All you need to know about MFH if you are wondering how good this game is...

User Rating: 9.4 | Monster Hunter Freedom PSP
Monster Hunter Freedom (MHF) is probably best PSP game out to date. Everyone seems to agree that it has probably best graphic to date for PSP so I'll focus on others.

Sound: Its good. Yes it does not have voice-overs but when you're out slaying monsters, they won't be talking to you anyways. As for village people, ones you talk to most are item shop owners and if you think about it, you'll just be tapping keys to skip to menu anyway. Other than that, it has Dolby 2.1 option that sounds really good with good headphones. Crappy sounds people complain are from PSP built speakers, which are too small to produce any good quality sound anyways.

Gameplay: The game play is good. YES, it is HARD. This is not a game you will be good at if you do not spend time with it. I don't know why people are constantly complaining about poor camera angles and 'auto-lock target'... LEARN TO USE THE D-PAD. yes, it does get little annoying when you are cornered because floating camera will automatically swivel. but the idea is NOT to get cornered when you're hunting, and honestly it isnt bad once you get used to it. autolock probably would've made the game either 1) too easy, or 2) probably more annoying when you have multiple monsters on the field. Just maintain proper amount of stamina, and run and use D-pad to refocus to the monster. Its that easy. Once you pickup the monster behavior and patterns, hunting is very fun.
Also, yes, if you're using a giant sword or hammer your movement is very slow, but then again, I don't think anyone would be able to swing that big-a$$ sword any faster realistically. Just keep in mind that you can roll rihgt after swing to speed-up your moves more effectively.

Controls: I'd say controls are as good as it can get on a PSP. Once you get used to it, you wouldn't want it any other way..

Hints: For all you people complaining about lengthly initial loading: Use the 'sleep' mode for your psp...

Room for improvement?: Unfortunately, Yes. while the gameplay and hunting is good, there are several issues with the game that will drive you crazy.
1). Using items on the field. (Esp. potions, antidotes) Must he flex his muscle with giant wyvern infront of him every time he drinks a potion to recover HP??
2). Item: I don't know why developers made it so that you MUST have combo books in your inventory (not even in the storage box) to boost your mix-success... I guess MHF characters don't possess any learning or memorizing skills....... no. wait. then how can he remember previous mixes and monster list?? hm.. i dunno..
3). Inability to mix items from storage: Creating new items would've been much more efficient if player was allowed to mix straight from the storage instead of having to repeat:
1. take out the item from storage,
2. mix
3. put the new item back in to make more room

process..

Other than those 3 issues, the game is near perfect. MHF's been in my PSP ever since I purchased it, and my psp has never seen main menu screen since... thank sony for its sleep function.

This game is so far is the only game that does not have linear gameplay, and has infinite replayability unlike most rpgs or any other game for that matter. Try it; you'll like it.