I got it now. I don't recall it being a problem throughout the game, though, despite some bosses and optional enemies further on having outright stagger bar resets if you aren't doing things in time (a la FFXIII).

I suppose it's just a different design philosophy than Elden Ring where you can maul enemies way beyond their phase change triggers and end up with an anticlimactic second phase.

I love all these discussions of FF. It reminds me of the good ol playstation days when we all first started FF 7 in the 90s.

11 hours in and I've only just found out where the tutorial going over basic character combat mechanics is located: The Chadly combat simulator.
I would have rather been given this info much earlier, but okay.

They changed the limit for the HP/MP+ Materia! In Remake you could not exceed more than 100% increase( That's 2 maxed HP/MP+), Now its only 30%. Only one fully max HP/MP per person. I believe the Max LVL is 70? So, in regards to HP, it may not be a big deal because it may only take one max HP+ to get to all 9's, but MP though? But MP, c'moooon

Some Synergy abilities give you unlimited MP for a short period of time, so it evens out. The combat is designed in a way that ensures you're playing dynamically for maximum efficiency. It encourages switching between characters and using multiple abilities/skills. I really like that but it can be a bit overwhelming in harder challenges. Very difficult to keep track of the different gauges/values while also paying attention to what your enemies are doing. The skill ceiling is really high.

Beat the game today at a nice even 60 hours. Played in normal and did about 80% of the optional stuff and sidequests in every area I'd say.

Overall thoughts are that the game is a 10/10 until the end of chapter 10.

Very mild spoilers about the game's quality:

Heavier spoilers about the plot (still somewhat non-specific):

My problem is remember it all; You just reminded me that Synergies grant buffs. You know what else is starting to get to me? I'm tired of having to learn the rules of all these mini games that pop up. I like Fort Condor, but I don't like having to do it 4 times with steep jumps in difficulty. Queen's Blood is starting to piss me off with how cheap it feels occasionally; like they just happen to have the right cards at the right time... The frog mini game, the piano quest ... ugh. I understand that they want to shake it up a little, but I wish they made them less stressful. They should be fun distractions, especially when you have to complete them to get intel complete. 

I think Rebirth just feels overdone in a lot of areas. 

Yeah it's too much, you're constantly interrupted by tutorials and it's easy to forget the controls/rules. Though I do think these mini games, silly ones included, add a lot of charm to the game's world and I enjoy them for the most part. The frog minigame cracked me up (AAA Fall Guys energy).

Fort Condor is my favorite coz it's coherent and has just the right amount of depth (should have been the main minigame imo). Not a big fan of Queen's Blood. Too complicated and you don't know your opponent's hand, so my wins end up feeling random with zero sense of satisfaction. It's no Triple Triad. Maybe I'd appreciate it more if I put dozens of hours into it... which isn't gonna happen.

Overall Rebirth has been a fantastic game to me so far (I'm at Chapter 9. The current region just blew my mind, the sense of scale is incredible), but it can indeed feel overwhelming especially if you're a busy person.

I spent waaay to long in Junon. Like 32 hours in the game atm. So, I Finally did everything and how am I rewarded? ANOTHER another difficulty in the damn Fort Condor game and ANOTHER MINI GAME. MY GAWD ENOUGH!

Finally made it to chapter 5! I noticed I missed a Queen's Blood person though. I can return to Junon region correct? I cannot believe that I am 35 hours into game and only on chp5. Does that sound right?

Junon! The city of mini games. Nothing was too bad; it only took me 3 tries to get the parade win. One thing I did like about the conversation between Cloud and Rufus is establishes why capturing Aerith and Avalanche fell off the radar in the original game. Of course, Sephiroth being alive is reason the case in both games but this makes it clear.