it's the sense of discovery i suppose. same thing that draws me to monster catching games. i love finding out about a little guy. and monster hunter's duality between trying to stay somewhat grounded in giving ecological explanations for each of the monsters, vs. how that goes out the window with elder dragons, which are just supposed to be weird and unknowable, so they get to get mega indulgent with jet plane dragons and vampire dragons that teleport and shit like that ... i just think it's excellent. combat is fun ... and i just think they're structured great when i'm feeling like sinking my teeth into something hefty.