Sounds like you've had bad luck with groups. I like that Final Steps of Faith kind of forces players to know their classes to some degree and to pay attention to mechanics. It reminds me a bit of Ravana story mode when it was brand new without an echo--took a couple of wipes for people to figure out, which is more rewarding than just steam rolling a big boss on the first try, like Thordan (extreme is a different story of course). I've only made it to the blue/red fang part of phase 2 in extreme so far but it seems like a really well balanced trial similar to Sephirot Ex, so I'm happy.