I've started the serie with MH Freedom on PSP. Too overwhelming for a first play (timed mission, needing to find the monster, weapon sharpness?) , I left it aside.
Few years latter we started MH 4 on switch with a friend. Beeing more motivated to play it as we were two, I took more time to understand it and play with the various weapons and Oh god it clicked ! The combat system is so deep, you have so many options, then there is the monsters, majestous beast giving you a tough battle !
From there I followed with MH World and it's improvement on about everything and finally Rise. Battle in rise are so fun, you can play on the ground or in the air or both, every one of the 14 weapon type has sub choices in how you want to use it, making your own way to play the game.
It is definitely one of my favorite franchise and I'd really like to try wild when it comes out :)
Oh man I wanted the circle pad so much, but I had the 2ds :'(
Game changer when I played MH World with 2 joystick!