Combat

Inside the TV World, the player explores randomly generated dungeons in the field map. each dungeon is of a certain theme, based on the victim that has been kidnapped. Dungeons are divided into floors, each containing Shadows, enemies the protagonist and his friends fight; and treasure chests, which contain items or equipment. To progress the story, players fight against Shadows as they navigate their way to a dungeon's final floor, where the missing person is located.

The player enters battle upon coming into contact with a Shadow in the dungeon, and the player can gain the initiative by striking the Shadow from behind. The battle system is turn-based, with similarities to the Press Turn system used in other Shin Megami Tensei games. Each character can perform a basic attack with their weapon, use a special Skill, or use an item. The player can choose to directly control the actions of all party members, or use the "Tactics" option to alter their battle AI.

Offensive abilities cause certain types of damage, such as "Physical", "Fire", or "Almighty". Enemies the player encounters may have a weakness to a certain type of attack. Exploiting an enemy's weakness will knock it down, giving the attacker the opportunity to act again. If all enemies in a battle are knocked down, the player may initiate an All-Out Attack, a powerful attack in which the player's party rushes the downed enemies, removing weaker enemies and inflicting heavy damage on stronger ones. However, as party members also have weaknesses, they are also vulnerable to being knocked down. At the end of the battle, players are awarded experience points, money, and items. Players may be given the chance to win a new Persona to summon in battle by a timing game.