FINAL FANTASY GARDEN

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Parties

Choosing the right party is the most important decision in the game. Having a well-balanced party will let you get through the game quickly and easily, while having lots of fun in the process. Choosing a weak, unbalanced party will cause you hours of frustration and torment as your enemies slay you with ease and dance on your corpses. And you only get one crack at picking a party, after that you're stuck with it. So take a look at my suggestions and choose wisely.

Fighter, Black Belt, Thief, Red Mage

Strong points: Lots of good fighters
Weak points: Quite weak in the magic area, rather expensive to equip
Rating: 6/10

This party is the default party the game picks for you. It's... not bad... I guess... To be honest, I really don't like using Black Belts, so maybe I'm biased. I think a party needs more Magic Users to be really effective. Just one Red Mage is probably not enough. Oh well, there are many parties worse than this one, I suppose.

Fighter, Fighter, White Mage, Black Mage

Strong points: Well balanced, strong magic and physical attacks, as well as healing
Weak points: Moderately expensive to equip
Rating: 10/10

This is one of the best parties you can take. The two Fighters use their strong physical attacks to wipe out bad guys while absorbing most of the enemies' attacks; the Black Mage adds the support of offensive Magicks; and the White Mage keeps everyone alive while they're doing it. Although spells and equipment will be rather expensive, you'll progress through the game so smoothly and quickly that you probably won't even notice. This party is great for the beginner and the veteran player alike.

Fighter, Thief, White Mage, Black Mage

Strong points: Very well balanced, strong physical and magic attacks; easily run from battles; White and Black Magic gained after Class Change
Weak points: Moderately expensive to equip
Rating: 10/10

This is my favorite party. It is very well belanced, and a lot of fun to play. The Thief is somewhat weak in the beginning; his main purpose will be running from battles, which he does well. After Class Change, though, he gains Black Magic, and a slew of new weapons and armor, making him an extremely strong fighter. This party has a good spread of Magic use, too, having two White and two Black Magic users after Class Change. I highly recommend this party.

Fighter, Fighter, Fighter, Fighter

Strong points: Very strong offensive party, strong physical attacks; able to use White Magic after Class Change
Weak points: Healing may be problem early in the game; very expensive to equip
Rating: 9/10

This party is quite good. Although not balanced at all, the brute strength of the Fighters makes up for the lack of offensive and healing Magicks. Healing will be a problem; however, the Fighters' high HP will usually be good enough to get you through the dungeons alive, as long as you stock up on Heal Potions. And, after Class Change, the Knights are able to use White Magic. I have used this party before, and I finished the game quite easily. If you don't like Magic (although you should, Magic is fun), this party is for you.

Red Mage, Red Mage, White Mage, Black Mage

Strong points: Very strong Magic use, moderately strong physical strength
Weak points: Expensive spell costs; generally low HP
Rating: 7/10

If you like Magic, this party is a good one to take. Everyone in the party is a Mage, which means you'll be relying on Magic most of the time. It will, of course, be very expensive to buy all the spells to outfit your party, but the money you save on equipment will help solve that problem, somewhat. The Red Mages will be your main physical attackers, and they will also take most of the damage from the enemies. Their HP, while higher than the White and Black Mages'm is still rather low, so your White Mage will be very buys keeping everyone alive.

White Mage, White Mage, White Mage, White Mage

Strong points: Good healing ability, good versus Undead
Weak points: Very low HP, almost no offensive power whatsoever
Rating: 1/10

This party is one of the worst you could pick. The White Mages have almost no offensive power whatsoever, except against Undead. So, while they'll be able to heal themselves while the bad guys are beating the crap out of them, they won't be doing much damage in return, so battles will be long and hard fought. Undead will be no problem at all (four HARM spells will kill any Undead easily), but against any other foe, this party is horribly weak. You may want to try this party as a personal challenge, just to see if you can do it, but otherwise, stay away from it.

Black Belt , Black Belt, Black Belt, Black Belt

Strong points: There are no good points
Weak points: Poor defense, low HP, no magic, lack of ability to use any good equipment at all, general suckiness
Rating: -43/10

This is the absolute worst party you could take. I put it here just so you would know not to take it. The pure crapiness of the Black Belt is increased exponentially when there are four of them standing together; this results in a party the suckiness of which is not seen anywhere else. I would rather have four Imps in my party than have four Black Belts. *shudder* Did I mention I hate Black Belts?

Black Mage , Black Mage, White Mage, White Mage

Strong points: Lots of magic power, low equipment costs
Weak points: Expensive spell costs, very weak physical attacks, low HP
Rating: 5/10

This is another party for magic-lovers. If you take this party, you'll be relying exclusively on your Black Mages for offensive power, and using your White Mages to keep everyone alive. Your characters will be dying alot at the beginning of the game (actually, they'll probably die alot throughout the entire game). Take this party if you'r looking for some punishment, or if you're obsessed with magic.

Black Mage , Black Mage, Black Mage, Black Mage

Strong points: Extremly powerful magic attacks
Weak points: very low HP, low physical strength, lack of a good healer
Rating: 4/10

While a lot of fun to play, this party is mightily difficult to beat the game with. Your four Black Mages, by the time they reach ElfLand, will be a walking death-squad; just think of four blasts of FIR2, not many things could survive it. The only problem is keeping your Mages alive long enough to use their magic. A whole lot of Heal Potions woudl be the only solution. This party is still a whole lot of fun, and if you manage to make it to late in the game, there won't be many things that will survive an encounter with your mages.)