I am not a fan of the idea of having to pass a test to level up. If you put in the time and effort then you should get the level. Having to pass a difficult test would make a lot of average players frustrated and drive them away from the game and making the test really easy makes it pointless so better to not have it.

I do see some signs of elitism on the board and I do understand the frustration of very good players taking on difficult content and feeling like they fail because their group has some average players in it. That's what hardcore endgame LSs are for.

I think there are a lot of people like me who have enjoyed other FF titles because of the stories but also because they offer you an alternative to getting around a difficult boss rather than trying over and over again until you perfect the strategy and do everything right. When I've encountered a difficult boss in FF games my response has always been the same, I go back, level up some more and come back when the fight is much more manageable. Having failed Ifrit a few times I am now patiently waiting for the level cap to be raised so I can eventually solo the big red bully

My problem with tests to level up is that they would not give me that option and rather than spending hours or days to practice my hand eye coordination and understanding of the fight, I would move on to something else. Of course, if there were tests like these everywhere I would soon have no place to move on to and at that point I would have no reason to play.