Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (2011)

After playing through the first two Monster Hunter generations, I'm all too aware of how much the game likes to screw over and be otherwise unfriendly to single player gamers. That's why the third one came off as a shock - barring the beautiful graphical changes (on a 3DS!) and the ease of (at least local) multiplayer gameplay that brought fun with friends for the first time to me in the series, the game is actually welcoming and somewhat playable in comparison to the Freedom games. Yes, the game does get unnecessarily boring and difficult alone and is plagued by questionable design decisions, but the multiplayer as well as single player can actually be managed by a player with enough will and effort. The feeling of taking down one of these beasts, whether it be a Lagiacrus, Brachydios, or Dire Miralis fills the player with much joy after careful preparation, a careful strategy, and banging one's head against the wall. It's definitely something to be enjoyed more as a group, but this generation finally puts something that will give all its wonders to the player with enough mettle and masochism to make it work. And oddly enough, it makes it a lot more fun and passes the time away! 178 hours, to be exact!