RetroGaming

Dumped down the game is about learning your weapon's moveset and the monster's moveset to get satisfying moments in hunts. Other reward for learning is getting numbers go up from upgrading or creating your weapons and armor.

Every weapon gives different playstyle and skills given by your equipment can enhance your specific playstyle. Of course there are meta options for armor (in terms of damage output), but other skills can offer so much utility or defensive stuff. Getting a skill that makes your self healing heal others can be a lifesaver. Defensive skills are lifesavers on harder hunts and reduce stress.

Monster Hunter World and Rise (with their expansions) have also pushed the ecology part of the game a lot further. It is really cool explore the different maps and their fauna. Realising that one map is pretty much covered by a corpse of an older game's gigantic monster is cool. Seeing small endemic life interacting is neat. While this ecology wondering is less seen on the older games, it is still there in smaller scale.

Freedom Unite (can be considered as the 2nd game + expansion) has been the first experience for most western veterans, so it is pretty popular. First Monster Hunter is really janky, even when compared to the other older instalments of the series, and Freedom United improved a lot on pretty much everything. Monster Hunter Tri (3rd) was like a fresh start. Most things were new; like maps, monster roster (old classics as well) and under water combat. Unfortunately Tri had to cut few older weapons out in place for new ones.