The most awkward, frustrating and archaic game ever created. But without doubt, one of the best.
First and foremost, the control system is appalling. You attack with the right analogue stick and move the camera with L1 and the digital direction buttons. The fact that you are already using your left thumb to move the character creates the need to form a kind of claw when moving the camera in Monster Hunter - ironic. Quickly on the subject of the camera, it does its job but if you get too close to a wall then you will soon start cursing it. It goes insane. Too many times have I been killed due to not being able to see a twenty-foot wyvern stood right in front of me.
You are also going to have to get used to the fact that your in-game avatar is dumb, blind and so very very stupid. The character animations are quite humorous but showcase some very idiotic actions. For example, after downing a medicinal potion as one is wont to do during a battle, the hunter briefly flexes his/her arms and pumps their chest out. Not sure why, but the extra two seconds it takes to do this has killed many a hunter as they won't move in spite of the semi-dragon chasing towards them.
Another example is after eating a Well-Done Steak, a useful item that raises a hunter's stamina. After tearing through a steak the size of your leg in a matter of seconds, the hunter wriggles his belly around a bit, lols his head in a pleased way and taps his belly twice with both hands. This animation sounds harmless enough but it takes about six seconds all told. More than enough time to be hit by a fireball etc.
You may find that most of the time you die, it's not your fault. A lot of the time there is nothing you can to do avoid being hit by a fireball or crushed by a wyvern, because your hunter flatly refuses to do a single thing you tell him or her to. However Capcom were very cunning by making it so gosh-darn satisfying when you do finally bring down that monster!
Of course, these are gripes that can be avoided by picking your lunch times carefully and playing skilfully. But they are so annoying. Anyway, graphically the game is wonderful. Not truly stunning, but the vibrancy of the environments, the lush forests, jungles, volcanos and swamps set the scene nicely. Your character has a choice of many different sets of weapons and armour, most of which look at least interesting. The monsters range from funny to really quite threatening, though a few basic models are recycled and repainted.
The game boasts a full thirty different kinds of monsters, including a wealth of wyverns (big monsters) and two dragons (huge monsters). All except the dragons can be seen in the offline, single-player component of the game. The offline game can be seen as a kind of training ground for the online part - the monsters are weaker and there are less quests to complete. Having said that, it is not mandatory to complete the single-player before going online, you can play Monster Hunter any way you want.
Which leads us on to a real draw of the game - the weapons. There are several different weapon classes - Greatswords, Swords'n'Shields, Dual Swords, Hammers, Lances and Bowguns. Each weapon type plays so differently and has such different controls that it really is worth trying out each type and seeing which you are most comfortable with. Personally I favour the Hammers, as they are the most powerful and despite having no block, a successfully landed combo can stagger even the largest wyvern. But other weapons have advantages too, for example Dual Swords hit so many more times than Hammers that it almost makes up for the difference in raw power. Bowguns invoke a different way to play the game entirely, it becomes very tactical and more to do with preparation and ammo procuring than just beating dinosaurs with a big stick.
The online game is very different from the single player. Since the monsters are much stronger and the quest objectives much more time-consuming, hunters generally have to team up in groups of up to four to take on more challenging quests. There is a semblance of a plot, as the town prepares to take on the mighty dragon Lao Shan Lung, but mostly it is just an excuse to bring your weapon to the head of another monster.
If you find the right people to play with, Online can be a brilliant laugh and one of the best games ever. However this can be difficult. The servers seem to be jammed with people who believe that because their character is higher ranking than yours, they are in fact the king of the world. Then there are abusive people, waaaay too many noobies, and some people who plant barrel bombs behind other characters for kicks and then leave the game. Not that that ever happened to me. I do exaggerate though, generally most people just want to have fun and will be great to play with, it can be a bit of a slog to find these people though.
Very quickly I will note that it takes about five minutes to actually get online, you have to sit through dozens of screens that all say the same thing, it's all a bit archaic and hopefully will be cleaned up by MH3.
The game is by its very nature extremely repetitive. You want that pretty suit of armour? Okay then, go mine in a cave for some Machalite Ore that you need to create it. Do it again. Again. And again. And again. Then realise that you can get five in one quest online but can't find anyone who wants to do that quest. Generally though, the rewards and satisfaction -just- outweigh the frustration and repetitiveness.
Soundwise, the game isn't tremendous. There is some adventurous instrumental music throughout, the beasts all roar in the right places and armour clinks as you run. But there is nothing about the sound that truly stands out. It works.
As for value for money, well, believe me when I say that people have spent over 600 hours on this game. I got it when it first came out two years ago and have been playing ever since. This year I got my PS3 hooked up to the Internet and discovered the joys of the online game. In that time I've played with about four different characters, all a joy. So I've played the game for about 150 hours perhaps. But I haven't finished it yet. The single player can be done fairly quickly, in a week perhaps, but it really does help to go online and create some better equipment before you tackle the hardest offline quests. I'm still learning new stuff about the game and I've been playing two years, how's that for a learning curve?
To conclude, Monster Hunter is the single most annoying game I have ever played. It's also one of my top five games ever. Gameplay gripes and frustrating mechanics aside, there's not a lot that can beat the feel of adventure inherent in travelling with a team of hunters to take down a ferocious beast, or even proving your mettle by taking them on alone. It's a game that feeds the imagination, provides adventure and action in equal doses, and will have you on the edge of your seat - screaming "MOVE YOU DAMN FOOL!!!"