Here's my recommendation:
I packed away 60+ hours in Dragon Quest 8 and loved every minute of it.
I somehow put in 35 - 40 hours in Final Fantasy XII, hoping I would start enjoying it at some point - yet every hour seemed like pulling teeth - in the end I ended up saying "f..k it" and quitting - not being able to muster enough interest to finish it...
Just for a point of reference - I adored EVERY Final Fantasy Game until XII - I still replay the old ones to this day.








