is kratos weaker?

i’m probably about 40% into the story and while the story is amazing i can’t help but feel like the combat isn’t as fun and has become much more tedious compared to the last game. the enemies are either stronger or kratos is weaker because there’s no way at a level 4 it should take this much time to take out a level 2 enemy. the frost awaken is cool but tedious until you upgrade the axe more. runic attacks have definitely been nerfed and there’s isn’t as much variety to melee axe attacks as there were in the last game. most of his hardest hitting moves are built around frost awaken and permafrost. i was very excited for the combat in this game but it feels lacking in a way. the first game was a setup game story wise but the combat made it amazing for me now it feels flip flopped. the story is amazing but the combat just feels like a chore. does anyone else feel the same way?