Just finished Chap 9....must say, the game has definitely gotten a bit easier after Chap 7, but I think it's more me really figuring out how to play the game more than the game itself decreasing in difficulty. I had to restart Chap 8 a couple of times, but that's because I was stupid and careless, which this game punishes severely. I basically sent Eireka to go kill the boss, thinking at LVL 12 she'd take care of it easily, with no range support, no healers, no mounted rescue units anywhere within range. Yup, I deserved that restart.
I think I've said a lot of crap about this game in this thread, but to be perfectly honest, I love it. It's not amazing, 10/10, innovation, but....it scratches that itch that games like FF tactics and other tactical RPG's scratch, that mental puzzle solving, chess kind of itch married with a snowball-like sense of progression. It's flawed, but it is incredibly fun, and though it has frustrating moments, none of them are boring. I think for any game, that's quite an accomplishment. I said before that I don't blame anyone for wanting to quit playing this game, but at the same time, what everyone has said is true, it is a fun game, and the frustration dies down after Chap 7, not because the game has changed, but because you have changed. I think if I went back and started the game over again, I could probably breeze through it without restarting a single time.
Oh, and by the way, at the end of Chap 8 when you get a major choice, I went with one of the choices but I'm really curious about the other one. Are those a set of missions that I will never get to play unless I go back to an old save or restart the entire game? Is one better than the other? I'm being vague because I don't want to spoil anything.