Some notes:
-All encounters are preemptive. This means that you'll always have the upper hand in battle. You'll be able to unleash your stronger attacks on the enemy, heal, escape, etc. And if you finish a battle in this period of time you'll get 100% of the experience.
-Passive after-battle messages. The amount of experience and crystal shards received after every battle can be seen at any time by pressing the keys 1 and 2 respectively. This is done with the intention to speed up the flow of battles and dungeons.
-You're immortal! ...For the most part anyway. If you lose a normal battle you'll just get back on the map to heal and rethink your strategy. However, your battle results will be kept on record, and will affect how other people see you and the rewards you'll get from them.
-Area purification. To purify an area you must defeat all enemies on sight without leaving that map. (Otherwise they will respawn) The main benefit of purifying areas is that all enemies in the dungeon will become weaker, but sometimes other cool things may happen.
-Action spots. In some places your characters will be able to perform an specific action, but only if certain stat requirements are met. An (E) next to a number means each party member must reach that stat, and an (A) means it can be reached among all party members.