Yeah, the climb up the cliff to the snow area takes forever. The maps just don´t feel as organic and natural as in the third gen games. The environments also look very drab and low detail compared to MHP3rd (which still continues to amaze me with how good it looks on such relatively old hardware).
I still keep trying to get into MHFU from time to time - I bought it on Vita - but it just feels like such a downgrade from P3rd. Even the second analog doesn´t feel like such a big plus - I used to play MH3U on the 3DS with the CCP, but after I sold my 3DS and started playing P3rd recently, using the claw actually means being able to continue attacking while controlling both the movement and the camera all at once. Uncomfortable? For sure. But highly convenient!
One of the things I really love about Monster Hunter is the feeling of being part of nature, like I´m really going on a hunt, with wildlife, flora and lush scenery around me. MHFU has a much more "videogamey" look to it.
I can totally see that in regards to the "videogamey" areas. They all look super empty and Barron with very little variation from zone to zone and unnatural map layouts (talking about you Old Volcano/Volcano) making it seem like an artificial arena instead of a real place. Even when they do have stuff covering the ground it's just 2D copy pasted jungle plants that make it very hard to see
MHFU is certainly an acquired taste... and yeah MP3rd, while gamebreakingly easy, is just amazing in its graphics department for an old PSP game