So, title says it all; a thread for video game recommendations.
Ask for anything ranging from ideas from what type of gamer you are or advice about a game you've heard.

Okay, first up: me.
Subject: Monster Hunter Tri [Wii]

Question: Is this good? Should I get it? Is the online good? Yadayadayada~

If you get Monster Hunter Tri, you'll have to realize something when you first play: you'll suck. You'll get killed, you'll fail lots and lots. You're gonna question if it's worth it, if you can ever get good. But the more you play, the better you get. Right around hour 50 (give or take 10), it kind of clicks and the game makes sense. The challenge becomes what's part of what makes it fun.

The game is centered around boss fights. Hunt bosses, carve them for parts, forge better armor/weapons, repeat. If you have something against grinding, this game isn't for you. There are no levels or experience in this game, so in order to get better you actually have to get better. Monster Hunter's combat may seem hard at first, especially if you've just been playing Zelda. But you'll grow to like the challenge, and appreciate the mechanisms they have in place. Unlike Zelda, in which it's completely obvious when to attack or defend, and how you can get through the game unscathed, in Monster Hunter you really have to learn how the Monster you're Hunting fights. You'll learn when to dodge and when you might be able to get off an extra attack.

There are also 7 types of weapons in the game (Long Sword, Great Sword, Sword & Shield, Lance & Sheild, Hammer, BowGun and Switch Axe), each with a mostily different playstyle. That pretty much creates a "New Game +" for the game: starting a new character and focusing on a different weapon. Of course, you dont' have to start a new character to do that. My favourite is the Long Sword since it has good dodges and the best combos.

Online is pretty important, since all of the strongest bosses are online-only, and the normal bosses are harder when you fight them online. You can team up with 3 other people to make things easier though. People stronger and better than you will help you out too, so it may be a good idea to get into the online scene a littler earlier than I did (I waited until about hour 70 before i went on for the first time, you might consider much earlier).

Monster Hunter is probably my most played game on the Wii, behind Mario Kart and Brawl. I'm definitely a fan of the series now, and I'm looking forward to any possible Wii U version.

Are they any Friend Codes or Friend Lists or something to get in contact with, er...friends?

You don't need any of that friend code nonsense.
When you get online, you can see the other players doing thier thing. You can then send friend requests to add them to your friend list.

You can also give other people a your user ID or name (it's 6 letters long) so that they can look you up if they haven't met you in game.

I suppose you have one too as well, right?

Yea.
I don't really do that whole "game community" thing that most people do, so I don't use my friend list much and just join random people or get them to join me.

You can hunt in groups up to 4. You create "cities" which hold up to 4 people, and you can give the city a purpose such as "Hunt Monster X" so that people will only come to that city if they want to "Hunt Monster X."

Loot/Carves are individualized, so there is no fighting over who gets what. Everyone gets everything. Also, there is no trading of weapons/armros, but you can give basic items like potions and such to anyone you meet.

The online sounds pretty sweet, but how about offline and single-player experiences?

Are the online and offline modes connected in any way?

The offline has about 50-ish missions that you go on.
Online is divided into High Rank and Low Rank. For the most part, Low Rank are the same missions that you do offline. But harder. High Rank are new missions that are even harder. Online monsters have more HP/Defense than offline ones.

Offline has 1 boss that online doesn't have, and it's the last boss. Online has 2 bosses offline doesn't. There isn't much in the way of story or characters, just the player and the game. You do get a helper early in the game, a little sidekick named ChaCha, and he's pretty useful for drawing enemy attention away from the player.

You take your offline character online, and all your items/weapons/armors are carried over. Their are some exclusive items that you can only get online, mostily because onlines bosses are harder and drop special stuff.

I think the game can be played exclusively offline without much problem. I "beat" the game (or at least the last offline boss) before venturing online. Most of the game is essentially grinding though, and without story or characters it's more obvious.