In this game it isn't a guideline. Level difference matters so much it's several orders of magnitude more important than any other stat.

Unless you know what level difference does (you'll have to check the wiki article for that because there isn't a detailed explanation ingame) and adjust your party accordingly, you should keep your characters 2 levels lower than the enemies' at max.

TL, DR: Unless you know what you're doing (like Kimi Raikkonen), don't attack enemies with a yellow or red target window.

Useful.  Thanks.

Just got it. Need some more Animal Crossing time before starting it though

Smart boy indeed xD

The only advice I can give to you this early in the game is very basic and you probably already know it, but there's really nothing else besides it: try to inflict break and topple as much as you can. Use Shulk's Stream Edge and Fiora's Air Fang to inflict Break, then Reyn will almost always Topple the enemy. An enemy in this state cannot attack, cannot dodge and is most likely to recieve critical hits. Once an enemy is toppled, get into the right position and unleash your most powerful arts while he is on the ground.

Against more powerful enemies, Chain Attacks are key, because you get access to all of your arts regardless of their cooldown state before initiating the attack. So, you can topple an enemy and hit him hard, and then initiate a Chain Attack to do that again without waiting for your arts to be available. Also, Chain Attacks deal a lot of damage... so yeah xD

Also, use the AP (Art Points) you get from missions, leveling up and discovering new places to improve your arts. You will deal more damage with them, enhance their secondary effects, heal more HP if its a healing art... by the way, use Shulk's healing art to keep the party alive xD

I think you shouldn't have any problem if you follow this steps.

Yeah.  I've played through the game multiple times before so I'm aware of all that stuff (not that I don't appreciate your attempt to be helpful).  I don't recall having that much difficulty despite not really doing many sidequests so IDK.  It may also be because I played with Sharla 90% of the time and just left the healing to her.

That hurt my feelings :( 

I don't recall ever really having difficulty in the game, and I mostly ignored sidequests.  I also didn't have much trouble in Chronicles 2 despite never raising my level above the enemies.  Guess I'll just see what happens as I get back into the groove.

The mad lads did it! They were able to ship it on time!

For those of you about to play it for the first time, I envy you.

Back in 2011 when it came out here in PAL Land I was initially hesitant to buy it, because I generally don't like JRPGs, but footage online of its sprawling, majestic worlds intrigued me, and people insisted that it got rid of a lot of the problems common to the genre at that time.

So I decided to try something outside my comfort zone and give it a go, and within the first few hours, I was blown away and completely hooked. My first playthrough is still one of my most memorable gaming experiences.

oof. I'll pour one out for you.

I was relieved mine arrived today (already a day behind) 'cause it's a public holiday monday.

Family goals.

I usually get the same day delivery from Amazon but have to wait til June 2nd.