I'm not a monster hunter fanatic, but I really want to be. I planned to play this entry first, start to end, and go in order from there. Let me tell anyone who has the same aspirations as I, stop right now and reevaluate what you want out of this series. This game is bad, it's unique for its time, but it's bad, especially relative to other MH games. Most of the games in this series offer a unique experience that is worth trying out to see if it pertains to you. I feel that this one only has historical value and value to anyone who is a fan of constant suffering for little to no reward. It discovered an interesting formula, the future games refined and iterated on that formula in ways that make this game nearly obsolete. Go find which MH game fits your playstyle, and play the hell out of that one, don't play the hell out of all of them, and certainly don't play the hell out of this one.

Certainly Yoko Taro's worst work, Drakengard 3 drops the ball both in terms of story and gameplay in nearly every aspect. Anyone interested in Taro's work could find value in Drakengard 1 with its bold, unique storytelling, despite the fact that the gameplay necessary to experience it is grueling and incredibly repetitive. Drakengard 3 on the other hand has little to no payoff for the cost of gameplay that is, again, grueling and incredibly repetitive, but also runs like absolute garbage on a PS3. The weapon variety is an illusion, with there being about two subtypes of each weapon type, 90% of which I recommend you ignore in favor of using a good spear to make the experience less painful. Your average level consists of killing hallways and rooms filled with enemies that pose little to no challenge and are often more irritating than anything else and then arriving at a larger room to kill a boss you've already fought six times. The story is nonsense at worst and leaves you with the sense that it could have been more at best. The game was clearly rushed in development; lack of optimization, repetitive "level design", and a story that leaves a dozen characters underdeveloped and a thousand questions unanswered makes that clear. The player is led to believe that the protagonist simply doesn't have a reason to be committing any of the actions that she does until the final act where it's revealed that she's doing it to save the world, but never is it explained why she told no one this or why she is a vitriolic, bloodthirsty psychopath regardless of the fact that her quest necessitates that she kill five people, yes, only five people. Drakengard 1's protagonist is a mute murderer who kills because he is a bad person tunnel visioned on one solution to his problems. He is an anti-hero. The player is supposed to recognize that his actions, and therefore the player's actions, are evil and unnecessary. His saving the world by the end is not of his own accord, it is something that he stumbles into on accident. Conversely, the player is supposed to believe that Drakengard 3's Zero is a good person for the things she has done when she has done one singular, redeemable thing in possibly the worst way. If you must play this game, I have two things to say to you. Firstly, play it on an emulator. Secondly, you will leave this game having gained nothing but an appreciation for Yoko Taro's OTHER games. Do not expect to enjoy this experience because you will be sorely disappointed. For anyone who has finished this game, I commend you.

P.S.
The final boss is unironically awesome, one of very few things that this game has to offer.

Minor spoilers for the tone of the ending.
Prey might be one of my favorite games of all time IF it was in the oven a tad longer. The last act of the game drops the ball hard. Closing off large sections of the play space, limiting your options and play style in a genre that hinges on creative player choice. The atmosphere takes a complete 180, becoming urgent to an almost suffocating degree for an exhausting amount of time. If the final act was a short burst of tense action, it would be fine, maybe even great, but instead the player finds themselves wandering the same areas that they have been with minimal differences for way too long. This screams rushed ending, and it's tragic that such a great game falls apart at such a pivotal moment.