Freshmaker said:
You really need to play around with the alchemy. Not only does it net you better weapons etc, your old weapons wear out eventually if you dont' upgrade them IIRC.
I don't think weapons ever wear out in Vagrant Story.
But you do have to worry about the stupid way the weapons become better suited for certain types of enemies. The more you use a weapon against one type (ghost, ghoul, beast, human, dragon, etc.), the weaker it become for other types, based on some overly complicated sliding scale they shouldn't have included in the game. You're better off making one weapon for use against each type. That's what I did and it works very well.
On top of that, you can't ignore the stat-affecting magic in Vagrant Story like you can in some games. You won't be able to do much damage to certain enemies if you don't slow them down, or halve their defense, or use the correct elemental attacks (either spells or elemental gems set in the weapons) against them. Scan them and check their stat screens if you don't know their weak points.
And while it takes a lot of time (mainly because the game has to read to and from the memory card so much during the process), figuring out the best combinations of parts to make the strongest weapons is important. I spent a couple of hours doing that alone (without consulting a FAQ, it must be emphasized).
If all of that sounds unappealing, just forget about Vagrant Story.