I couldn't come close to beating the first optional hand holding battle ( literally against a little girl) on standard. I can't imagine how they beat the game without dodging and I can't imagine it was fun.
Probably, though also arguably dodging skill didn't matter, because the comparison case was not dodging at all. It was my first time playing, but I can't imagine scaling up the experience from there to some of the bosses I've fought since, all without dodge/parry.
One of the videos I watched said a good way to get better is to practice timing your dodges on enemies first (since the window is more forgiving), then once you start hitting those 'perfect' dodges you can swap over to using the parry mechanic. I've managed to get a little better at it since doing that. Admittedly though, some enemies can still be pretty difficult (that trumpet/horn enemy is a fucking asshole...)
Dude absolutely. I accidently got cornered by it so I couldn't progress till I beat trumpet dude due to how it would reload (assuming i'm thinking of the same guy). I probably fought that bastard 15 times before I beat it. I'll say I REALLY like the game. It's absolutely beautiful and i'm loving the slow release of the lore. Even the battles (that can be really frustrating) are great because you can get absolutely wrecked 10 times, but then get the timings down and absolutely dominate the bastard. It's really simple, but also real rewarding, I find.
My hard wall came at the end of act 2, I then grinded out a few levels and pictos and was smooth sailing after that. I would first learn the attack patters with Dodge and then try to Parry, but I really just got through using Lune to res and heal the party and tossing all skill points into health and defense.