So I've played it a lot since it came out yesterday and thought I'd write down my impressions from a previous non-MH player. I played a tiny bit of a NDS one, but only a little bit and didn't really get into it so I'm basically completely new to it (but do play a lot of dark souls type games).
So far I think it's great fun, I really like the crafting aspect and it's a nice mix between guided stuff and open world stuff. The combat is really fun, and there's so much choice and ability to develop stuff. Most of all though, it feels like a game driven by your skill rather than number rolls and behind the scenes dice - I can imagine getting really, really hooked on getting good at it. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who's into 'learning' a game rather than just smashing through level after level. The story is ok (more below) and the graphics/atmosphere is good.
Observations/potential downsides:
- It's quite 'Japanese-y' in parts; that's in no way an objectively bad thing, but it's got a lot of 'anime' moments and as I'm not a big weeb I find it a bit grating at times. Some of the systems are a bit difficult to understand/different to what you might be used to as well. Not a bad thing, just the level of cringe/grating (or if you love that side of it) will depend on your enjoyment/tolerance for it.
- The combat is fun, but often you don't feel the hits 'connect' like in say DS or similar. It doesn't feel completely weightless, just that it doesn't quite have the crunch you might be expecting.
- You need to take the time to get into it - it's basically an MMORPG (you even have daily login rewards!) rather than a story RPG. Not a bad thing, but a friend of mine thought it'd basically be 'Japanese Witcher but with more hunting' whereas it's more like warframe but with hunting instead.