My second Dragon Quest after 11 and I liked it at least as much, if not a little more. I really liked the style, especially the character designs are top notch. I also really liked the melancholic mood, which is emphasized by the music. Then there's the very fairytale-like narrative, which was quite classic but always motivating. I was glad to have played the 3DS version, as it didn't have any random encounters so you could run through the world in a very relaxed way. I only had to grind once just before the final boss, otherwise the balancing and pacing were very good. All in all, my favorite DQ so far. Oh yes, and the photo feature on the 3DS was great fun, I took lots of little pictures :D