Once you see the vision of the creators, the game makes complete sense.
So I ran through the various missions, doing the whole hunter/gatherer thing, trying to get into the mentality of a society that relies on me to go out and get them what they need. And then the first hunt in the game came up. I had to hunt and slay a beast - the Yuan Kut-ku. It was a disaster for me. And then I learned that this wasn't going to be one of those games where everything you need is just handed to you. You have to earn it - the armor, the weapons, everything. So I went back, gathered up goods, sold items, mined, everything I could find to do to get money and items to craft better armor and weapons. Finally, when I felt I was ready, I went back after the Kut-ku a second time. Again, it was disaster.
Finally, I had one of those videogame moments of enlightenment, where everything seems to make sense and I finally understood that this game wasn't going to be a game you could just power your way through. You have to learn to think like a hunter - watch your prey, look for signs of weakness, learn it's patterns, when to attack, when to retreat/dodge. It was at that time I realized that this game was just about perfect for recreating the feeling of going on an actual monster hunt - man versus beast. Coupled with this was the very visceral "carving" of items from your kills.
This is an amazing game where the difficult climbs almost exponentially, but once you learn how to fight each creature and change tactics accordingly, the game opens itself up to you. There are definite hurdles in the game to overcome - the Yuan Kut-ku, the cephalodrome, and so on until you hit the Rathelos/Rathian fights. Then you have only just begun your career and need to go online to make yourself stronger armor and weapons.
Make sure you try the free online multi-player mode when you get a chance. It adds a whole new element to the game when you have to change from solo tactics to group (almost pack-like) tactics to attack creatures.