I have found both to be true, but learned a few things. Some fights, it's best not to stop and try to kill everyone. Just keep walking towards you goal and shoot/stab enemies along the way. The helm fight, the real goal is to get to that transponder thing, so if you walk there asap and avoid the large winged devil, it's reasonable to get there. Plus I learned befriending everyone you can along the way and have them join your team works really well. You have more fighters. Also use "hide" a fair amount. It let's you go some areas undetected until the last minute, then you can walk/shoot your way out. Another strategy I discovered is bows have the best power at medium range. I kept trying to sharp shoot them from afar, but the damage is a lot less. Anyway... I have noticed each battle has something about it that makes it easier if you look for the signs. Still... I do really like chosen difficulty levels like they have in most RPGs these days. I would have preferred those.
