Hey guys, I have never played a Monster Hunter game before but I have always been intrigued by the series and it seems like this game is a good place to start. I don't really like multiplayer in games and even if I did, I have no friends who like Monster Hunter. Do you think it would be worth buying just for the solo experience? Thanks.

You can play with us!!

That said all I've been reading make it seem that the SP experience is considerably better than past renditions, so you should have a pretty good time with it.

But you should really consider playing it with other people from time to time(you can bring your character seamlessly between online and offline), It's one of the best coop games I have ever played.

Been wondering the same thing.

The majority of my time spent in Monster Hunter 3 was single player. The game is great playing by yourself. The monsters don't scale with multiple players as far as I know so you will be fighting monsters longer than if you were in a party of 4 but you can still manage to beat everything in the game single player. The difference is that playing multiplayer is like fighting in a big brawl where your buddy swinging his massive hammer around might knock you down and single player is more like a duel where you study the monsters movements to weave and dodge their attacks while you sneak in hits.

Another thing to consider is a good portion of the game is item management/crafting/gathering so that stuff doesn't really lend itself to a multiplayer environment, so especially in the early game you'll probably be best playing single player anyways. Where the multiplayer really shines is once you have gotten your footing and have the supplies to sit down with a couple friends or even strangers and just keep on doing the fights without worrying about the item management until you are done playing.

There is plenty of content with just the single-player, you will easily get your moneys worth without ever touching the multiplayer. I played MH3U for 70+ hours and got my fill, if I hadn't, I could have played for another 70+ by diving into the online content.

Just think of it as Boss Battle: The Game.

@doctordonkey: Is it the kind of game where I will have to use a faq to get acclimated with It or is it easy enough to figure out? Because I know the game has a reputation for being very complicated and hard for newcomers. That being said though, reviews have said this one is more accessible.

@pompouspizza: It is only complicated in that its not what most people are use to in an action game. Once you get use to how it plays the actual gameplay loop is not really that complicated.

If a FAQ does come into play it would more likely be to see which monsters drop the materials you need for crafting (although most of them are pretty self explanatory) or maybe to see weapon upgrade paths to know how you want to upgrade your weapons. But you dont really need that just to jump in and play.

Also I think these games are much better solo at the start. You need some practice on your own learning monster patterns and how to fight them without a bunch of other people carrying you. I dont feel like the early monsters are ever really designed to be fought with multiple people.

I played solo and had faq's open for the weapon trees because there are so many. The game itself is very Skinner box and I think playing with friends helps to alleviate that a bit. It's one of those games that I super enjoy but then at some point ask myself .. What am I doing this for? But then I remember cracking skulls with a bf sword is incredibly satisfying. (The monsters react really well in the way you see someone eat it on a skateboard and think ooo that's bad but awesome)

@pompouspizza: Apparently this one actually has more of a story, and a more substatial single player mode, so I don't think you will be disappointed.

Also at some point you will want to use an FAQ. It's a lot easier to use a wiki to find out what the upgrade paths are for the weapon you are using, so you don't choose an upgrade that shuts you out of a cooler weapon down the line. Plus the wikis usually have good weapon combo lists, which can be handy if you ever switch or want to know what else your weapon can do. That said, it won't be necessary to get started, unless you are overwhelmed by the number of crafting items and just want to know what they do and what the crafting recipes are without having to find them experimentally.

Thanks guys, you have all been really helpful. I'm definitely going to pick it up now.