Leveling system... brutal.

[*Laurelindo*]

I honestly think people should stop being so obsessed with the glitch and try playing the game the way it was intended.
I've made it to Pandemonium now and the only time I even used a glitch was to level up the Heal spell quicker, and only because I couldn't find any good reason to use it and needed it at LV5 since I was about to enter the Whirlwind (where you constantly get turned to Stone).
I never used a single Save State either, the game is definitely beat-able without the glitch if you know what you're doing.

Trust me, the game is so much more fun when you feel that your stats raise naturally.
If you have problems with a dungeon, just exit, rest and re-enter, and do it until you are strong enough to make it to the boss.

I will submit a glitch-free guide for this game on Gamefaqs soon, where I will give advice on good leveling spots and strategies instead of mentioning the glitch (and the cheap Blood Sword strategy, for that matter) everywhere (because I'm honestly really tired of those kinds of guides, it's like getting the advice to use Knights of Round on Sephiroth).

[bennator]

To be honest, the leveling system is why FFII is the only Final Fantasy I haven't completed. It's original for sure, and I give Square credit there, but after I lost my progress halfway through a game, I haven't had the heart to start all over again and make it very far.

Exploiting the glitch gets around this, but it's also not very fun; it's not enjoyable to button mash select cancel over and over, and that also feels cheap.

I'm not saying it's a bad per se, but just not fun for me

[Skyblade]

I honestly think people should stop being so obsessed with the glitch and try playing the game the way it was intended.
I've made it to Pandemonium now and the only time I even used a glitch was to level up the Heal spell quicker, and only because I couldn't find any good reason to use it and needed it at LV5 since I was about to enter the Whirlwind (where you constantly get turned to Stone).
I never used a single Save State either, the game is definitely beat-able without the glitch if you know what you're doing.

Trust me, the game is so much more fun when you feel that your stats raise naturally.
If you have problems with a dungeon, just exit, rest and re-enter, and do it until you are strong enough to make it to the boss.

I will submit a glitch-free guide for this game on Gamefaqs soon, where I will give advice on good leveling spots and strategies instead of mentioning the glitch (and the cheap Blood Sword strategy, for that matter) everywhere (because I'm honestly really tired of those kinds of guides, it's like getting the advice to use Knights of Round on Sephiroth).

I have never used the glitch. I just found the gameplay completely, mind-bogglingly boring due to the poor levelling system.

The basic idea, that you use something in combat enough, it gets stronger, is a nice idea. In implementation, it turned out horrendous. Since it isn't just use of a spell or attack, but number of uses per combat, that denotes the level up, maxing spells and abilities is nearly impossible without some grinding that makes FFVIII's drawing magic to 100 seem positively fun in comparison.

[Wolf Kanno]

Its not as bad as people think, part of the issue is that people get too hung up on leveling magic and weapon skills which are the most time consuming elements in the game but oddly enough there are either easy short cuts to raising their levels or ways to get the most impact out of low levels. The other issue I've noticed which is normal for highly exploitable systems is that people feels its necessary to max out stats when really just having a 30-50 mark is more than enough to complete the game.

Weapon skills can be leveled quickly without the glitch by simply equipping the same weapon on a character twice. This works for everything but Bows and fists but bows get outclasses by duel damage weapons and the fist is more reliant on your strength stat than the weapons proficiency. You don't need to max weapons to 16, Level 5 is pretty adequate.

Stats are not as hard to raise and level up more frequently due to a number of factors. Its actually Squares inability to explain your armor's impact on leveling and stats that causes the game to be a headache.

Here's the big secret about magic. The levels are important but only if you want heavy armor. Every piece of equipment in the game has an impact on your magic stats through a hidden stat that never shows up sad to say but the logic makes it easier to decipher what equipment is good. Basically equipping your mage with swords and armor reduces the effectiveness of magic. Equipping rods and robes doesn't. The best swords and armor in the game will knock your magics power back to 1 if you are not careful. Likewise, you will be pleasantly surprised how much damage you do if you get enough of the negative armor off your mage which will make the spells low levels much more effective. The only issue I should warn you is that II has a very different idea of what is considered "mage type equips" so in the beginning you may have to have your mages nearly naked cause their are very few helms and accessories that mages can wear without compromising magic power.

Speed has a similar issue where less is more. You character will never get fast if they are equipped with heavy armor or using lances and axes. You need fast items like knives and staffs.

Basically, if you want to play the game right without exploiting the glitch, the real idea is to pre-plan the classes you want to build the characters into and then equip them properly for it. There is actually not as much room for versatility in the game as people believe there is to be, without exploiting the glitch.

[Lamia]

II was an easy game, and I actually found III to be much more difficult. I think the problem people have with II is that they don't specialize their characters. Because stats go down as well as up in this game, it is important to make sure your characters aren't nerfed from being spread too thin.
I made Maria my sole caster... She took care of buffs, debuffs, healing, and magic damage... She was always casting magic so her magic power, MP, and spell levels kept up with the pace without the need to grind... Everyone else I just made into pure fighters :P Strength, HP, weapon levels... The Emperor was cake.