It is grindy, and I don't feel like they had mastered the balance of party combat yet in DQ II, but it made progress in other areas. It's my least favorite as well, but I'll still replay it every half-decade or so while I'll only replay DQ I every decade. I is objectively better, but I don't feel that there's anything I can get out of it anymore. I learned the locations of everything I needed, beat the game at it's hardest with taking the Dragon King out at level 19 when you get Healmore, and even did two playthroughs with special names for stat variances. http://www.gamefaqs.com/nes/563408-d...ior/faqs/18342 , all while still in elementary school. I can't remember which name it is now, but there's something you can name your character to start off cursed as well.