The best thing to do is to leave them alone or just run away from them if you're level is still low. You should level up first before fighting the elements. You must be at least level 30-35 to beat the elements. The other solution is to increase your hp while fighting them because their magic really hurts. And another solution is to Fight them with their weakness. Weakness of Fire elemental is water, weakness of Earth elemental is Wind, and so on.

I suggest Final Fantasy XII. It has great gameplay, wherein the player can explore the map and at the same time do battles. And Final Fantasy XII has a unique system, the Gambit System.