wow, i am surprised at how much trouble a lot of you are having with this game. the thing that i liked about it a lot was the fact that you could go through it at a steady pace without getting stuck much.
what i recommend, if you are having trouble or are stuck early on, is to go out and buy the Brady Games Official Strategy Guide. i have that and it is SSSOOOO helpful.
and you have to synthesize one of every item get the option to synthesize the Ultima Weapon. A good way to gain levels is to go on a quest for items. you lose track of time. one time i did that and when i was finished, i was like 8 levels higher. you just need to write down the items you need and where to get them and then go fetch them.
Okay, my friend helped and showed me that when I went in the book it had already opened and I just didn't know. So, we did the last page and it is locked!!!! The ending was soooo cute! My friend beat that big black thing I think his name was Chernobog or something like that. It was weird 'cause she had never fought it before and beat it like that! Now, we are at the last save point in the game!!!!!!!! But me and my brother decided we wanted the secret movie for Kingdom Hearts II, so we went back to finish the Hades tournament and find the last box of puppies in Hallow Bastion. And my brother beat Cloud and Leon...FINALLY!!!!!!! So now we are trying Hades!
Ok, what i recommend if you are going back to get stuff, take time to get the ultima weapon and some of the other secrets. if you get high enough level, you should try to beat all of the tournaments (even the time trials and everything) it doesn't really unlock anything but it gives you a sense of closure. 😄