@Stones, ha no, not my first iso rpg smile I've played many of them, this one seems extremely tough from the outset to me though.

Maybe I need to give it a bit more time, I was hoping for more exploration and freedom especially initially but it just seems to channel me to towards specific map areas and battles....the way the devs want me to play rather than choosing for myself?

I just seem to hop from brutal battle to brutal battle frantically quicksaving and loading just to make it through. That just says to me it's too difficult. I'd expect that sort of thing mid/end-game time, not in the starting area. Anyway as you say I can switch to easy, we'll see.

Thanks for all the advice though guys, much appreciated smile