The Linear Motion Battle System, LMBS for short, is the real-time combat system used in the Tales series of Action RPGs. It operates around the fact that the battle screen is a two-dimensional panoramic view, and thus all enemies and party members are in a horizontal line.
Players usually cycle through enemy targets with a shoulder button. Whatever the player has targeted, is what they will move and act toward - however, other enemies in the vicinity can be hit by the same blows. Thus, LMBS functions to simplify combat through giving the player a single target, and at the same time retains a feeling of immersion in a larger battle scene.
In three-dimensional Tales games, the system is modified to become the Multi-Line Linear Motion Battle System.