I’m a big believer in straight-up cheating when a single-player game ceases to be fun but you still want to see where it goes. Good on you for throwing yourself at the wall, but I’m not certain you’re saying it was very much fun, or worth it.
If it was, hey congrats! But if it wasn’t, there’s no shame in just turning on god mode when a game’s difficulty exceeds what you’re interested in grinding. It’s a single-player game and you don’t need to let other people define how you finish it.
(I personally toggled godmode maybe halfway into the path of pain and again when going for the “true” ending)