TIPS
The intro of the game actually takes quite a bit of time to get used to. If you feel stuck in any way, usually, the solution is to sleep at an Inn. The passage of time is actually a game mechanic that it takes into account(you can't just take a job and immediately go do that job).
Depending on who you have in your party, you might end up excluding other party members and, thus, locking yourself out of certain route/plotlines. This isn't as much of a punishment as you might think it is, it's actually more freeing to know that missing someone or something isn't considered a punishment as much as it's just another thing that contributes to the replay value of the game. If you want specific party members, you might have to let in some people you want. I actually think it's pretty smart of the game to try to tempt you with an early third party member but you always have a choice. You can have eight party members in total, meaning that some characters may end up switching out or leaving upon reaching your limit(and, keep in mind, you have party members set on the backburner for you to reunite with later). Each party member's abilities are a dice roll so, if you want, you can save before recruiting one and reload if you didn't receive the abilities for them that you wanted. Really, it's nothing that would destroy a playthrough but if you want to shoot for specific things, it's always nice to keep what you want in mind. It's smarter to assign one ability(blacksmithing/identifying/compounding) to one party member, seeing as the crafting system will just use whoever has the highest level in it. Always dole out your money on skills when you get a chance(it's usually always the middle guy in the skillset store). Outside of a town, you can hit the Y button(or whatever you assigned to the Y button) in order to have your party members go inside separately. They will then hang around the town, doing their own thing until you happen upon them. Sometimes they'll have nothing of note to say and other times you might get a completely new cutscene involving them. I actually discovered the relation of two characters through doing this entirely by accident, it really adds a kind of new depth to the world as something that existed long before you picked up your controller.