I consider any game, where you just can't get by without stat boosting items at minimum not well balanced.
Unfortunately, this is the case here - I get that elite route is borderline EX dungeon, still to struggle at lvl 99 with a weapon just a little off the best even using that double action skill...
Also, even though I likely missed a few skill crystals, what I found combined with levels is still not enough for all skills without skill point items...
You also can't enter some of the dungeons depending on the route, even if you have unlocked them on one of previous runs...
There's quite a bit of item synthesis, but quite a few best weapons are *rare* drops (1/30 with a subboss level enemy is quite a bit)...
I'd say the game overwhelmed the author at least a bit...