AoE status are annoying as hell but if you are used to RPGs in general you can have a party with AoE nukes wiping everything really early before the enemy can even get a turn. (3 AoE nukers + 1 single target nuker for bosses/annoying targets).
AoE, Status and AGI are king, stack those and the game its a breeze.
Problem is that all enemies outspeed me if I go with the recommended level to handle the previous dungeon (which is usually the same level as the strongest MG you can recruit there) so even if I attempt to use AoE attacks they can be easily disabled with status debuffs before I'm able to attack. And then there's the times in which you get attacked by surprise, meaning the enemies get a free turn before you, which is enough to cause a game over. Heck, I usually reloaded my save when it happened because I usually get wiped out.
So obviously I'm forced to grind so at least some of the girls get a turn before the enemy, which after a while becomes really annoying to do in each dungeon. Of course I also switch girls if they get stuck with any of the status effects that may make them waste a turn, but the problem here is that they usually don't have good equipment since money is scarce unless you go out of the way to farm it, which again slows the pace of this game (and as a minor note, why is it locked at 50K?).
And then there's the mechanic that the girl lose stamina every turn, and they need to replenish it on you. Frankly, that they die if it reaches 0 is something I don't like, they should just make the girl get stuck with no other options than Ejaculate frankly, as some of the most powerful attacks become unusable since when the turn ends the girl will instantly reach 0 stamina. Also, a way to replenish it outside the battle using the same method would be nice.
Of course, there's also the crafting mechanic, which is not worth it after a while. Creating a gem means you have to get an empty gem, two materials and the money needed to craft it. And unless you have already explored the dungeon (which kinda makes it a waste since it's intended for that dungeon), this is something you'll have to pay from the shop, which means more money to farm. Frankly I don't bother and straight up buy the already filled gems because it's cheaper than getting all required materials, they're faster to get and they can be given to backrow party members when you get better ones since they have a balanced stat spread meaning everybody can use them.
Frankly, I feel there's no mechanic that helps the player in this game. No way to get increased EXP/Gold/Items, no preemptive encounters, no way to negate or reduce surprise encounters and specially no way to reduce encounters at all. Kuro being absolutely useless except with item management doesn't help at all too.
Again, I feel this game is not balanced enough to be played on Normal. I did it and there was nothing but frustration due to all the elements I mentioned. When I beat the final boss I swore to myself to go with Easy from now on, specially after I died several times because of the BS AoE charm the boss spams.