I am just new to this series--I understand it is not smash and slash -an icon appears over who is shooting--pick your weapon--pick who you are attacking and then hit X-right. How do you defend yourself agains attack? Also, what is that bar of characters(I think) on the right of the screen. sorry to be so simplistic in my questions but I appreciate help.

You don't "defend" per se, but your defense statistics will go up as you level up. You won't be able to tell though, because the enemy's attack stats will go up too...

The bar of characters is the turn order for the next so many turns. Pay attention to it so you know when to attack.

thanks, I am getting the attack thing and summoning, changing characters but still do not see how the order bar on the right makes any difference in what I do.
What is MP and what do I use gin for?
It seems you have to go thru a lot of movies to get "into" this story line and play. I appreciate your help.

Uh, MP is "Magic Points". You use it for magic!

Also, you'll need to keep an eye on that turn-order bar thing during later boss fights. It tells you when the enemy will next attack, for instance, so you can prepare for it if necessary.

I'm getting it...now when I am in the grid is it beter to Move first or Use what is available to me first? Don't really see how that works but I have been able to navigate around it. Should I use all I can whenever I earn my points and ability to move or is there any benefit to save for later

If possible, you should activate nodes (those little circles on the Sphere Grid) as soon as you get to them. They increase your stats, sometimes give you new abilities and so on. If you don't activate them when you're first on them, you'll have to backtrack to them later and waste Sphere Levels in the process.

There can be a lot of strategy involved in the order bar up top. If one of your characters is low on life, you're going to want to heal, but if you see your healer has two turns before the enemy's next turn, you can wait until later. If you are using a spell that might effect the order, it displays the effect when you select the enemy. You can decide if the move is worth it. It has a myriad of uses, some not so obvious, but it is certainly useful.

It's been a long night of playing. When I end a battle I see what i have earned. I see I have earned Ap to maybe move and I see shperes I have earned. How do I know where those spheres are to activate them. I went into the sphere and selected each character I battled with and selected Use and there are no spheres there. The only circles i have available are ones I have already been on. How do you find them?

Have you gotten to the sphere grid tutorial? I think you can access it in the menu if you need it again... but I'm not sure.