I played the hell outta this game on PS1, it was one of my most fond memories of gaming ever. I was actually kind of disappointed in the remake part 1 and never bought part 2 (never played it when it was free either) and this is probably because I am an old school gamer.

We were much more patient back then. You couldn't just look everything up on the internet and sometimes this would be crazy difficult to figure out. I don't know if it is was this game or not but there was a boss that you could only damage by HEALING him and there was no indication that this was the case on screen. Plus, you may remember all the reflect casts and how you would have a shield and so would your enemy so if you didn't have both shields up, you would die.

There probably was a guide book. I feel like this was the time in history when these games would make another 20-30 bucks out of you by selling a companion guide.