II is definitely bigger and better but I kind of like the simplistic charm of DQI a little better. It's probably me least favorite entry in the series so far but I would hardly call it a bad game. Of anything it's an odd middle child feeling like an evolution on what DQI did for the console JRPG but still feeling like a missing link from the later entries that feel like more fully developed games. The game is a bit too grindy for my taste but I had fun with my own playthrough of it recently.