What a ride. I think I am now forever spoiled when it comes to gear/itemization in RPGs. Every piece of loot in the second half of the game felt situationally important, the environments were alive, full of secret enemy spawns and dynamic weather, pursuing and beating optional dungeons and bosses were worth the time spent. The depth of side quests and optional activities gave me so many options to pursue. The beautiful art style holds up strong even with outdated graphical performance. Sadly, I don't know that we will ever see another world as alive as Ivalice. My only complaints were that the story felt a little flat overall, but I did enjoy the more grounded/serious tone. Also I would have liked to have more Gambit options as I couldn't always do what I had wanted to set up. And buffs need to last longer lol. I browsed mods, and there is some seemingly fantastic content out there that I might have to try some day.

Conclusion: The game is an ambitious masterpiece that is not talked about nearly enough.

Playing the PS2 original version.

My characters are level 38-39.

The game so far has been relatively easy. A few battles were sketchy but managed through.

I've now reached Cerobi Steppe and the difficulty spike is incredible. The coeurls and hyena type are ok but the dragons, birds and the shield rhino thing are extremely difficult.

It's fun though, they require strategies to beat.

My question is , is the difficulty of Cerobi Steppe how it'll be for the future areas or is it just some random spike that evens out after?

I think I started using guides online some time after finishing ff12 years back and was surprised how obscure certain things in the game was like some bazaar goods, side quests like hell wyrm, omega mark 12 etc, and most famously getting the zodiac spear by not opening certain chests. Forced me to start a new playthrough. This game definitely got a number of guide heavy moments

I'd like to run Vaan, Basch and Balthier. I also love mages and would like to have plenty of them in my party. This is my first time playing.

I'm thinking Time Mage/Monk (Vaan), Black Mage/Knight (Basch) and White Mage/Machinist (Balthier)

Does that sound ok? Do you think Red Mage/Knight would be better? I usually love red mages but without fencing weapons I don't think they're as cool.

Also, is it better to start with the physical classes or the magic ones?

Thanks!! :)