Surely gamers don't just want there hand held throughout a game?

Not getting the game, I played Tri on the Wii to death and don't want to do it again.

That said, it was SO fun killing the monsters. It just makes me more excited for MH4.

Played both demos and I was totally surprised that the 3ds version looks really good and runs really smooth.

Tried all the new weapons, gunlance was ok, bow seemed cool, hunting horn was intriguing.

Will be buying both versions so me and my wife can play together.

I tried the 3DS version as well and didn't like how you control the camera at all. A stick works much better than a touch screen.

can you play mh solo? or does it work best as a co-op game?

That could be rewarding, and was also expecting to get some raw materials from the wildlife.

Still, personalization is what made me like DQIX at the beginning, but the gradual grinding is what turned me away.

Monster hunter is right up my street, I rather have this over a game such as gta any day of the week, it's rewarding and packed full of gaming hours

It's possible to play most of the game solo, but at the very high-end it gets pretty hard (you might need to exploit dangerous skills like Adrenaline to finish within the time limit).  The game definitely encourages and rewards co-op play.  For instance, quest rewards are not divided between players, so when you play with a partner you EACH get as much stuff as you normally would, but it takes half the time (less than half if you're well-organized).