The game was designed so that you could not really overlevel to beat everything. It was designed so that you would have to use your head to beat the enemies. As one of the guys from the FFXIII team said, every single mission is beatable without using cheats or shrouds. You just need the right tools for the job. For every job there is a proper tool. >.>
Anyway, can it be frustrating? Oh yes it is. You've got no idea how many times I got annoyed with a boss or enemy or something that stopped me but I eventually found a way. If you're stumped on something there are actually quite a few youtube videos for the missions. I went to see what sort of tactics people were using to see if I needed to refine something. There are also guides and what not that collect other people's play styles. Everyone will play differently and picking up other methods can be pretty helpful.
Another thing can be the party members. I can't really explain it, but I had Lightning, Sazh and Fang try to take down a large Adamantoise and failed. I put in Vanille for Lightning and I suddenly won. The team can make all the difference too. And I did use the exact same paradigms both times.
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