The main battle system just isn't good enough. Its ideas seem spread out across nearly 30 characters, making each one individually boring to play at best and actively infuriating at worst. Boss battles, especially towards the end, boil down to trading blows and using the game system to make sure you are invincible during heavy enemy attacks rather than being able to freely dodge or guard what's incoming. It's annoying because there are times with certain characters where you're trouncing groups of enemies or taking on multiple officer-class characters at once that it's genuinely fun.

I think the fact I've completed this rather than Dragon Quest Heroes speaks to how annoying I find the endless base defence missions in that.