Well, as a former MonHan fan, that clunky combat refers to methodical, QTE styled combat that's really more like a rhythm game with dinosaurs. It's one of the designs that's there intentionally, particularly with the bigger and more unwieldy weapons.
It's also one of the issues that keep many gamers away, as evidenced in this and many other threads. Those rather inflexible constraints are very unfun for a huge amount of gamers.
It's also why I'm so confused why Capcom tried this Hail Mary approach in the first place. The core gameplay has limited appeal, and they are tweaking it heavily this time around. On top of that, the platform change means we they have to take into account a certain fanbase shrinkage (like me, who cannot be bothered to buy any non-Nintendo pissbox). It's a huge and exceedingly pricey gamble to do all that and at the same time target three UHD platforms at once.
Oh well. Game still seems to be rather good though. I'm envious.
That T-Rex with the nose tumour is a stupid as fuck design, though. Yuck.
Edit: Demi, MonHan missions are always timed. It's MonHan. For all the changes they have applied, they still can't escape their core gameplay philosophy that constricts you like a corset. It's stifling, isn't it. Part of the appeal though.