When you start a new game, you don't create a party per se. Instead, you create one primary character and then "hire" additional party members as they become available. (These extra party members don't cost anything to hire, the game just says "hire" though.) You can also dismiss characters and hire new ones at any time at the adventurer's inn.I highly recommend picking a Dark Elf for your primary character because their excellent merchant will let you get started quickly and let you focus on the action, not your pocketbook. They also get GM disarm, bow, chain, and a bunch of other neat abilities. I wish I would've started with a Dark Elf instead of my Minotaur! It took me ages to find an elf.
I've been doing some reading on the Internet, and some people consider the MM8 Dark Elf class to be somewhat overpowered. I think it's great that most of the best miscellaneous skills are in one class because that just allows for more flexibility in selecting other party members.
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You will get a cleric, vampire, necromancer, knight very early on, and a minotaur will join soon after that.
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Beyond these starting characters, it's difficult to recruit new party members that are near your skill level because they won't join your party until you have completed certain quests.
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