3, 4, or 5 Character Parties

[ACardAttack]

The title says it all.

For me it is 4 member party that I like the best. 3 just does not feel like a lot, you loose 1 or 2 characters and you are almost done for, with 5 it feels like too much baby sitting although with the right equipment you could almost put it on auto pilot. 4 works just right for me you can have, in general, two physical attackers, a black mage and a white mage to heal.

 

[Mitsuki]

I don't really mind the numbers. I got used to 3 at first when I played VII and VIII, so it doesn't bother me at all. Either way, I always end up leveling all the characters anyway, and typically I have a way of doing it so that it works perfectly fine for me as far as switching them off. I would agree with you though that 4 seems like the perfect number since you can have two mages (white and black) and two physical attackers, but again, I'm not too picky about that either. It's preferable but I can fully accept whatever number of parties there are.

 

[Bambi]

3 was what I was used to, so when I played IX and I had 4, I was like wtf.....weird Althoough, I soon got used to 4, when I went on a mission to play the older FF's then 3 felt weird.... especially when I'd get a guest in XII and be down to 3 guys again...so I suppose Im somewhere between 3 & 4, more leaning toward 4. 5 is just too much, gotta think about the exp being split 5 ways And I don't think you'd really NEED that many guys in your team, it's just get crowded...

 

[The Flaming Amarant]

I went with 4... I never liked the 3 person parties. Even though FF4 is my favorite FF, 5 party members is like over kill, especially when more than one can cast Cure. Four seems the most balanced, not too much, not too little, just right.

 

[KEFKACIOUS]

Well i have no problem whatsoever about how many characters you can use in a Party...
Lost Odyssey and FFIV had 5... i loved them
FFVII and ..well maybe FFVIII had 3 i loved them...
But i guess 4 will be my favorite cause it's too well balanced ...

 

[Assassin Baby]

I like the 3 party a bit better with 4 and 5 just seems almost too easy no real thought put into a party. Like FF9 long as you have a physical guy or 2 and a healer and black magic user almost impossible to wipe out.

 

[Taryn]

I think 4 is about the perfect number. Chrono Trigger got really hard with only 3...as characters die, it ends up being a downward spiral sometimes. Also, sometimes I wouldn't get very many turns before the enemy/ies could attack again. I don't know about 5 though...it could be easier, or it could be unwieldy. I own FF4 for the DS, but I haven't started playing it yet...

 

[SaShman]

I don't really mind how many characters I have, but I guess I prefer to have four as it leaves me with more options than just having three party members. But I generally just adapt to the game, it doesn't really bother me if it only allows me to use three party members. Five party members is a little too easy because I have the ability to heal twice, so I prefer having four party members.

 

[Aeralea]

I don't have issues with party numbers either, its the battle systems that can bug me. Actually I had forgotten that the party numbers change through the series, lol.

So obviously its something I haven't really ever considered a positive or a negative when it comes to battle. I think anymore than 4 would quickly become a babysitting nightmare though. Especially if its not turn based, my god that would annoy the crap out of me.

 

[Morrigan]

I prefer a party of 4 too.I'm ok with just 3 but sometimes,when I might want to change the main character to put another in his place it won't allow me and that disappoints me.I'm happy with 4.Part of 5 is too much for my liking and it doesn't remind me of a RPG.