Nice to see FF7R's ATB combat getting some love.
I was so frustrated with FF7R's combat at first because I was trying to play it like an action game. I didn't understand that it all revolves around ATB management and staggering enemies.
Info that helped the combat click:
- You have to frequently switch between party members to build ATB
- AI-controlled allies have certain buffs and debuffs like great blocking and dodging, but poor ATB building
- Enemies strongly prefer to target the player-controlled character, so you can often save a character that's near death by switching to a healthier one. You can also decrease the chance you'll get interrupted during a long startup animation by, say, casting Firaga as Aerith and switching to Cloud (or just using the shoulder buttons to give commands to other characters)
- Basic attacks aren't for dealing damage so much as building that ATB bar
- Every ability was designed to fill distinct roles: putting enemies into the pressured state so they get staggered much faster, building more ATB, building the enemy's stagger bar, dealing damage during stagger, increasing the damage multiplier on staggered enemies, etc.
FF7R's combat plays like an awesome fusion of the original's turn-based combat and a dramatically improved variant of FF15's action RPG gameplay.
I really hope the combat clicks for most of the people who try the game. I was not feeling it at all until I found some strategies online that explained the combat design.
