is a tactical role-playing game developed and published by Sega for the PlayStation Portable. It is the fourth Shining game with characters designed by Tony Taka, the other three being Shining Tears, Shining Wind and Shining Hearts. Shining Blade was released in Japan on March 15, 2012. Gameplay The game's battle system is called "Concerto", and is a strategic real time battle system similar to the ones found in Sakura Wars and Valkyria Chronicles. The player make use of swords, bows and magic in a battle system that places importance on character cooperation—hence the name "Concerto". The player forms a party of up to five for battle. The game will have damage based on character position, and items collected upon defeating enemies. The songstresses are special members of the player's battle party. By performing their magic song, they can achieve various effects on battle—blocking enemies from moving, increasing characters' move count, making hasten the party's pace. Some songs can even be used for attack. Using the songs requires Mana Energy. The game also has inter-character relationships. Depending on the player's selections during event scenes, movements and usage of group skills during battle, the characters' relationships will change. Plot Story Within the Dragonia Empire, a plan to revive the leader of the Dark Dragon by sapping spirit energy from the land starts to unfold. With giant dragons rampaging throughout the land and the world engulfed in chaos, all hope has turn to the retrieval of the mysterious Shining Blade. And thus, a soul blader is given the task to obtain the legendary blade and find Loreley, the songstress who sings the Song of Mana. Characters : Main protagonist of the game. Rage is a great swordsman who comes from another world. He was given the task as the soul blader to find the legendary Shining Blade. Rage wields a soul blade named Yukihime, who is able to transform between a blade and human form at will because she's a Spirit. Depending on her emotional state, the form she takes as a sword will change. : Princess of the kingdom of the forest, Fontina and the spirit protector of the sacred Silver Forest of the elves. After finding Rage drifted ashore, she decided to accompany him on his quest. Altina is a proper princess bound by the strict laws of the elves. She uses bow and arrows in combat. : The second-in-command