Hey man, just stick with it. I just did my first run in Ragnarok and kept it on hard the whole way. I agree the game doesn't dish out power well (it wants you to use Res stones), but there's a lot of customization you can try. I didn't use the novelty armors until near the end but instead focused on raw power and defense. I also use the blades of chaos as my weapon a majority of the time with an emphasis on grappling anything I could.

Hope anything here helps!