PC Gaming

I don't think "I wish the newer MHs were more like the older ones" is all that controversial, it's a pretty common one to hear in MH communities.

I wouldn't worry about downvotes and wouldn't say it's controversial either - it's just a preference. There are so many games to choose in this series, you can be picky about what you want out of your experience and what you don't.

That said, if you feel like giving it a try, you could have a look at Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate for the 3DS. Back when it was released, three-dimensional movement - think climbing small ledges mid-combat to get an aerial attack in and less flat areas overall - mounting attacks, and a lot of new weapon moves have been added to the game, leading to a pretty huge improvement to the MH formula. It still holds up today, but you'd either have to have a New 3DS (2DS) for the c-stick, so you can move the camera with a second stick, or you would have to get a circle pad pro for regular 3DS (XL). You can't really play the game all too well if you can't freely control the camera without needing to re-center the camera via the L-button.

It's got one of the best stories (for a Monster Hunter game, that is - it probably still won't blow you away), a lot of cool monsters and original areas, lots, and I mean lots of collabs to choose armour and weapons from, and it looks really good for a 3DS game.

If you don't want to play on 3DS, assuming you have played Rise and didn't like its "hand-holding", you could give Generations Ultimate a shot. It's the followup to the anniversary title that is Generations and is sorta of a celebration of everything Monster Hunter. Lots of returning monsters and areas, even back from the PS2 days, huuuuuge variety of weapons and armour, different hunter styles that change up the movesets of all the weapons, plus accompanying hunter arts that are skills with different applications, ranging from different attacks to utility skills that help your hunter/party. To this day, it's my favourite Monster Hunter game by a landslide. It really shows that they poured in lots of love when making the game - it's a game by fans for fans, essentially.

That said, the game can be a little hard to get into if you don't have much experience with MH overall. Especially so if you're used to the new QoL changes Worlds, Rise, and Wilds have brought to the table.

Afaik, there are demos for all of the games I've mentioned so far, so you could try those first and see if you vibe with the style at all. Your 3DS can be jailbroken very easily, so you could even get the full game for free (or get a used copy for relatively cheap), and the online community for Generations Ultimate should still be alive and kicking if you ever feel like playing online.

I think that should be pretty much all I've wanted to mention and recommend. If you have any questions, shoot - I'll try and answer them.