I knew a little bit about FF1 before I played it. I knew there were elemental bosses and Garland, at least! FF2 though? Zero. Nothing. It's pretty exciting.
It seems like my party is four characters - one of whom I guess I'll get later - who are rebelling against an evil empire. Not the most original of stories, but okay. Mostly because the leveling system IS one of the more original I've seen!
You learn by doing. The tutorial makes it seem like stats, magic, and weapon skills all increase by using them. You get more max HP by losing HP in combat. Your Cure spell increases in rank the more you cast it - same as Fire, and other spells. Individual weapon skills increase by using them - using swords raises Sword, mace raises Mace.
This seems like it'll radically alter the game's playstyle.
-In FF1, I was so worried about running out of mana, that I rarely cast spells on my black mage unless necessary. Here, I plan to cast as often as possible on my magic users to boost their magic-related stats and skills.
(**QUESTION: What about stuff like Life and Teleport? What do skill increases on those kind of spells do? Will a low-level Teleport have a chance to fail to warp me out of a dungeon? Will a higher level Life spell raise the dead character with more HP?**)
-In FF1, I used the best weapons I picked up. Here, I plan to specialize in one or two to take advantage of skill leveling. Like, one character I'll strictly use swords on. If I get a slightly better axe, will stick with the sword.
-In FF1, I used two fighters and two casters. Here, I can teach anyone any spell, so I plan on spreading things out a bit more. For instance, I'm giving "Life" to my tankier character because he's more likely to survive than the healer.. Same thing with "Teleport" - if he's the last one standing and I'm deep in a dungeon, he's the one I want with the GTFO button.
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So! Here's my planned party make-up that I'm starting with:
FIRION - Buffs and healers, bow. Back row.
MARIA - Bare-knuckled brawler! Thunder spell. Front row.
GUY - Tankier sort. Sword and shield. Fire and Ice spells. Front row.
???? - ????? ???. ??????? ????.
I've played enough MMOs that I'm kind of bored with female as the default caster, so I'll take advantage of the game's flexibility to turn Maria into Fists o' Fury, and she's easily (and surprisingly, for unarmed) my hardest hitter so far. Blue-Lips (Firion) will get most of my healing and buff spells.
For offensive magic, I wanted to spread it out between the two damage dealer. Maria does the most melee damage so just giving her thunder, and giving Guy fire and ice.
Also thinking about spreading my buffs out rather than just giving them to Firion. That way, for really tough fights, I can fully buff my group in the first round rather than slowly buffing them over a few rounds.
What do you guys think of this initial set-up? I figure I'll adapt my fourth part member to the fit of these three and work around them as a core. Does this seem like a reasonable way to go, or am I missing something drastic about the way skills and leveling work? Will the fourth party member always be a healer, thus negating my need to slot Firion into that role?
(I'm DELIGHTED for mechanic tips and spoilers, I just don't want story-specific spoilers.)
