DRAGON QUEST IX

I'm sort of unsure of your question. What else is different besides touch encounters and class changes? As you said, class changes aren't new. Touch encounters are there, and they work very very well. Because the battles are simple and easy, I'm running into enemies instead of avoiding them. Because it's a portable game, having to hit A repeatedly for simple enemies doesn't seem like a chore, it's just time to look out the window to check if your bus stop has passed yet.

The world map is in between VII and VIII. There's an annoying fairy who speaks and looks like a gyaru.

I'm also not sure where you pulled that release date from, and what you plan on doing instead of waiting.