As Timerk said, there are spots where the level spikes are pretty steep...not sure if its only two though. I hit one last week and havent even touched the game since then. I was actually a few lvs ahead of everything, and then i get to a certain area and BAM! i'm getting slaughtered. I'd already spent several hours leveling just so i could reach that area, and whaddya know, it allowed me to reach that area just so i could die. So now i've gone back to playing my third file on Resident Evil 4.

The battle system i like fairly well, i like being able to see whats ahead of me and knowing whether or not i have the strength (or patience) to fight it.

And IX is an incredible FF. Whoever says it sucks should be shot.