Ok so I haven't tried the lower levels since patch, but if its decent rate / challenge once you get some cure spells etc, then maybe they could also incorporate a tutorial spirt or something. Think Navi from Zelda- kinda helped guide you through. Maybe in this game its a little spirit moogle that pops up (you could of course disable it) and gives you tips.

Also probably needs some tweaking too though and as mentioned Materia gear will help.