User blog comment:Plexioth- xD/Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate/@comment-72.27.74.247-20111222011145/@comment-969093-20111222120924

The problem with this artificial difficulty you're talking about when it comes down to MH3 and MHP3rd is that monster's damage output overall has been nerfed significantly. You don't really have to upgrade anything if you go with equipment that can be consider the standard for a specific point in the game. Upgrading it, in fact, will drastically cut down on the damage monsters deal.

Using a weaker armor is not going to make the game much, if at all, any harder. The reason for this is simple. Unlike in the 1st and 2nd generation installments monsters do not have the tendency to corner you and exploit your unfortunate position. A killer attack for instance used to be the instant-charge which about every monster in 1st/2nd gen did. For example, you just staggered a Rathian and you're still somewhere between the width of her 2 wings in front of her and out of nowhere, without warning, she charges you at point blank. Depending on the rank and level of your equipment that would either result (assuming we're not fighting a villlage Rathian with White Fatalis Z armor) in massive damage or even be lethal.

Another thing about difficulty is that in the 1st and 2nd generation you had to have proper equipment unless you want to die in 1 hit. The less defense you have, the more skill you must have in order to compensate adequately for the increased danger of getting killed. In the 3rd generation this is way more balanced. You can survive high rank monsters in low rank equipment. If you tried this in mh1 you would barely survive even 1 attack with max health. I remember losing 8/10 of my health from a simple taunt during the offline TP quest in mh1.

It is not really a matter of hitboxes that made the games hard back in the day either. I've come to realise this a few months ago when I started playing MHF1. These so called terrible hitboxes of doom weren't all that terrible. They turned out to be easier to MOI than I had ever imagined. Sure, the Plesioth hipcheck in that game was still broken, but it is still the easiest attack of all to roll through. So people complaining about his attack are not quite making a valid point as to how unfair/difficult the games used to be. It is rather that they just never developed enough skill to adequately play it.

The monsters in the 3rd generation, not speaking for MH3G yet as I haven't played it, but I will, soon, are in every aspect much easier than the ones you fought in the older games. The reasons for this have already been mentioned. Lowered attack power, refined hitboxes, more responsive gameplay, more realistic monster behaviour (yes, that also adds to it) and less cheapness on the monster's end. The balance for skill - equipment isn't as bad as it used to be. Lowered defense requires less skill, comparatively, to compensate for higher vulnerability nowadays. All of this, is what makes the 3rd gen easier than the 1st and 2nd. But this doesn't mean the 3rd gen is a good one though. It's awesome. But it needs a little more "MH" if you get what I mean.