 Enemies are confronted on the overworld map and in dungeons through both random encounters and staged battles . Battles are governed by a turn @-@ based system : the player 's and enemy 's parties each get a turn during which they can perform available actions . The player party is arranged in a three @-@ by @-@ two grid , with their positioning effecting how they can attack enemies : for instance , short @-@ ranged attacks are made less effective if the selected party member is in the back row . The player has access to multiple commands in battle : " Sword " , " Gun " , " Magic " and " Extra " . Items can also be used in battle , and the player can choose to escape from most encounters aside from key boss battles . An " Auto " option is also available , where the entire party is commanded using the game 's artificial intelligence . At the end of each successful battle , experience points are distributed among party members depending on the strength of the enemy , and the protagonist is given Ability Points to assign to six different attributes which affect his performance in battle . 
