While not same as it was, MH3 Tri should be recognized for how important it was in reinvigorating the franchise.
Monster hunter 3 tri is very much a similar experience to the first and second monster hunter generations. You will begin the game creating a custom character who will be dropped into Moga Village - a fishing platform turned village - where a series of monster related earthquakes has the village living in constant fear. As you can tell, monster hunter is very light on story. Yet, monster hunter makes up for this for being a very deep and complex game. Sure, you will embark on quests, slay creatures, gather resources etc. However, each of these tasks has a lot of depth to them. There are literally hundreds of unique resources you have to seek out via mining, fishing, bug catching, and so on. Tri alleviates some of the monotony of collecting materials by offering services in Moga Village to generate resources for you. Moga Farm can be upgraded to produce various commodities, and you can send ships out to sea in search of treasure and other goods.
The star of the show has to be the Monsters themselves. You can tell that a lot of thought and care went into the Monster design, no two are the same. Each monster also features unique attack patterns and special attacks to guarantee that no one fight is the same. The fights with these beasts are also some of the most challenging battles you can experience in a video game. This is partly due to the fact that each of the 7 or so weapons are very clunky to use, and the monster themselves are very fast and are not so forgiving on the hunter for making a mistake. And when you get hit.... it hurts. However, after hacking and slashing your way through an epic power struggle you will feel the sweet rush of victory as the monster finally drops. The spoils of your fight can be used to craft very unique and well designed weapons and armor.
A lot of the replay value lies in the online play, where you and 3 other hunters can team up to face even stronger foes. Nothing beats the feeling of teaming up with some friends and taking on some of the more challenging monsters Tri has to offer. The game does a very good job at promoting teamwork and strategic play in contrast to pitting players against each other. This has contributed to building one of the most friendly online gaming communities out there.
From a design/presentation standpoint, the art direction for the Monster Hunter series has always remained consistently unique. Character models look great, armor and weapons are intricate and detailed, and the environments lush and look great despite the Wii's limited hardware. There are better looking games out there no doubt, but Tri holds up just fine.
Monster Hunter 3 Tri, while not pushing the series in very new directions, still remains the game that contributed to saving Monster Hunter in the western world. Being on the Wii allowed for more individuals who never heard of monster hunter to try the game, and given the Wii's very large install base, it did not take long for it to become one of the top multiplayer games on the system.
With the Tri servers due to close in the near future, and Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on store shelves; there is very little reason to play Tri today. However, it's important to remember that this was an important monster hunter title, and a great game as well.