So in terms of plot setup, the best way to describe current project is Hunger Games but a bit more anime, I guess. Basically there's a group of twenty(ish) people in one large arena, and each one has a unique power. However, not every character will join the player's group. All in all, only 9 of the initial 20 will be playable. Due to this, I was thinking of having a "waiting period" where the party will split up to look for the other 11 characters. Now, there's pluses and minuses to this from both a story and gameplay perspective, but for the sake of keeping this on track let's focus on gameplay for now.
+Allowing every party member to have their own time in the limelight, and to see at least a bit of use in gameplay
+Giving the player unique scenarios and battles to face
-With the way RPG's tend to work, at least ONE of the party members will be underleveled, which is always frustrating.
-Some players may not like being essentially forced to use fixed characters
Now, to get around the underlevel problem, it shouldn't be too hard to incorporate a Gen6/7 EXP Share system, but is this even a good idea to begin with?
tl;dr: Is a portion of gameplay where the party separates and regroups later a good idea from a gameplay perspective?