Started up the game and already paralyzed because I can't pick who to play as.
I would've picked Gray because he looks and sounds the coolest, but of course I had to google before and apparently he's not recommended for a first playthrough. How true is this?

>>3789657 (OP)
He has a unique side quest that is pretty hard for a first run. It's not required or anything, but it is a bit of a bummer to not be able to do it.
Honestly go with Albert if you want a bit of hand-holding at the start, otherwise anyone but Gray as a first character.
I'd probably suggest with Jamil, as he's pretty good in his default class and you can get some characters unlocked. Sif is another reasonable choice.
But ultimately, it doesn't matter a lot.

>>3789657 (OP)
Grey is only not recommended at first because his initial area is fuck of rape hungry triceratops that you won't know how to dodge

>>3789657 (OP)
Start as Barbara, she lets you rape monsters with her carriage in the New Road.

Set up Herman as a Trader and put all of your jewels into training for that. Also equip the Trade proficiency and select it, and equip whatever else gives you the most uses.

Then go up and down New Road trading Socks (buyable in Crystal City) for accessories or other salable goods until you have enough money to buy one of the end-game armor pieces. Then continue until you can kit out one person with a full set of such armor. Afterwards breeze through the rests of the quests (follow a guide from GameFAQs), while keeping your BR as low as possible.

You can challenge Pyrix to spark useful techs early, doesn't matter if you lose you don't game over.

When all but the end game quests are done (ignore ecology ones on your first playthrough), go grind up your party stats.

>>3789745
This is the exact opposite way to play this game.

>>3789657 (OP)
jamil is a good starter. starts with a good weapon and has best starting bp in the game making him an early game rapist. honestly every protag is good starter except captain hawk (troll intro) or claudia (stuck with a meme party first half of the game)

Pick who ever you wish. With Gray you just have to dodge some battles from slow super powerful enemies. All the characters have their own starting points. It isn't like SaGa Frontier in which they all have their own unique routes with final bosses.

>>3789922
maybe on planet retard

>>3790181
nta but i think it would be a terrible waste to follow someone's guide or advice when playing a saga game for the first time. they're meant for spending hours getting lost in and trying out all kinds of different things, not using a guide. that's not for everyone and that's okay.

>>3789745
>>3789922
>>3790183
Agreed. That is a fun way to play if you actually figured it out yourself. Figuring out how to break a game is fun. Following someone else's step by step guide is boring. Minstrel Song is a great game. It can be difficult and obtuse but you can absolutely get through the main game without a guide on your first try. Then you can use what you learned on another run. I even used the normal/Japanese BR growth rate on my first playthrough and I think that is probably better even though some people recommend against it.

>>3790459
original speed is the intended experience and has much less downtime. slow speed often leads into stints of "nothing happening" even if you kill every monster in your way. I'd argue slow progression does more damage to the game's reputation with its curated boredom than normal progression does with missing out on content.

>>3790678
You mostly only get that if you already know where the quests are and how to accomplish them. That won't be the case in a first play through without a guide.

>>3790678
>>3790793
I don't know. I definitely didn't know where the quests were. It gives you more wiggle room if you are trying to get as close to a complete run as possible on your first try but if you play by just pursuing a couple quests at a time it can be slow. Trying to accomplish a handful of quests without worrying too much about missing some or fucking them up feels more "natural" to me but I could be wrong.

>>3790968
A lot of people will end up fumbling around and exploring and getting into battles as a first play through. So I can see how a slower event rank counter won't be punishing the player with not having as much to do since they're grappling with the game anyway.

>>3791379
someone playing the game blind wont have access to many places to explore either. on my first playthrough I never gained access to shiverland or the frontier, and some other spots that required talking to a specific npc in some town. slow speed is good if youre power gaming and want to tackle as much content as possible but otherwise it's a detriment to the overall new player experience.