- "So then what you're saying is, the Tactical Time you get is unlimited. And that would mean... Oh, I get it. So when it's your turn, all you have to do is stay standing still. And then you'll have lots of time to think about what you're gonna do when you start fighting."
- —Beat shows his understanding of Allegretto's explanation of Tactical Time.
Tactical Time, also referred to by the abbreviation "TT," is a gameplay element in Eternal Sonata related to the flow of battle. A playable character's Tactical Time is the amount of time that they have at the start of their turn to consider their actions before moving. If at any time during Tactical Time the player makes a move, the remaining Tactical Time will be reduced to zero, and the time on the characters' Action Gauge will start decreasing.
Tactical Time is generally related to Party Level. In Party Level 1, Tactical Time is infinite, but the Action Gauge is also stopped when a character stops moving, so there is no real penalty if the player immediately expends their Tactical Time by making a move right away. In Party Level 2, Tactical Time remains infinite, but the Action Gauge begins and continues to flow as soon the character makes a move, making it important to carefully consider one's actions before taking a turn. Beginning in Party Level 3, limits are placed on Tactical Time, first at three seconds, and then only one second in Party Level 4. At Party Levels 5 and 6, characters will generally fight without Tactical Time. Certain armors and accessories such as the Alice's Watch, however, can be equipped to characters to grant them a limited amount of Tactical Time.