Thank you so much for this post about the game. I'm still debating whether I should pick it up now or wait until it's on discount. I think I'll do the latter.
I do like the fact it's not really for casual gamers and there's some learning curve. You covered pretty much everything!
@azure-infinity I'm a long time monster hunter fan. So i picked up the game the day it came out.
It really is not a game for beginners and you can be overwhelmed easily when you start out.
But once you figured out how it works and what everything is for. The game becomes amazing.
I'm currently doing a Monster hunter weapons series about each weapon, just some information about each of them and their strengths/weaknesses. You can read about them here.
If you ever do pick up the game I'd like to suggest Adopt A Hunter. The Monster hunter community created adopt a hunter, Where they match up a new player with a veteran player. So the veteran player can take the new player on a hunt and show them the ropes and teach them about the game.
There's no rush! The community is extremely welcoming from what I've experienced (although you'll run into a little elitism here and there, not as bad as in some communities though). Perhaps we might meet in-game, someday!