How cool is it that, in a game where your base character undergoes absolutely no change no matter what rank is achieved, you still feel so much progress with that character? No level-ups, no experience, no perks or innate skills.

Ah, the Lagombi! I always thought it was part rabbit, part polar bear, part koala bear and part penguin.

Either way, one of the big problems with the demo, in my opinion, is that you haven't worked up to fighting the Lagombi. You're given a situation you have no idea what to do with, whereas in the game you have experience with everything except the new monster. Sure, you have every item and weapon you need, but personal experience is just as, if not more, important in Monster Hunter.

One of the cardinal rules: roll. Use that roll button all the time. Of course, keep an eye on your stamina, but rolling will greatly aid your fight.

Monsters, with a few exceptions (usually the big / legendary ones), will always travel between areas of the map. It's good to use that break to heal, sharpen and eat, unless the monster happens to be trying to regain stamina by eating as well, in which case it might be good to interrupt it.

No need to be embarrassed! Like I said, you haven't worked up to that situation, and the weapons and armor (armor basically equals skills) aren't your in-game decisions. Oh, and like Psycroc said, you aren't playing cooperatively. I keep forgetting about that part of the game... All my friends either can't afford a Wii U or 3DS, or are out of town, and I guess I just never really got into the online play, so I've gotten used to soloing everything.

Eh... sorry about the long post.

I bought the system solely for Monster Hunter, and trusted that other good games would follow.

As a long-standing Monster Hunter fan, I kind of bought the games without even trying the demos, so I don't know how they are.

A big part of the game, though, is learning how to fight each specific monster, meaning it will be difficult for a bit, especially since you're also learning weapon types. Still, you'll be able to practice with the weapons on small enemies before you need to fight the big ones, and the game has a few tutorial missions for you, since Monster Hunter has more than a few unique systems to it.

I would definitely join up.