Yes, and yes. I went to it during that period when you have to go to the Tower of the Circle and get caught up Doing Stuff to get rid of that sloth demon. You're right: OMG boring! It wouldn't be so bad if you could keep the handy-dandy shapeshifter cool powers in the Real World, but you can't.

I wish it were possible to cheat the hard fights on the PS3. I would so be there after the third try at anything.