On day 18 of my Final Fantasy Marathon, I finished my first playthrough of Final Fantasy III Pixel Remaster. Today, I’m starting my second.

My goal with this playthrough is to play the jobs I skipped the first time. My first Wind Crystal party was Warrior, Monk, Red Mage, Black Mage.

This time, I chose Warrior, Monk, White Mage, and Black Mage. There isn’t as big a difference as I thought there would be.

I give up a bit of attack power switching from Red Mage to White Mage, but gain more healing ability. Difficulty level seems about the same.

Fire Crystal Party

Last time, I chose a party of Ranger, Knight, Scholar, and Thief after getting the Fire Crystal jobs. Since there are no previously unplayed jobs to fill, this time I opt for Knight, Monk, White Mage, and Black Mage. I temporarily switched my White Mage to the Scholar job for the Hein fight.

Having a Black Mage in the party makes it easier to target the elemental weaknesses of Gutsco and Hein, but again, it didn’t make as much difference as I thought it would. I think this is because the Scholar’s supercharged magic item attacks actually do more damage than my black mage’s magic attacks.

Water Crystal Party

Last time, I went with Thief, Geomancer, Viking, and Evoker. This time, I chose Dragoon, Dark Knight, Bard, and Black Belt.

This is probably where I’ve noticed the most difference, since my previous party had two magic users and this one has three physical fighters and one support class. In particular, the dungeon where you get the Invincible was more tedious because you don’t have access to Dark Knight equipment yet, so I had to rely on underpowered geomancers and a black mage.

I finished the day after getting the Kiku-Ichimonji and other Dark Knight equipment from Falgabard. I’m five hours and 50 minutes in.