Haha, that Fire Emblem comment is so true. I was Classic all through Awakening and doing the 'reset if someone dies' approach. Then I realized...that's just forcing Casual mode on myself. I've been Casual all the way after that and I don't regret it!

I think there is a line between doing things to level up or get stronger and grinding. I would not call all repetitive actions to get stronger 'grinding'. 'Grinding' is the negative term I would use to only describe it when it becomes cumbersome. Like if the drop rate is 1% on an essential item or if it takes 2 hours to gain a level. Fine to require some effort to do things, but that's just excessive.