Yes, it was somewhat challenging. In the last few chapters, the difficulty level of the mooks spikes, and by Orphan’s Cradle, it almost seems like a marathon of boss battles.

In order to keep up with this difficulty level spike, a lot of grinding was necessary in chapter 11. I recommend maxing out your character’s primary roles (lv. 4), and at least get started on some of their secondary roles (lv. 2). As for the last three boss battles, I had a party of Lightning, Sazh, and Vanille. Barthandulus was a pain in the ass, as always. And you do not mess around with Orphan’s first form. Although it has less endurance than old Barty, it can do a lot of damage very quickly. As long as you have a MED/MED/MED paradigm, you should be able to stay alive. Don’t hesitate to heal often. Oh and poisoning it will help you out a lot. As for Orphan’s second form, it won’t take any damage until it is staggered. This is more a test of how quickly you can take it down, since it casts doom on the leader.

Well this got pretty long, didn’t it? orz