Hm, that's a really tough call. It's the kind of game where you'll either love it or hate it. I've sunk around 300 hours into the games but I also know a few friends who gave up because they didn't feel like wrestling with the controls. If you can, find another friend to play with. This game has amazing co-op play and I've killed many afternoons hunting wyverns with my brother.

The game starts you off in a village where you partake in quests to gather supplies or hunt monsters. You're given a slew of weapons in the beginning, each with a unique moveset and playstyle, ranging from bow, to lances, to hammers, and swords of various sizes. Monster Hunter is commonly bashed for having awful controls, requiring you to use the D-pad to control the camera while moving at the same time with the analog stick.

The starter quests generally have you hunting small mobs, such as raptor lookalikes and whatnot, but eventually you move on to hunt giant gorillas and dragons. I'd say the biggest draw for me is the challenge it takes to hunt larger monsters, like reading their attack patterns and noticing the cues they preform before they do certain attacks.

The main goal of the game is basically to move through the ranks by completing quests, gathering materials and monster drops to make stronger gear. This in turn lets you hunt stronger monsters, giving you access to stronger gear. Armor sets in this game don't only provide static upgrades such as increasing defense or weapon attacks. You can obtain armor sets which can alter your play styles such as ignoring the stun time on wyvern roars, lowering the charge time on bows, granting critical hits on your unsheathe attack, and other neat abilities.

Monster Hunter Tri for the wii is the version that most people play. It has the most content and is the most accessible version. The wii version also has the best and most accessible online multiplayer. For a portable version, it's a toss up between Monster Hunter Freedom Unite and Monster Hunter Portable 3rd. MHFU has more content and is officially localized, while MHP3 is the newer version with addition weapon moves, different monsters, and fixed hitboxes on some attacks but less quests overall. Requires CFW and an english patch since the game is entirely in japanese. The most up to date portable version of the game is Monster Hunter 3G for the 3DS, however that's in japanese and it has absolutely no chance of being localized. Vita versions of the game have been hinted at, but again, capcom sees no market for Monster Hunter in North America. I'd recommend either pirating or buying a used umd for MHFU for cheap, should only be around $10.