Learning German: Is 'der die das' intuition ever truly developed, or is it pure memorization?

I've been studying German for months now, and while my vocabulary and grammar are slowly improving, I still feel like I'm guessing with noun genders (der, die, das) half the time. Does anyone who's fluent truly develop an intuitive feel for them, or is it just a massive memorization task that eventually sticks through sheer exposure? I'm hoping there's a breakthrough I'm missing!