Dragon Quest games are cozy for me because I remember playing DQ1 on the NES as a kid not knowing what the fuck to do and just walking around fighting. Same thing in FF1, just made a party and fucked around because I didn't get the concept of the game. Eventually I played Pokemon and was like, "Oh, this is like DQ and FF, I should replay those" and got into JRPGs properly. DQ is like Star Trek TOS: it's flawed but revolutionary and still enjoyable if you understand it as a product of its time. Where FF changes everything up in every game, DQ presents itself as familiar and reliable. You always know what you're getting and if you like one DQ, you'll pretty much like them all. That said, the first 2 games are really rough from a modern perspective and are only recommended if you're some kind of series completionist. As for the themes, yeah, that's just how it is. It's really old school style fantasy so that's what you end up with. I would recommend trying DQ5 (the PS2 version with translation patch or DS version), it's a high point for the series and not too long. It introduced the ability to catch monsters and use them in battle (copied later by Pokemon) and the story follows the protagonist through different periods of their life, which is somewhat unique. In the end, though, DQ fandom is nearly entirely vibes-based. Other JRPGs have more interesting stories, battle systems, music, etc. For me, it's a combination of nostalgia and the particular quirks of DQ games that make me feel at home in the slop.