FF7 Beginner's Hall(The More Battle Dude) - LN1's Words

-ATB
Active Time Battle or something like that. Anyway, the ATB gauge fills with a speed dependent on your actual Speed stat and when it's full you get your next turn. A character's commands will be done once selected and reset their ATB. By the way, if you fill the Limit gauge the next time the ATB bar has to fill again for that character, it'll do it really fast. This doesn't apply past the first post-Limit turn, and doesn't apply if you just use your Limit before the ATB bar has to refill. Enemies have ATB too by the way.
-Onscreen numbers
A character's HP (noted by [current HP]/[max HP]) is above the longer bar. A character's MP (simply noted by [current MP]) is above the shorter bar(the one between HP and Limit).
-Change and Defend
Change changes between Back Row and Front Row mid-battle. Front Row takes and gives full damage physicals; Back Row takes and gives half damage physicals. Defend puts your character in a Defend stance which will last until their next command; it halves physical damage taken.
-Escape
Hold R1 and L1 to escape a battle. Some battles cannot be escaped.
-Gauges
Wait is the gauge that shows you how your ATB is filling. Limit gauge will allow you to use a Limit Break when it's full. Left to the HP bar are two gauges that note the duration of Barrier and MBarrier on a character. Iirc pink one is MBarrier and the other one is Barrier, but I'll tell if I'm wrong later when I can empirically test it.
-Status
Sleep: Can't move, physical attacks remove it early.
Stop: Can't move, must be DeSpell'd to be removed early.
Paralysis: Can't move. I believe it's cured with Remedy and the like.
Blindness: Physicals are inaccurate.
Confused: Will attack the wrong side(including self), can be removed by physical attacks.
Berserk: Boost in physical damage, but can only use physicals.
Mini: Physicals are reduced to 1.
Toad: You're a toad. You can physically attack but it's weak, and cannot cast Magic except for toad spell.
Poison: Gradually take damage every turn.
Petrified: Similar to death, but your HP is retained. Can be cured by Softs, Remedies, etc.
Death Sentence: Countdown to inflicting Death. Cannot be removed, but death immunity is possible.
Slow Numb or whatever it's called: Death Sentence but for Stone. Can be stopped prematurely with a Soft and other such Stone removing stuff.
Dead: HP reached 0, cannot take action and if the entire party is dead(or in a "similar status") a Game Over occurs. Can be removed with Phoenix Downs and other reviving things like Revive Magic.
Slow: ATB fills slower.
Haste: ATB fills faster.
Did I forget one?
-Elementals
Some enemies take different damage from elements, be it double as per a weakness, half as per a resistance, none as per an immunity, or even perhaps outright absorb it.
-Help
Pressing Select in battle toggles a help thing, with small descriptions of your command and the name of your target.