Does this game ever get fun?

Demon's Crest is a particularly challenging and complex game, particularly for its time. But I'd say Belth (the skeleton with the sword arm) is one of the toughest fights in the game, with the tools available to you by the time you fight him. You have to control your distance, and get him to jump over you. But it's easy to get locked into a situation where you have to take a hit, since he's so big and has so much reach.

Ovnunu (the eyeball in the goo) really isn't that hard, once you've developed good control over your altitude while hovering. It's a bit frantic, and you have to keep moving, but it's possible to beat it without ever taking a hit.

There are lots of hidden items to find that will make the game easier, so once the game opens up and lets you explore, you can control the difficulty a lot. I've never found the spells all that effective, but healing potions are nice, and the various powers and talismans can drastically alter a fight.

There are a number of different endings, with progressively harder bosses, so don't feel cheated if it seems too short or easy -- you probably took a shortcut to the end, and missed half the game. The final boss is pretty tough, even with all the items and powers, and beating the extra secret boss after that is an amazing accomplishment, even with the awesome power you're awarded for beating the normal last boss

Demon's Crest is a beautiful and grossly under-appreciated game, so I'm glad to hear you've stuck with it.

I kinda remember the bosses having rather considerable invincibility time, though it's been a few years since I last played Demon's Crest. Wouldn't that negate most of the value of the Hand talisman, unless you're missing a lot? I guess that would help make more of your shots connect... Or am I just misremembering? I guess I'm about due for another playthrough... I have HP values on my spreadsheet to double-check.