Guess I'll be another one asking for a full save, since the game has been updated and that one guy's "full save" is full of viruses as well. Plus it sounds like the grind is hell.
The only form of 'grind' necessary is killing everything on the map as you go, and you only need to do that for new maps and for old maps with new enemies. If you do that more or less (skipping a few is fine), you'll be just fine. Basically just don't avoid battles unless they're too weak to give much benefit. Also, some things are intended for postgame, like the expensive 3000/5000 gold items. Likewise, beating the arena is something you generally won't be doing until postgame.
That said, if you don't enjoy this kind of gameplay that's fine. I'm planning to do a replay in a while to see the new content, I'll see if I can get a full save when that happens. Of course, someone else might get to it before me.
But honestly the main attraction of this game is the storyline and the characters, which are really good. The scenes aren't the most interesting part in this game.
