This system may be an adjustment for players used to the easy to grasp Materia system in Final Fantasy VII, but it allows for a lot of customisation of character abilities. There are over a dozen GFs in the game, each with its own attack and junction options. Some are easy to find, while others are very well hidden. The Active Time Battle system is a phased turn-based system where characters' turns depend on factors such as their speed attribute, their last action, magic spell effects, etc. This encourages the player to choose quickly, though there is an option to enable a true turn-based mode.
Battles occur on a screen separate from the main game.
A time gauge for each character is shown, and when it fills up, the character can act by choosing to attack, cast magic, draw magic, summon a GF, or use an item. Other commands may be available depending on the abilities of a character's GF, but the total number of commands available during combat is limited, and they must be selected prior to entering battle. Thus it is important to make the GFs and magic junctioned to party members suits the types of encounters that are expected. When party members lose all their hit points in battle, they are knocked out and unable to participate further unless revived by items such as as Phoenix Down or spells such as Life. The game ends if all the active party members are knocked out.