New details about Shining Blade’s battle system come from this week’s issue of Famitsu. Unlike other Shining titles, this isn’t a strategy RPG or a traditional RPG like Shining Hearts. The PSP game uses an action combat system that’s similar to Valkyria Chronicles. Right above your HP meter, there’s a force gauge, which is tied to special attacks. Each character has several Force Attacks, which utilize the gauge.
Characters can also team up for Link Attacks. This makes a cross menu pop up with faces of the four characters in your party. Each one is assigned to a different button (circle, cross, etc.) and when you press it you can do a combination attack. The conversation choices you make during sub-event scenes affect Link Attacks.
Shining Blade is slated for release on March 15 for PSP.