Upon playing through again while trying new things and overall just "getting good", I can happily say I am wrong about the game's difficulty. I think its fine. With grinding (which is something you naturally do in these games) finding better equipment and respecting the level recommendations of the dungeons, I think this is a fun, challenging experience. With the dungeons and their difficulty, I find them to be nice optional challenges and the higher level areas are in no way forced on you. The level 13/20 dungeon is for those seeking a tough gauntlet and I can see it being really fun with multiple players.