Well, i think the videos you might be watching are the A-rank missions that people are doing that know the game inside and out and have maxed out their characters.

While this game is not the most challenging RPG, it does have it like quirks that will make it harder, especially if you want no one to die, which this game makes you think that way for some reason.

on a scale of 1-10 on difficulty, it is a solid 5. great story though and with the lack of good RPGs in the market, this game shines. I loved it.

which video have you seen? link it please.

It might be on easy mode
the character could be maxed out
The guy knows all the strategies for the battle
etc...

If I could see the video you are talking about, I could explain correctly, but it will probably end up being one the ones I just listed.

At this point (ch. 11) the grenade launcher should not do one hit kills like that unless you're really over-leveled.
The guy clearly know his way around the map even if he does some move wasting mistakes...
You need strategy for this game and the grenade launchers are quite useless hurting the more armoured troopers but its not a hard game by any means unless you want to totally refuse save and reload during combat.

Ya, we was pretty over-leveled for one of the easier missions. Plus he was using the capture - retreat - reinforce strategy which is kind of lame. I promise you that it is not as easy as that video shows it.

man, i got a D rank on the desert misson (i think it was chapter 6) so I'm not finding it easy at all... fantastic fun though. Can anybody tell me if the desert mission is actually a reasonably tricky one in terms of achieving an 'a' grade or am i just rubbish? I'm just concerned I'm going to get my a*se handed to me pretty soon

Does it have a big tank? that is chapter 7 which is very hard for new users who do not use the tricks that the youtube videos show.

If it is Chapter 6, i think I am thinking of the right one (does it have a sandstorm in it?) It is about average in terms of difficulty. If that is not the right one, give me a quite explanation (do not have video access right now, so cannot look at youtube videos) and I can help you. Krunal will be able to help if he sees this before I do.

is this harder than motorstorm PR?

Once you start getting the better orders and abilities you are able to do things a lot faster.

Upgrades are mostly incremental but you'll find yourself missing more etc. without them.

It also depends on your goal. Do you just want to beat the stage, or do you want A rank and the enemy/leader/ace bonuses?