You've Been Playing Tifa All Wrong In Final Fantasy 7 Remake
Tifa is a core part of your Final Fantasy 7 Remake party, but you might be confused about to what to do with her. Other characters, like Barret and Aerith, have obvious roles to play, but Tifa isn't exactly a tank, a healer, or a DPS. Rather, Tifa's role in your party is flexible and should fill in any glaring gaps. Don't make the mistake of assuming Tifa is extraneous or useless. Rather, she's a key party member that will boost your group's efficiency, but only if you equip her correctly.
Here's how you've been playing Tifa all wrong in Final Fantasy 7 Remake.
Restricting yourself to a single build
Tifa and Cloud are similar in that they hit hard, but can also be fairly adept with magic as the need arises. Coordinate between your Cloud and Tifa builds. If Cloud uses magic heavily, make Tifa all melee (and vice versa). Tifa shines as a sort of a half-mage, half-fighter monk, allowing Cloud to hone in on physical attacks.
Tifa starts out with Leather Gloves, which, like their bearer, are pretty versatile. Until you pick up more suitable Knuckles for her hybrid role as a mage/fighter, focus on attacks that will stagger enemies. In Chapter 7, you'll find the Sonic Strikers in a chest. These give Tifa a big boost and tons of buffs when it comes to magic, so Tifa and Aerith can team up as your party's main casters at this point in the game.
Ignoring the stagger gauge
Even after securing better equipment, keep in mind that Tifa's role should be staggering enemies so her friends can swoop in for the kill. That shouldn't be a problem for Tifa, especially after perusing Way of the Fist Vol. 1 from the Moogle Emporium in Chapter 8. This will boost her skill points and, presumably, keep her entertained.
Now that Final Fantasy 7 has switched from turn-based combat to real time fights, there's a lot to pay attention to on the screen. For Tifa to stagger enemies, you and your team need to apply pressure, which means attacking hard and fast. This will fill the yellow stagger gauge beneath the enemy's health bar more quickly, knocking them off balance. Once staggered, an enemy is unable to attack. Basically, Tifa annihilates their defenses to leave them open for Cloud, Barret, or even Aerith to strike the finishing blow.
Not exploiting enemy weaknesses
Tifa is a knockout beauty (emphasis on the knockout) and this draws attention from even your most bitter enemies. The Turks — the elite investigative team from Shinra — will try to stop AVALANCHE at all costs ... unless that means harming Tifa.
Tall, dark, and silent, a certain sharp-suited Turk called Rude has a huge crush on Tifa, and will avoid hurting her even in the heat of battle. Take advantage of this weakness of the heart and let Tifa to take the reins when it comes to beating down Shinra goons like the Turks. Final Fantasy 7 Remake is all about knowing your foes' weaknesses, even if that weakness is a crush.