I vote for triple Festivalist on Gagazet. For three reasons: One, because it's new, two, because each of YRP has a unique skillset with it, and three, so you can put it away afterwards and never look at it again (it's my second-least favorite dressphere). I guess a distant fourth reason is that the 'slot-machine' type functionality of Yuna's variant is kinda fun to use in the early game and is also ridiculously strong if you're decently lucky.

Alternatively use Brother as one of your party members cause his attack animation is the best thing of all time.

I find it interesting how in this game you get Al Bhed Primers every time you witness an Al Bhed conversation. Kind of like "you're picking up the language as you hear it"? Makes collecting them feel very distinct from how FFX did it, until you get to digging them up anyways.

I love the Creature Creator. Countless hours were spent playing around with it. It does clash with the job system though so it's probably best to treat it as its own separate thing and only actually use creatures in the Arena. I wouldn't recommend using it until your levels are in the double digits at least, save for experimenting a bit if you really feel like it.

Btw you get the Vanguard GG for watching the Garment Grid tutorial.

Are you guys aiming for 100% Story Completion in a single playthrough?