Pressure and Stagger
One of the very first things you learn in Final Fantasy 7 Remake is how to Pressure an enemy, and deal increased damage to them in a Staggered state. The Stagger system was first introduced in Final Fantasy XIII, and it works in a similar way here.
Basically, every enemy has a Stagger bar beneath their health bar, and once you fill it up they’ll enter a Staggered state, which stuns them and allows you to deal a lot of damage to them. Just using basic attacks will build that bar up, but if you know how to use your abilities and spells, you can build it up even faster.
As a general rule of thumb, magic spells will help to build the bar quicker and even Pressure them if you hit their weak point. When an enemy is Pressured, the Stagger bar builds up at an even faster rate, so you’ll want to make use of that opportunity to spam your abilities and spells to Stagger them.
You also need to keep an eye on your ATB charges, which determine when you can actually use your spells and abilities. One good tip to keep in mind is to have all your ATB charges ready to go right before an enemy gets Staggered, and once they do, expend your charges on your spells and abilities for massive damage.
You can get by with just basic attacks early on in the game, but once you come across the Shock Troopers and the Guard Sentinel boss in the first chapter, you’ll need to start using everything at your disposal.
