3) Battle system.

When a battle begins, your characters appear on the right and enemies on the left. Your characters are in a diamond formation corresponding to gamepad buttons: Triangle (top), Circle (back row), X (bottom), and Square (left). Enemies appear in various formations (diamond, square, triangle, line). Back row enemies can only be attacked with magic or bows.

The top-left of the screen displays the current target's name and their approximate hit points (HP). Use the directional pad to change targets.

The top-right shows the current turn number, useful for tracking spell duration. Below this is a diagram of the gamepad buttons; lit buttons indicate characters eligible for attack, and a number (1, 2, or 3) shows how many attacks that character can perform based on their equipped weapon.

The bottom of the screen shows your party's information, including each character's name, DME, and charge time (CT). Characters with charge time cannot use PWS moves or Magic.

When you attack, character information is replaced by a circle in the bottom-left showing consecutive hits. This number resets if too much time passes between attacks. A bar alongside this circle fills with each hit; when it reaches 100, participating characters are eligible for PWS moves. This is the energy bar.

Each hit in a combo increases damage by 1%. For example, the 26th hit does 125% damage when the hit count is 25.

When the energy bar reaches 100 and normal attacks cease, the screen darkens. The energy bar resets to 80 and drains rapidly, along with a draining bar in the middle of the screen. A display shows which characters can execute a PWS. Characters with charge time, those who didn't participate, or were blocked cannot use PWS. Press the eligible character's button to execute their PWS. These moves increase consecutive hits and the energy bar.

If the energy bar reaches 100 again after a PWS, another character's PWS can be executed. The energy bar resets to 60, making it harder to reach 100 again. After the second PWS, it resets to 40. If a third character can raise the bar to 100, a fourth character may use their PWS.

Successfully chaining three PWS moves results in the third and fourth PWS dealing 1/3 more damage. It is recommended to save your most powerful PWS (Freya's) for last. A bonus multiplier for 75+ consecutive hits is possible but unconfirmed.

The first attack depends on whether Valkyrie hits the monster initially. If she does, characters attack first with zero CT. If Valkyrie bumps the monster, either enemies attack first, or characters attack first with 1 CT each. Equipping a Scout Orb increases the chance of characters striking first.

After characters attack, enemies take their turn, followed by the characters' turn again. This cycle continues until all characters or all monsters are defeated. If characters are defeated, the party is ejected to the world map, wasting time.

Hitting enemies in certain situations yields items. Juggling enemies may drop magic crystals, increasing experience gain by 5% per crystal (max 40 crystals for 3x normal experience). Hitting enemies on the ground may drop purple gems, which randomly reduce CT. Treasure chests can also be dropped (one per monster), with most monsters offering two different treasures awarded at the end of battle.

Pressing the Select button (or L3) brings up a menu to change party formation, change weapons (uses a turn), use items, cast powerful magic, or flee the battle. Fleeing is a good option when...