The Monster Hunter series is a really great series and is very popular outside of North America, but why is it not popular here? There are a few glaringly "unAmerican" things that are in the game that both make it great and completely impossible to sell to North Americans (which I will just call Americans from here on out).
The biggest issue in my opinion is how incredibly slow the game is, everything is very meticulous and in need of forethought but at the same time the game often moves at glacial speeds. To swing your weapon it takes what feels like ages to go through the motion, and often the thing you were striking has moved away (with no ability to cancel the swing), and this is true of all the different weapons with even the faster ones requiring some lead time (plus less return when you do hit). The other major problem with the combat is that you can't use items with your weapon out. Meaning that you must sheath your weapon and then you can use your item. You also can't run with your weapon out (and in fact with many weapons you can barely move around) which leads to some serious frustration.
Outside of combat speed there is also the complete lack of "leveling" which is a blessing and a curse. Your character never gets any more skilled than when he started. He will gain new gear, making him better in combat and can gain hunter ranks, but in essence you aren't actually any better than when you started, just with a better suit of armour on and a new shiny sword!
For those that are patient enough to get over the high learning curve there is a lot of game to love. String together combos, learn the best way to clear different monster types and best of all learn to hunt those beasties down with your friends!
