I was told this was similar to Act Raiser 1, and it is not.
The premise of a goddess descending to mortal realms to help mortals via combating demons is similar, but distinctly different. Act Raiser 1 is very western, and this is very Chinese. Still liked the game.
It isn't too grind intensive, but does have parts that drag themselves out. This makes narrative sense, as this game's story seems to be for kids; basically accepting responsibility for your actions and maturing into the roles you are meant to take. The farming and looting aspects fit into this as Sakuna is a goddess of farming and combat, but boy, if you want to upgrade everything or find everything will you have to grind.
As it stands, I beat the game and the 100 floors of the challenge dungeon without any of the after game gear. You do get those items, but they require additional grind to unlock and then upgrade. But the combat isn't that satisfying.
The initial combos that you have from the start aren't exactly told to you. You have basic fighting game type stuff: launcher, both up and away, dodge which is also the parry, air juggles, and some anti-air. Most of them require movement button pressed at the same time as the attack to properly trigger it. Tag on the ability to parry at any time, and it makes, on the surface, and interesting combat system. Two downsides emerge when you fully engage with it; first, the unlocked skills, especially upgraded to at least level 10, will be better than you basic combos on every level. Second, you are stuck accidentally parrying when you didn't intend too, or accidentally attacking when you didn't intend too because of how sensitive it is. Even the end game ability that is only used for the final boss fight prove difficult to trigger as I ended up doing other things than the god block.
The farming stuff is rather simple, and the skills unlocked basically help you adjust to understanding on how you need to do it. I hit level 40 by dumping all of the excesses food, and rotten food into the fertilizer while plucking out the weeds. It isn't that hard. The only real pain in the butt aspect of this is the trading system; where you trade rice for goods you cannot farm. But that is also another grind aspect of this game.
For what it is, it is a fun game with a story for children. For it what it wants to be, it is a grind mess with no real reward for pushing through it.
