So I'm trying out Chrono Cross for the first time. It had good reviews, so I thought I'd check it out. So far though, I'm barely grasping the battle system, and they're offering little to nothing as far as tutorials are concerned. I'm a learner by doing, at least when it comes to gaming. That and I'm too lazy to RTFM. The game sorta reminds me of FFVII though, which is definitely a plus.
In a nutshell you're given a stamina bar that typically goes up to 7 points. Which you can allocate into attacks either light (using the least stamina), medium, or heavy (uses the most stamina) attacks or you can choose to use up all of your stamina to cast an elemental, which essentially is your magic. You can however if so desired use up a handful of attacks and with whatever leftover stamina cast a spell. However, that will bring you into the negative stamina which simply means you won't make a full recovery of stamina upon your next turn.
Now, elements are odd because they function much like items that you simply keep forever, but unfortunately are equipable only to one person per element you have. So if you wanted everyone to cast a particular spell, you'd need 3 of them. There are also consumable elements mainly to heal and rid status ailments, and those function identical to items in that they're consumable, but function just like regular spell casting.
On the right right corner you'll notice the color field. With each elemental casting, the center field will change color based on the element of the spell you cast. The more of a particular color or element that takes up the field, the stronger that element will become. If all 3 are of the same color then you will be allowed to cast a summon of that element which you receive later in the game.
It's also worth noting that each character has their own elemental affinity. This simply points out what type of magic the character is strongest with; and consequently, what they're weak against as well since each has their own weakness and strength.
Chrono Cross is interesting in that you essentially cannot grind to level up as your progress in strength lies within defeating a boss, therefore moving forward in the story, and keeps things relatively challenging. As long as you maintain your stock of items, elements and improve your weapons and armor at the given opportunities, you should do just fine. Battle system aside, CC is one of the most astonishingly impressive games I've ever played.