MH Wilds looks like the perfect entry for new players. All the hunts i did so far i likked the monsters under 10 minutes. Overal the game feels easier and more acessible. This is for the main story quests i did so far. Endgame should have more challenging and longer battles.
There is a main story with quest, side quests, etc. Its not always about hunting monsters but its all about studing the local wildlife and flora. So some quests can take you fishing, gathering small creatures or some kind of flora.
The main loop of the game is killing or capturing monsters to get crafting materials so you can craft new weapons and armor so you can go hunt bigger monsters. As the monsters have elemental attacks and elemental weaknesses, to fight some of the hardest monster you might have to craft a weapon that is strong against that monster and use armor that protects against its elemental attacks. This is usually the endgame loop, just hunting certain monsters to craft especific weapons and armors to make it easier to kill the hardest monsters.