Have You Played... Final Fantasy III?

Have You Played? is an endless stream of game retrospectives. One a day, every day of the year, perhaps for all time.

The Final Fantasy games are finally arriving on PC. A while ago, I decided to play through every game in the series, in order. It's currently possible to play through 3-9 and I'm happy enough to begin at three, given that many fans had told me it was a good starting point. I've played for around an hour - 64 minutes says Steam - and have absolutely no desire to continue. Have you played it? Am I wrong to give up so quickly?

My main issue is the necessity of grind (The Necessity of Grind also the name of a lost Jean-Paul Sartre novel). I've reached a point that seems to require the repetition of earlier dungeons, farming random encounters, in order to progress, as the monsters guarding my next objective wipe out my entire party after three rounds of combat.

Is this correct? Is grinding there to artificially pad out the game's length, or is it something that people actually enjoy? Maybe these games simply aren't for me. I'd like to unlock the job system, at the very least, before abandoning the game.