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Character customization is a difficult line to walk. I love having some customization, but when all of my characters are completely blank slates, I sometimes have trouble defining what they should become. My first playthrough of Final Fantasy V caused me some headache for that very reason. I couldn't make myself narrow my characters to one specific area of focus, because I just had to try out every job and ability no matter how bad they were. After all of that, I wanted everyone to have all the cool abilities and that really screwed me over in the long run. The game took forever, because I spent all my time trying to master everything that I really did nothing.
My last playthrough of Final Fantasy II: Dawn of Souls, I decided from the start that I was going to focus my characters on one path. Firion was my Paladin, using a sword, shield, and light healing magic. Maria was my Red Mage, focusing on both types of magic, but still using a spear. Guy was my Ninja. I had him dual wielding and he knew Blink, Berserk, Silence, and other similar status effect spells. It was difficult to resist the temptation to give every character certain spells such as Cure or Life, but sticking keeping the focus that I had initially decided upon made my playthrough much more enjoyable.
Looking back on Final Fantasy VII and VIII, I can see that the freeform style of character customization along with my own indecision reduced my enjoyment of those titles. Not taking away from the other aspects such as story, graphics, or music, the gameplay was so customizable that it was easy to lose focus. With such a broad focus, none of my character excelled at anything and all played the same. Why would I want to use Selphie or Cait Sith if Rinoa or Vincent could do most everything that they could? This lack of focus is not the fault of the developer, but my own.
Looking toward Final Fantasy XII, Final Fantasy V Advance, and Final Fantasy III, I see three games where the characters are almost completely customizable. I think I now understand the focus that I must have to enjoy these games to their fullest. I know that many of you probably read through this and just thought how stupid I must be, but not everyone has the ability to focus and customize correctly when given so many choices. I know that this time, I still have the choice to creating balanced, but useless characters. I'm not going to do that. I'm going to fight the urge and focus my characters. I will force Ashe to be a Paladin. Krile will be my Black Mage. Maybe Luneth will be my main healer. Either way, I need to change my approach of having a party of nothing but Red Mages. Hopefully, these games will be more enjoyable because of it. Maybe I can go back and replay some of the older titles with the same outlook. Things might be brighter this time around.
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