The Party Switching Idea for FFIV SNES...

So if technical constraints didn't stop Square from implementing Party Switching in FFIV, how much do you think would've been added/changed? Square was supposedly implementing party switching for FFIV, which explains why a lot of the characters survived and were waiting at the tower of prayers.

Obviously, party switching would be implemented. As well as the Cave of Trials (or an equivalent of it, since otherwise Yang, Palom, Porom, Edward, and Cid's best equipment would suck compared to the final five's). But what about the Lunar Ruins? It was also mentioned that Square wanted to have a dungeon where each character would undergo a unique trial, a concept that they couldn't implement in FFIV SNES, but they implemented in a game called Live a Live or something like that. If they were to implement that kind of dungeon in the SNES version, I doubt they'd make it as big as the Lunar Ruins or have any superbosses there.

Come to think of it, regarding no Cave of Trails equivalent, Palom and Porom would still fare well equipment wise. Cid would have access to decent armor with Dragon equipment, but no decent weapons. Yang would be the opposite since claws add accuracy instead of damage (well his body armor would be bad, he could still use Ribbons and Protect Rings). Edward would be really bad body armor wise and weapon wise (unless you could find or spare him good bows and arrows).

You know, I'm actually happy with how the game turned out, I really didn't like the party swapping ability in the GBA version and honestly, with the exception of switching Edge for Yang, I can't see any purpose for switching anyone else out cause the final party is mostly perfect in balance. It also doesn't really make much sense to bring any of them with you, I mean Cid, Edward, and Yang should still technically be injured and I doubt the party would allow the twins to come along since they are children and Cecil wasn't even going to let Rosa and Rydia come along originally.

I prefer the original with no party switching. I think that if they were able to implement it in the original game that it would have been similar to what was done for the Gameboy Advance version without the bonus content. That means that various treasure chests would probably have been replaced with other characters' weapons and equipment, likely throughout the Lunar Subterrane. Perhaps this need to distribute equipment like that was one of the reasons that they didn't implement it.

The only party switching I did in the GBA version was using Yang instead of Edge. I think that the squad that the SNES version forces you to use has enough balance to it to ensure that it's probably one of the best overall combinations anyway. I probably wouldn't have done anything more than Edge for Yang in the original. Perhaps I might've used different characters for a challenge. Having party switching was a nice little bonus in the GBA game, but I honestly can't say I said to myself 'you know what, this is exactly what the original was missing.'

Hmm... Two people who switched Edge for Yang. Any particular reason why? They both have somewhat poor durability (but Yang's magic durability is way worse) and I find that Edge's other commands beat out Yang's. Edge's Blitz comes in useful against Black Flans since it's best to save up Rydia's MP for bosses and Smoke comes in useful on the final floors of the final dungeon. Throw is really great for the bosses in the final dungeon. I suppose Charge Up for Yang is nice, but I don't really find that it beats Edge's advantages.

The first switch I did for serious playthrough purposes (the Lunar Ruins in my case) was switching Cid for Kain, but that was more for personal reasons. I'd much rather have Cecil's most trustworthy, dedicated, and sacrificial ally than his most traitorous, unreliable, and jealous one.

The first time I played through with the ability to switch parties I swapped Kain for Cid and Edge for Edward. Edward to further demonstrate his gained courage, and Cid because I always thought his SNES sprite kinda looked like a robot with my crappy 1991 TV and robots are totally sweet.