If you’re worried about the grind, go install the Untitled Project X mod. It has an option to give exp to all party members regardless of battle participation. It eliminates the “swap everyone in to Guard for a single turn” hassle. Because by default the game forces you to either swap everyone in for a turn, or grind like hell to get everyone properly leveled.

UPX fixes a lot of the issues that the remake has, so ironically that option is buried and was only added as an afterthought. But it’s one of the biggest and most impactful changes that you can make, because it completely eliminates the need to grind. Since every member is getting exp with every battle, you aren’t forced to wait for the relevant enemies to spawn before certain characters level up.