>>184320845
In order, with an emphasis on freedom of customization and a minor note on viability.

If I tag something with GIMP, you need to intentionally restrict yourself from making everyone perfect at everything, to make a varied party.

If I tag something with HARD, you'll notice the difference by not putting cure\raise,etc on every character.

8 - GIMP,HARD(only if you grind a lot)
12 - GIMP,HARD
2 - GIMP,HARD
5
3
7 - GIMP
6 - HARD

8 is a fun game if you strictly segment who has access to what. For instance only letting each character access 2 elements at a time or something. If you don't, the game gets quite easy if you just junction the best magic to every slot, it also forces you to divide the GF's more evenly and keep them there. Additionally the game has level scaling, so the lower your level the easier everything is and the less your choices will really impact the difficulty of the game.

Also anything tagged with HARD just means you'll really notice the difference, none of these games are actually HARD even for a first playthrough and even when gimping yourself with a themed run.