First, the good: the world was one of the most interesting I've seen in an RPG, and the storyline gimmick of discovering and saving each town one by one made for some very compelling episodic storytelling. Each town had their own unique saga, and they made me alternately laugh, cry, think, and on one occasion gnash my teeth in rage and wish there were a way to destroy the town.
That said, it was a huge missed opportunity for the job system to shine: this is one of the few job system games I have absolutely no urge to replay, because even unlocking the job systems takes over 30 hours - more time than many entire games! I'm also not a big fan of the camera angles - they made navigation more difficult than it had to be, and detracted from the feeling of exhilarating exploration that characterizes the best DQ games. I also wasn't a fan of the combat (see here for more detailed thoughts: https://www.backloggd.com/u/gyoza/review/150377/) I don't regret playing it one bit, but I'm not sure if I'll replay it again!
That said, it was a huge missed opportunity for the job system to shine: this is one of the few job system games I have absolutely no urge to replay, because even unlocking the job systems takes over 30 hours - more time than many entire games! I'm also not a big fan of the camera angles - they made navigation more difficult than it had to be, and detracted from the feeling of exhilarating exploration that characterizes the best DQ games. I also wasn't a fan of the combat (see here for more detailed thoughts: https://www.backloggd.com/u/gyoza/review/150377/) I don't regret playing it one bit, but I'm not sure if I'll replay it again!