I have to admit, it's nice being able to actually travel the world without having to fight off stuff all the time or dying. It's fun when leveling, but not so much when I just want to get somewhere.
More importantly it doesn't really make sense lore-wise. Think about all of the things you have taken down in a party of 4 by the end of the main story thus far. These had better be epic creatures that are a threat to us! I think Odin and Behemoth in the FATEs are basically as close as you are going to get.