It takes time to get into it, but once you do, it is absolutely one of the best games on the Wii.
Of course, this early grind is well-intentioned and ends up being incredibly important as everything you learn becomes second-nature, necessarily so as it saves you the trouble of having to think about what to do when a towering behemoth is baring down on you.
Fortunately, after the first several (excruciating) hours, this game picks up and completely engulfs you in its universe.
The first real fight (against the Great Jaggi) is where the game gets a hold of you and where you truly experience the subtle genius of its combat system. MH3 makes you seriously consider the strengths and weaknesses of each weapon in comparison to those of your prey and a mismatch at your expense will almost surely lead to failure. Once equipped with the right gear, you are ready to set out on a hunt.
Upon engaging a beast, you are tasked with deciphering each of its tells and learning when and how to strike it without ending up in the dirt. Fights in MH3 are never unfair; so long as you remain vigilant, you will be victorious. As soon as you are familiar with the beast, battles become a war of attrition as you simply react and attack until your prey finally falls at which point you reap the rewards of your success.
Harvesting your slain foes is, of course, the entire selling point of MH3 and it is truly the heart of this game. I had doubts about this premise, but after (finally) completing my first full suit of armor, I am entirely sold. Each monster is faithfully represented in its armor and weapons and completing each piece is entirely worth the hassle of acquiring the ingredients.
Hunting online amplifies every aspect of MH3 and opens the door to new monsters and complex, multi-hunter strategies.
My lone complaint with MH3, aside from the necessarily tedious start, is the player animations, specifically your hunter's baffling need to flex his muscles after downing a potion, which almost always leads to your foe negating its health regeneration effect.
As for the technical aspects of MH3, the game is by far the best looking game on the Wii (with competition really only provided by Red Steel 2). The game looks fantastic (especially underwater) and each region has a unique and authentic feel to it with an incredible ecosystem of creatures to match. Each monster is a masterpiece of artistic talent and accurate animations.
Having owned a Wii for several years, I have been consistently disappointed by companies' complete lack of initiative in creating good games for the Wii, which has led to a console library of purely kid-centric titles and simply god-awful messes from companies' unable to match the Wii's potential. Of course, those titles that have successfully answered the challenge of the Wii are among the best games in my own library. MH3 is one of those titles.
If MH3 is any indication of the direction the console is headed in, I am excited for what the next few years may bring.