I love the game. It was only my 3rd DQ after 8 and 1 but right now it's my favorite. Bought it on PC and played about 70 hours before I stopped, bought the switch version and completed that one. Spent 130hrs with the Switch version. I didn't finish it until after finishing 1-4 and 8 though. To me the battles felt like a great improvement over 8, albeit it was a small improvement to a battle system that hasn't really changed much at all since DQ2.
Personally, I like the very traditional and simplistic combat of the DQ main series. This series has managed to rekindle my love of video games. I was going pretty long stretches not playing more than 1 session of new games. Regularly paying full price near launch for a game that I'll play once or twice and then never finish. There's been a few to override this fate to completion; God of War, and Yakuza 0 namely. But when DQ8 entered my life it gradually got more and more difficult to put down my 3DS. 6 DQ games later I'm now going back to other non-DQ games and completing them. Some how this franchise was just the bit of nostalgia and traditionalism I needed to appreciate modern video games again oddly enough...
I'm also excited to experience DQ5 after this break to prevent franchise fatigue.
4 ≈ One
