The Demo is Officially Out

[Fox]

Barret was over-the-top.

Yup, sounds like Barret!

Also, why do the Guard Hounds have to be staggered? I mean I get it with the Sweeper and Guard Scorpion, but it was weird that the Guard Dog can take enough of a beating to get staggered first

I suspect it is in order to serve as an introduction to the mechanic. It's good design. Introduce a new system with low threat enemies first, so players understand how to use it when the stakes are higher.

The first enemy type you encounter can be quickly beaten by just mashing attack. The second enemy type requires utilising the Pressured/Staggered system. The third enemy type requires character switching to handle range, the fourth requires using magic, and then the Guard Scorpion puts all of it together and introduces more mechanics including exploiting weaknesses with elemental magic.

core issues I've noticed of your party being way too tanky to worry about anything

First, I dunno about you but I definitely had to use a fair number of potions and cure spells. But also... you're in the tutorial. You don't expect enemies to be taking off half your HP with each hit, do you?