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Make Guy a pure fighter. Don't teach him any magic whatsoever. And make Firion and Maria learn one type of magic. Teaching two types of magic to one character is hard. Also, make Firion use Swords and shields and Maria a bow. This is what I always do when I play, but if you're comfortable with what you got, then kudos:)
My answer to WK's question: FF1, although FF2 DID do a lot of influencing for later FFs.
FF2 was boring, though, in my opinion.:)
Greater impact: Probably FF2, because I think the story was a main setting stage for other Final Fantasy's to base it on. They just developed the story, and added new story-lines, but still keeping the basis from FF2.
FF1 was the beginning of the whole genre, but I don't really think it done any thing else, don't get me wrong I found it enjoyable to play, but not as good or as vital to the genre as FF2.
Crossblades: I might try your party next time, but at the moment things are going well, maybe the magic is starting to hinder me, because I think it's affecting my stats, or it's just hassle to level it up.
Though FFII brought a story charactewr based story telling to the series and tried to revolutionize the genre before it really began, I would still have to say FFI was a bigger deal. In comparison to each other, II seems the logical choice but when you think about what else was avaliable back then... FFI was a greater leap for the genre. Zelda was an action RPG, DQ1 and 2 were simple "Descendant's of the hero! Stop the evil Demon Lord!" and anything else remarkable in the genre was stuff for the PC which were D&D games.
FFI was the first console RPG to allow mutiple party members and allowed you to decide what they were in your party. It's story isn't about stopping an evil Dark Lord from destroying the land (though it becomes that eventually but so much more delisciously so:D ). The world is dying and four heroes are to appear and save it. The first task assigned to you is to test to see if you really are the "Light Warriors". Immediately, FFI sets istelf apart by placing you in a world that's a bit closer to home. Pirates? Dark Elves? and Curses? FFI's world is plagued by many things and your task through out most of the game is to find out why the world is dying...
Hell, the world is threatened with destruction, unlike the other games I've mentioned; where you're tasked with overthrowing an evil (sometimes demonic) dictator and thwart their plans for world domination. In FFI, you are trying to save the world from being destroyed. The metaphors of the elements and the places you visit are certainly more profound than other titles at the time and the ending is what really set this game apart...
In other games, the hero saves the princess, stops the Overlord, and everyone lives happily ever after (or until the sequel) but in FFI, your party learns they are forever trapped in a time loop. Forced to battle Chaos for all time, never aware of their fate until it's too late. Though very pessimistic, FFI creates a vision of another type of hero. The hero who is forced to sacrifice themselves to save others. I think it's these very themes that allowed FFI to succeed. There really wasn't anything like it at the time.
i haven't checked this thread in a minute, so 1st i want to say my bad if i offended you kanno, that wasn't my intention.
but to answer your question, i would say I's more influential on the genre. Like you said, there was no RPG like it at the time, everything was about slaying the dragon and saving the princess, and even though the time loop scenario seems small and lame by today's standards, at the time it must have been groundbreaking. Other RPGs at the time focused on traditional medieval european settings whereas Final Fantasy was true and good romanticism, taking the folklore of many different cultures into one story.
As far as the FF series, I think they both are the two templates that every game is based off of. II went in a completely different direction than I. in I, the characters aren't really important at all, it's the world around them that is. The same thing happens in III, and in V, VII, and IX, the characters aren't as big or powerful as the circumstances which made them. They are representative of those things, and in the case of I, it was the crystals.
On the other hand, in II, 4 unlikely heroes step up and save the world. In this respect, IV, VI, VIII, and X are all about people who take matters into their own hands and change the course of history.
I think that's why in all the odd numbered games (I, III, V, VII and IX) the fate of the world is decided by crystals, in one form or another. In the even ones, there are no crystals. I know in IV there are, but they are a product of the "other" world, not of the one which all the main heroes hail from.
Which really makes me think about XII and how there's competing forces about whether or not to put history back into the hands of man, and whether or not that's what really happened. I don't know, I think i've rambled too much to start getting into the Philosophy of Final Fantasy.