I feel like they balanced the scaling thinking that people would be using accessories, Keyblade upgrades, food, and all of the the many status boosters. If you do all of that I honestly think Crit level 1 is pretty fun, but it kind of also defeats the purpose of what Crit 1 in KH2 was where you could comfortably beat the game without any boosters thanks to the good scaling.
This is what fucking slays me, honestly. That sort of erroneous idea that the items and upgrades and food aren't "part" of the combat mechanics.
"What do you mean the damage scaling sucks if I don't use the mechanics it was balanced around?!"
It could benefit from being raised but some of the stuff people say just feels like hyperbole to me.