Monster Hunter is the most boring game that I have ever played.
Let's start with gameplay. I liked the whole RPG basis, you know, level up your characters, fight monsters, earn money to buy new armor and weapons...but as much as this game tries to do those things, it just fails. To swing your sword, you have to use the right analog stick, which is quite creative, but not amusing at all. I am used to using the right analog stick for camera controls, and that's my next point, the camera. Say if you are walking, and you turn a corner, or you are in a battle, your camera view will not shift unless you press the L1 button. Perhaps this is acceptable for some gamers, but not me. I find this camera shifting very annoying. Also, dragons are really hard to fight, and almost impossible to kill by yourself.
The graphics is this game, if anything else, is something I really enjoyed. While not the as good as the back of the Monster Hunter box claims, they are pretty good for the Playstation 2. Dragons, characters, and backgrounds look really nice.
The sounds of Monster Hunter can be quite annoying at times. For example, if you walk into the town armory to buy or make new armor, you will hear the sounds of a metal shop, and some kinds of gnomes working in the background saying hi every 5 seconds. The longer you are in the armory, the more annoying it gets. Also, the music in the game gets really repetitive
I'm going to take this moment to talk about online play. While the game itself is incredibly mediocre, the online play is something you can't ignore. There is always a good amount of people online, and the community is quite nice. There will always be someone around wanting to help you with a quest. But, as with anything, there are flaws. For one, you can't trade things. Well, you can, but only stuff like potions and such. You can't trade things like armor or weapons.
For value, I would agree that this game is worth your $20. But, I wouldn't pay more than $20. Plus, if you are Canadian like me, you will have a hell of a time finding it. I have another friend that is ordering it off Ebay, because he couldn't find it in any stores.
So, in conclusion, I give Monster Hunter a tilt of 4/10, for my non-enjoyable experience, and a final score of 5.3. I don't know why everyone obsesses over this game, really. It's nothing special. Just a game that really had potential, and failed at bringing a memorable gaming experience.