Press Turn System

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Press Turn[a] is a recurring battle system introduced in Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne and used in every Shin Megami Tensei game since and in the Digital Devil Saga series. It gives a party more turns when they perform beneficial actions and less turns when they perform detrimental actions. This applies to both sides, making it a double-edged sword.

Modified versions of the Press Turn System have appeared in other series, including the One More System [b] in the Persona series and the Extra Turn System from the Devil Survivor series.

Overview

In the Press Turn System, each combatant contributes an amount of Press Turns to the party as a whole; in most cases, each combatant only contributes one Press Turn, though some (notably bosses and other powerful enemies) may contribute more. When a combatant takes an action, it consumes a Press Turn. The combatant must only be active in the party at the beginning of their turn to contribute a Press Turn; if they are removed from the party during their turn, it will not remove a Press Turn, nor will adding a combatant to the party mid-turn grant an additional Press Turn.

Taking certain actions will instead convert one of the party's Press Turns into a "half turn", giving the party an extra action before they must pass to the enemy party. Half turns behave the same as a normal Press Turn, except they cannot grant more actions to the party even if more could be generated; this limits a party's maximum amount of actions to double their initial amount of Press Turns. The most notable actions that generate half turns are: striking enemy weaknesses, dealing Critical Hits, passing one's turn and summoning a demon from the stock.

Conversely, certain actions consume additional Press Turns, reducing the amount of actions the party can take and occasionally skipping the remainder of the party's turn altogether. These include hitting an enemy's nullification (or stronger) affinity or missing an attack. If an action would both add and remove Press Turns (for example, a multi-target skill hitting both a weakness and a nullification), only the penalty will apply.

Mechanics by Game

Shin Megami Tensei series

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Persona series

In the Persona series, starting with Persona 3, the One More System is used. In it, a combatant can be Downed by certain actions, including exploiting their weakness or landing a Critical Hit, which will grant the attacker one additional action immediately. When all enemies are Down, they may choose to instead spend the turn executing an All-Out Attack.

Persona 3

In Persona 3 and Persona 3 FES, the Down Ailment behaves differently from subsequent games, introducing a punishment to having one's weaknesses exploited like in the Press Turn System: a combatant will take their turn to recover from Down, unless they take damage prior to their turn starting, which removes Down.

Furthermore, a multi-target attack will only grant a One More if every target is Downed.

Persona 3 Portable

Persona 3 Portable uses the combat mechanics from Persona 4, including the behavior of Down, the introduction of Dizzy and multi-target attacks granting a One More if any target is Downed.

Additionally, Rank 3 of the S.E.E.S. Social Link unlocks Co-op Attacks, which can activate once the protagonist gains a One More.

Persona 3 Reload

Characters can use Shift on their One More turn to give their turn away to another party member.

Persona 4

Reaching Rank 3 with a party member's Social Link will unlock Follow-Up Attacks, which can activate once the protagonist gains a One More.

Persona 5

Characters can use Baton Pass on their One More turn to give their turn away to another party member, increasing the recipient's damage and healing.

Persona 5 Royal

In addition to the usual mechanics and Baton Pass, characters can get One Mores through Technical damage, and new Traits have passive effects for One Mores.

Persona 4 Arena

In both Arena and Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, there are One More Cancels and One More Bursts.

One More Cancels cost 50 SP and can be performed by pressing ABC after an attack to negate the recovery period and go back to neutral.

One More Bursts consume the Burst gauge and are performed by pressing ACD during an attack to launch the opponent into the air.

Persona 5 Strikers

In Strikers, depleting one shield of an enemy's Down Gauge allows for the execution of a One More follow-up attack. Depleting it completely instead allows for an All-Out Attack.

Persona 5 Tactica

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Persona 5: The Phantom X

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Digital Devil Saga series

The Digital Devil Saga series uses the same Press Turn system found in Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne.

Combo Skills consume one turn per participant. If the attack strikes a weakness or is a Critical, every full turn that would have been consumed becomes a half turn.

Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner 2

Certain Karma Rings in Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner 2 can affect aspects of the Press Turn system, such as negating the penalty for missing an attack.

Devil Survivor series

The Devil Survivor series uses the Extra Turn System. If a combatant strikes a weakness, lands a Critical Hit or nullifies an attack, they may gain an Extra Turn, while taking damage and having their attacks nullified will instead remove their Extra Turn. Once all combatants have done their actions and at least one has an Extra Turn, the Extra Turn phase begins, during which only combatants with an Extra Turn can act again.

Devil Survivor 2

Devil Survivor 2 introduces the Omega Race, whose racial skills give their team the chance to gain a Double Extra during the Extra Turn phase. Similarly to the normal Extra Turn phase, if any combatants have a Double Extra at the end of the Extra Turn, the Double Extra phase begins, during which only combatants with a Double Extra can act again.

Notes

  1. Japanese: プレスターンPress Turn, Hepburn Puresu tān
  2. Japanese: ワンモア・プレスOne More Press, Hepburn Wan moa puresu