, this will add hundreds more gameplay hours to the game.
Controls
The controls will need getting used to intially but once you're fingers are used to it. You'll never even notice anything wrong with the manual control. Personally,i have never even had issues with the camera. Once i mastered it, i've found it to be perfect for this game..
Apart from the camera, this is not an auto aim and shot type of game for lazy people. You have to learn what weapons with certain moves work for each monster.Some weapons controls are too restricting for some monsters whereas others are far better. Besides weapon controls, its all pretty straight forward.
Graphics - 10/10
Sound - 10/10
Gameplay - 10/10
Replay Value - 100/10 (trust me, its worth the rating)
Controls - 9/10
This game is the only reason i bought my psp because it really is the best game I have ever played and it is worth every penny. Don't fooled by Gamespot's BS review and rating, this game is AWESOME. Its not the bestselling psp for nothing nor is it the number one psp game on GAMESPOT (despite is 6.5 score) and on many other reviewing websites for no reason. The proof is in the pudding.