The original plans for Final Fantasy titles had four party , FF4 had five. However, FF3 was almost the first game in the series to add in a fifth party member before those plans were scrapped.
The Final Fantasy series has had many different numbers of available party throughout its run, with 3 and 4 party being the most common in combat. The benefits and drawbacks are similar to party compositions in Dungeons & Dragons. A smaller party is easier to manage, while a five-person party can survive more dangerous encounters. This is why adventuring parties with four characters is often considered to be the ideal number, as it bridges manageability and survivability.
In FF2, the party has three recurring characters throughout the game, with a fourth slot reserved for guest characters that and leave as the story demands. It seems that a similar approach was planned for FF3 at one point, but it didn't make it into the final version of the game. FF4 game designer and scenario writer Takashi Tokita was recently interviewed by the official Square Enix website for the 30th anniversary of the game, but he also worked on FF3. He discussed the original plans for FF3 during the interview.
How FF 3's Desch Almost Became A Party Member
According to Tokita, FF3 was originally going to have a five-member party, with the fifth character being Desch. In the final version of the game, there are several characters who the party, but don't participate in battle. This ended up being Desch's role. Desch is an amnesiac, who briefly s players in search of clues regarding his past. He later guides the party through the Tower of Owen and helps them during the final battle against the Cloud of Darkness. In the 3D remake of FF3, Desch (and the other ing characters) could randomly aid the party by performing a special attack during combat.
It's likely that technical issues prevented the five-member party concept from appearing in FF3, as the game was already pushing the NES to its limits. In the end, the four main characters were just blank slates that the player had to project a personality onto. It wasn't until the 3D remake that the party in FF3 received distinctive personalities and motivations. In many ways, the 3D remake of Final Fantasy III is the superior version of the game, thanks to its improved characterization and fleshing out the job system, even if Desch never rose to the position of a main party member.
Source: Square Enix
