@Tavrobel

I would think that the point of any game is to entertain the player.

IF a player is entertained by the challenge, so be it. I am one of those that used all of the characters, rushed through the main story (was upset that the ability to do sidequests during that time was minimal) and am now building up to face the uber enemies from the Ruins and battle arena since I have found them to be some of the most interesting battles in the FF series.

But I recognize that a game can be ruined for some people if they are having too difficult a go of it, because their entertainment comes more from appreciating the story, setting, puzzles, whatever. IF that's the case for the OP, I think it's silly to suggest that he just not play--as we have now both pointed out, the game can be made easy--enough so that whatever a player enjoys about playing the game besides the battles can be appreciated. As you have pointed out, the game can be made challenging as well. Heck, you could fight with the weakest weapons possible, not summon Aeons, and not move on the sphere grid if you wanted. One of the characteristics of the FF games is that the difficulty is generally what you make it, provided you have time to invest. I could be wrong, but I don't think the overall _purpose_ of the FF games is to be challenging. But that's just my opinion. I respect that that's how you view your game playing, but I don't think everybody views games that way.