I absolutely LOVED this game. It was substantially better than World, at least...not quite as good as Gen, though. The rock-paper-scissors randomness was infuriating at times, and some of the bosses (looking at you, Black Diablos) were insufferably nasty curveballs, but my experience with it was more positive than not. Thinking about it actually makes me want to play it again, and that's unusual for me with games.
What I would have liked was more freedom with eggs and the way abilities worked...being able to soft reset for eggs would have made life a lot easier, as would have being able to transfer abilities to anywhere in the grid. I went through a lot of unnecessary tedium getting some of my monsters up to peak efficiency.
...also, why is Rajang in this game. I just can't escape this bastard! Kirin, too...god almighty, WHY.
That said, the visual style was wonderful. Any game that can make KHEZU look cute is pretty remarkable. I just loved how happy they all looked when they hatched. Being able to ride a Deviljho was awesome too, and whilst the armour and character customisation was a tad minimalistic, it was still leaps and bounds above World's godawful attempt...same goes for the plot.
Where is the 2.0 DLC, though?! =/