The gameplay in Project X Zone follows two simple phases, a Story Scene and then a Battle Scene. The story scenes just show you what's going on in the story and lead to the eventual battle scenes. Units are divided into groups of two characters per unit, called Pair Unit, although there are single characters called Solo Units, which function as support in battle.
Each battle itself is separated into two phases, a movement one and then the actual battle, with each one taking place on a grid-filled map. You go up to enemy units on the map and then attack, which will bring you to the attack screen.
The battle system, which is called Cross Active Battle System (CABS), has you pressing A in combination with one of the directions to perform up to a certain number of basic combos, which seems to start out at three at the beginning of the game. If you wait until the enemy is about to hit the ground before connecting with your second combo, then you will score a Critical Hit.
There are also other elements when doing battle, including Support Attack and Cross Hit. Whenever you get Solo Units, you can assign them to a Pair Unit and when in battle, pressing a button will allow that Solo Unit to come in and perform an attack on the enemy. Also, if you're near an ally Pair Unit when fighting an enemy, they will sometimes join in that battle and perform a combo.
