Retro games shouldn't have to be played in a "It was good for its time" mentality. They should still be fun today because they're fun.
DQ as a whole has the same problem as Seinfeld.
where if you ever seen any OK modern show
(late 90s to early 2010's) that clearly used the same formula and structure and builds on it.
you're not going to get much out of Seinfeld.
you couldn't pay me enough to play any DQ game,
there's not enough going on mechanically, even early SMT games had more going on.
a moon phase system where it affects a demon's mood, and that plays into demon negotiation, which plays into
demon fusion and finally party building, it even had a row system where the dudes in front did more damage
yes. there are dumb exploits to the early SMT games. but I'd take shit like
"dude, anything that stuns an enemy is fucking broken" or "just fuse your dog with a demon" over
"grind. get new gear"
there's never been a bad DQ, it's a series where there's always a consistent level of quality where it never drops, but it never goes up either.
I've given so many god damn chances to like DQ, playing from all angles, DS, ps2, nes, modern remakes.
and it all felt like I was forcing myself to REALLY REALLY like Pokemon fire red. that's not to say It's bad, it's just not interesting when I've played a lot of
JRPG's and dungeon crawlers that did more with far less resources.
from how much japan REALLY loves DQ for some reason, I expected something better than good.