To prevent any unnecessary grinding, what I usually do in any RPG/JRPG is this: when I enter in a new area, I try to defeat all the enemies I can in them (depends if they respawn though, I'll usually defeat it only once). If it's an old-school RPG with random encounters, I'll defeat any enemies until a save point appears before a boss or I exit the area.
Usually, you'll be able to get through the game quite easily without being too overpowered, so there's still a little challenge in the game (RPGs are not the hardest games on Earth anyways, it sucks to make them easier by overleveling!!). Also, developers are not silly enough to add 20-30+ hours of boring grinding instead of adding more story material (at least I hope so).
Random game thought :
Why is Bionic Commando Rearmed 2 getting so much hate? We finally get a real game and they're not even satisfied... I'm starting to hate the gaming community so f****** much...
