some rpgs have character progression curves that reasonably match the actual challenge of the stuff the game asks you to do, so you never really have to grind to keep up. octopath traveler thinks those rpgs are cowards.

olberic's chapter 2 has a recommended level of 27, and takes place in victors hollow, a town you can only reach by traveling through a level 34 zone

i was only able to reach it by having alfyn, level 36, drag the rest of my party, average level 28, bloody and beaten, through the woods, running from every random encounter

that was a maze of a sentence

it feels like actually gearing up my party with appropriate weapons and armor always costs way more money than the game ever gives me, and i'm not sure if that's because i'm doing something wrong, or if most gear is just supposed to be out of reach for a long time

or if, as i speculated earlier, the game just expects you to grind for a long time

and i have a distinct memory of actually trying to grind for a while, and. finding it way too difficult and tedious. which i think was what made me give up and stop playing originally