What's with all the arguments about balancing? Seriously, I couldn't give two s***s less about what everyone thinks about balancing.
I appreciate people saying what's not balanced. I would have been very upset had I just started reading those skill books, and figured out later, I was essentially using an unlimited stat trainer.
It's not just the cheat books either. An AI that can't handle invisibility, or not being to take leech because its essentially a full heal every hit, are two other instances I've felt I had to handicap my characters. It's not fun to purposely avoid mechanics, or to gimp your characters more than they should be, to avoid something OP.
in the same amount of time two or three playthroughs could be done.
I don't know what game you're rushing to play next. There hasn't been a good turn based rpg in ages. Difficulty, depth to mechanics, character builds choices, just like plot choices, all help the game stay relevant for longer. In my book that's a good thing.
Since your enjoyment comes from speeding through the story (and I do enjoy the story as well), there is an easy mode. I'm sure cheat mods are coming if not already available, and there's also a few guys streaming on twitch, where you can just watch a playthrough -- for the story.
