Final Fantasy/Gameplay

Character stats

 * See also: Classes

Formation

 * Formation is the order in which characters line up, and the chances of a character being targeted is determined by their position. The lead character will be targeted the most often, so it should be a character with high defense and endurance, such as a Warrior/Knight. Weaker classes, such as Black Mages/Wizards should be put in the rear. Note that moving a character further back does not reduce the amount of damage taken or increase evasion, it only reduces the chance that an enemy will target them.

Battle

 * Attack: This is pretty obvious. Characters attack enemies with the weapon they have equipped. Characters without weapons will attack with their bare hands.
 * Magic: Characters can use spells that have been purchased from a magic shop. Select a spell and a target (if applicable) for the spell.
 * Items: Uses items in battle. Some items can't be used unless you have the Battle Support option enabled in the System Menu. Spells that can be cast from equipment can be cast by using the equipment like a normal item. At the top of the item menu, press up to select an equipped item.
 * Equip: Allows characters to change their equipment in battle. Multiple pieces can be switched in one round and changing equipment does not forfeit the character's turn.
 * Flee: The character that chooses this command will attempt to run away. If he succeeds, the whole party will escape. If he fails they cannot attack during that round.

Tactical observations about fleeing
The Flee command is generally useful as a fix when you make some tactical mistake.

For instance, you will need to flee if you forgot to save and you meet enemies that are too strong for your party. In that case, there is also a low chance of successfully escape battle. It's better to reload a saved game, then grind a few levels before taking the same chance.

Another example of possible tactical mistake is to flee fights in a dungeon to get faster to the boss. As a likely consequence, the enemies in the subsequent area will be too strong and numerous for your team, and the time you saved escaping weak enemies will be spent grinding against stronger and more dangerous enemies, with further chances to get beaten.

The choice of whether to run from battles or "fight to the end and reload" depends on your play style, but is inefficient and risky compared to grinding sufficiently and being prepared for the challenges in each zone. The difficulty, then, is knowing how much to grind in order to overcome the strength disparity between your party and the upcoming monsters. It is easy to not grind enough, and be too weak to fight your way through a dungeon, and it is just as easy to grind too much, and have wasted your time on that section. Comparing speed runs is a good way to accurately narrow down these margins of necessary time spent compared to your party's strength.