It only gets really terrible around where you get to Death. If someone wants to play this, but is afraid of the grind, then just play up to after you beat the Snow Queen and call it quits.
The best way to go through is to give one of your swords water properties, and another fire properties (the second one you get starts with weak fire ability, so that's the best choice). Then you'll be able to inflict the most important types of elemental damage up to that point, and will help some of the boss battles go much more smoothly.