The combat was ok. The AI too often stood there doing nothing instead of attacking to fill ATB gauge. And having to hold their hand to make them do everything in no way enhanced my experience. I kind of figured after Cloud yelled at Barett to use lightning he'd just kind of use it. Maybe it will make more sense when enemies require more complex strategies, but here it was just a nuisance.

This is really nothing like the "classic" battle system except in the vaguest sense that commands are still a part of it. And even if it were, then that's not necessarily a good thing. We've been doing action rpgs for a while and figured out what works and what doesn't. So, it would make sense to what was learned and implement it.

Remember when Lair sent out a guide to reviewers on how to play the game after it got bad reviews? So now fans are trying to give out a guide to explain why the lame combat isn't? Yeah I know the combat just fine thanks. SE just isn't great at this stuff. It's fine.

Just to be clear:

"I thought pausing the action in order to have Barrett heal was a distraction"  is not the same as complaining that he didn't heal because the ai is dumb.

I would have never of responded to the first comment because that is simply a preference but the latter sounds like you thought the game designers intended for Barret to use cure but programmed the ai so badly its not reliable or that they overlooked it as a requirement. That would be misunderstanding the mechanics. But if you knew that you that you were supposed to issue commands as the player but didn't want to or enjoy, then that's a different story. 

Secondly, there is no paradox. I must of missed the part where you asked for "options", i only saw you complaining about having to input key commands for teammates. I think this will be persistent throughout the game, but I was just saying I think as you progress and difficulty increases the skills you manage will have to evolve too, meaning setting certain team paradigms will be more important later on. At the beginning stage (i.e this demo), curing is one of the few things you actually need to manage but as you skills and enemies increase that should change. Managing this balance is key to not falling victim to FFXII's self playing mechanism whilst also not burdening the player with micromanagement.

The original was a turn based game.  Something that makes sense in a turn based game does not necessarily make sense in a real time action RPG. If the characters in there acted on their own, then I would literally be doing nothing.  

What would be a better way to implement "full control" of party members?  I don't know.  But that's the wrong question.  The better question is should they implement "full control" in the first place? Does having full control over how the characters spend their ATB points actually make the game any more fun?  It might in the full game when there are more options and bosses presumably require more strategy.  But, in the demo, it didn't improve things at all for me, it just added an extra chore that took me out of the rhythm.  

I felt the battle system was very well done and a faithful transition from turn based combat to action based combat. I was very happy to see strategic elements stull in place and just as relevant as ever. My only complaint is that ally AI could be better when selecting targets and maintaining attack paterns to fill their ATB, but this could easily be fixed by release. I think leaving ATB actions up to the player was a brilliant move by SE, and I look forward to delving deeper into the mechanics upon release of the full game (part one anyway).

That is my personal take on the matter, and that is all I have to say on the topic when it comes to the battle system. The divide in opinion seems to stem from one group of people wanting it to remain faithful to the original while spicing things up a bit (where I fall), and another group that would prefer it to be a full on action RPG game like Kingdom Hearts or FFXV. Not so much people don't understand it, but more people had different expectations on what they would prefer the battle style to portray.  And there is nothing wrong with that, as it is impossible to please everyone.

We understand it. We just think some areas can be improved. Especially regarding the allied AI, which more often than not behaves in a very questionable way and the lock on mechanic which could be more precise.

A thread like this just seems kinda weird. If people somehow don't understand a battle system, then the developers simply dropped the ball. If someone doesn't like it, i'm not sure how a thread like this will help much.

I can see that, as using the correct character for the correct situations would be part of the strategy.  That is how I was looking at it.  However I don't feel that they attack effectively enough to fill the ATB bar on their own either.  I found whoever I was controlling to have a full bar much faster than the AI controlled character.

But another thing I thought of is it kind of encourages you to use other characters in long fights to help build those meters yourself.  Like you fill one guage, then change to Barret.  Cloud keeps auto attacking while you build Barret (or whoever), now you have several full bars to use across multiple characters rather than just two on a single character.

As far as targeting AI, it was not Barret attacking out of reach enemies that was my problem.  Instead it was Cloud failing to cover me from the other enemies while I was using Barret.  In any case it is clear that this battle system is much more involved than FFXV or KH, which is exactly what I was hoping for.  I feel there is/will be a lot more to it than what we are seeing in the demo alone, which could make all the difference in the world.

I think the best change in the AI would be to allow selectable strategy for each character as an AI controlled character.

Attack same target

Focus on evasion and blocking

Attack closest enemy

Something simple like that would suffice IMO.  Right now they just kind of act with no direction and are inconsistent with their attack paterns, which makes it difficult to plan around.  I like what I am seeing so far, but if I had to change one thing so far that would be it.

One thing I like about FF as a franchise its the fact that it keeps reinventing itself down to its core mechanics. Gameplay/Battlesystem being one of them. And obviously some you like more than others. I hated/stillhate FF13's battle system, but that didnt stop me from finishing that game 3 times, because it still has many virtues making it worth it - as do most (or all) games in the franchise. To answer your question, for me, we already had such a system in FFXII. In my own personal and completely arbitrary, subjective and non-important opinion and experience, the Gambit system is the pinnacle of what an action based combat RPG - that still allows you "full control" - is, because your characters will act automatically - based on what you already decided beforehand they'd do - and you can still changed those action mid-combat if you so wish to, and you can swap characters if you so wish to, and you can change the action configuration whenever you wish to. Its not pre-programmed, you are the one deciding every individual action for every individual scenario. And that I liked a lot. Its fluid and it still allows you full control. 

But then again, that system was so polarizing and divisive back when it came out - and still is today, people go from 0-100 in a minute with that game, thats why I just cant take the discussion in these subjects seriously anymore, because people wont adapt, they expect the game to adapt to themselves. Speaking obviously about any game, not just FF. Personally I think FF7R battle system is perfect the way it is, it pays homage to the original in the ways it stays faithful to its core mechanics, which clearly is intentional - while still innovating in the areas where it can to make it feel modern and more fluid- Which if anything is gonna happen in the entire experience of this game. Its a remake, not a remaster. A different game. And that stings so hard to some people even when they say they get that. I like it a lot. I understand people not liking it. In the same way I loathe FF13's system. It comes down to a matter of preference which is why these topics are better left as a superficial discussion so that we dont invest unnecesary time in them and we can all focus on the true masterpieces that we all universally love, like Hollow Knight. 

This is exactly what i thought. Its why we can change characters on the fly to better adapt to the situation. When theres flying enemies you will have to control barret and have him targeting at them while cloud will focus on close combat.