Downloaded and ready on the Switch. This will be my first time playing this title...in bed.
Any advice for a first timer?
The party planner that I linked earlier is useful if you want to know who gets what in an orderly fashion.
Pressing left joystick gives you an overlay of the map during, very useful and seamless
The clan primer has a section called "Traveler's Tips", it actually has useful info in there, especially in regards to what main stat weapon uses for their damage modifiers (some are focused on speed, some are focused on magic, and also strength)
Hunts is a huge part of the game and gives good rewards, it's worth doing them as you come across. The Clan leader gives elite hunts so check it from time to time
You have 199 save files available, use them
NPCs have something new to say after almost every story beat and they say some very interesting stuff that helps you contextualize the world and the story. Speak to folks as much as you can, it's also well-written interactions too.
Stealing is very good in this game, make a point of stealing whenevr you can. Do it manually or use a makeshift gambit such as Foe: HP 100% -> Steal, so your character gets a chance to steal at least once.
You don't get gils from enemies but loot ! Sell your loot, and that's also why stealing is important. There isn't anything worth keeping from the loot 99% of the time (the 1% is the Serpentskin from Niddhog, keep it for a sidequest, and even then it's not important because the sidequest ends regardless of you giving the loot to the quest giver). Check the description of loot too, they flesh out the world of Ivalice.
All jobs are good, so don't be afraid to experiment especially since you now have the ability to relinquish a job to get another with all your licence points refunded
English dub is the best, it's very very *very* good
Bestiary has a lot of world-building in it. If you kill enough of one type of enemy, you get extra lore-related pages that fleshes out the world, it's really cool
Don't be seduced by the strength of axes and hammers, they deal random damage from 1 to whatever their strength are. It's a gambling game with them and not the strongest type of weapons. Still good though (I'm using it with Vaan)
You're better off leveling all your characters than focusing on three. It's more involving and you can swap out your characters to the people in your reserve should they die. So having 6 fully stocked characters that can hold their own can save your skin.
Buy gambits early so you can experiment with them, they're inexpensive
Exploring always rewards you with interesting things, and since it auto-saves at every zone transition, you don't risk a lot for doing so.
Libra or an accessory with Libra is almost mandatory, this game has mean traps and it also allows you to know the HP, lvels and weaknesses of your foes. Required
There hardly any missables this time around so just enjoy the game
Explore to your heart's content but don't miss track of the story. It demands a lot of focus from the player because a lot of things is happening and the game isn't in the mind of putting you up to speed or giving you flashbacks. Either you get it or you don't, so keep track of what's going on, watch some previous cutscenes on youtube if you need a refresher
The three music options switches seamlessly so it's very fun to hear what has changed, just don't forget to put it back to reorchestrated (imo the best one)
The best tip is also that you have full control of the gameplay system. So you are the main designer of the game. You have options: in the option menu, wait makes it so time is paused when you input commands, active makes it so that time runs out even during menus. You can also adjust battle speed to your liking, putting it to the rightmost makes the ATB gauge flows the fastest. If you want fast gameplay, do that. Gambits is also your job, you can make it so that your characters are killing machines that only needs light inputs from you, or you can make it so that you only want it to take care of the tedious parts while you focus on the fun part, you can also disable it altogether. Don't get in the mindset of automating everything as if the game demands it from you, there is no reward for that. Just think about what kind of setup will be more fun for you and plan your strategy around it and you'll have a fun time. Just don't make it unfun for yourself. It has a deep battle system but it requires an open mind from the player to do what is beneficial for them. If you can do that, there is a lot to enjoy because it is the deepest battle system of the franchise alongside FFT and FFV in my opinion.
I think that's pretty much all bases covered
