DQVIII has pretty much the best free-roaming worldmap seen in a J-RPG, imo. That alone merits playablility. The exploration aspect was extremely vast and interesting.

Also, if you're playing a DQ game for the storyline, expect to be dissapointed. You're bound to find a ton of fetch-quests. Which shouldn't be a problem as games (even RPGs) shouldn't priotorize storyline over gameplay.

Even though the Dragon Quest series is noted for tradition, I do agree that they need to rid of some out-dated mechanics, such as: turn-based gameplay and level-grinding. Nostalgia is a horrible attachment that prevents change. And as all things and industries grow, things need to change.

With all that said, I enjoyed DQVIII. Amazing world map ftw.