Few Questions

[Gilthanes]

the millions of ways to play this game definately make it unique

Hes definately right about the replay value of this game, I've played through the psx version easily 20 times, over the last 7+ years. I'm actually right now playing through it again, with a small quirk: dancing ninjas. Ramza and his pimp squad of 4 dancing ninjas, equipped to max PA and all of them dancing Wiznaibus for 30 dmg to all units 2-3 times per turn

fear the dancing ninjas

to answer your question about ethers: you are right they are not easily obtained till chapter 2. You can easily fix your MP problem by training up a Monk to use Chakra, or later on you can have a Bard singing MP restoration song, OR you can train your mage up to Oracle and give him Move MP-Up, OR equip "Critical: restore MP" (from Summoner I think?) and let one of your fighters smack him once or twice into critical for a quick full mp restore.

As you can see, the solutions are near endless. Personally I never leave home without a monk or someone who has mastered Punch Art, Chakras ability becomes somewhat weaker by chapter 4, but until then it is THE easiest and cheapest way to restore both HP and MP

Sorry to rant here but I just want to emphasize that Punch Art is the most flexible skillset in the entire game imo, only challenged by Draw Out in its multiple uses. revive, heal, Mp-restoration, range attacks, large-range attacks, debuffs, aoe attacks, status cures. No other skillset has everything you could ever need crammed into 1 box of skills. Get a monk, and master it. You will never regret it