Blueside Announces Shining Legend

Blueside, the Korean developers best known for their Kingdom Under Fire series, have just announced a new DS action-RPG called Shining Legend (apparently no relation to the Shining Force games).

They have launched the game's official site in Korean, Japanese, and English, and though there are no gameplay screens released yet, the site does cover details on the game's story and characters.

According to the site, the game follows the exiled Prince Luchs of the small Kingdom of Alterrain as he returns to his homeland. Unfortunately, upon the Prince's return, he discovers the kingdom owes a great debt and his father, the King, has mysteriously fled.

In these circumstances, Luchs meets a talking cat named Morgan who helps him out, after which the two depart for neighboring country of Junon, whose seven princesses have run away in hopes of finding them for the reward.

The seven princesses are (in order from oldest to youngest):

Erika (19), who is the rightful heir to the Kingdom of Junon, and has trained rigorously for the position. She is also a childhood friends of Luchs. (She is the one in with the blue winged dress.)

Pofosh (18), who outwardly only cares about extravagant parties and traveling in her golden wagon, but inwardly feels very empty. (She is the one in the revealing pink party dress.)

Nana (16), who is obsessed with searching for ruins and relics, then keeping them in her room. Her collection is so large, she apparently lends some of her relics to museums. (She is the one in the short red dress holding the rabbit.)
NOTE: The English site has her description the same as Arphen's, presumably in error. The above description is from the Japanese site.

Elara (16), who dislikes magic, and thinks the world would be a better place through the spreading of alchemy. She sometimes forces people to participate in her strange experiments. (She is the one in the green dress with glasses.)

Thimu (16), who was adopted from the fallen Kingdom of Sosan, and dreams of becoming a great pirate after reading about the legendary "Bloody Rose." (She is the one with the long pirate jacket.)

Arphen (16), who is a half-elf, and obsessed with the lost elven civilization, hoping to rebuild their kingdom some day. (She is the tanned half-elf with light blue hair.)

Lorna (12), is the youngest of the princesses, and very shy. She enjoys sketching, and has the ability to predict the future through her drawings. (She is the blonde one with the sketchbook.)

According to Famitsu's article about the game, your character will be able to face off against hordes of enemies at once in real time. The game also purports to have a high level of freedom, with hundreds of quests to take on at your leisure (presumably to help you pay off your kingdom's debt), as well as the opportunity to build romantic relationships with the various princesses.

It's all a bit confusing at this point, to be sure. But I have to say, I love the concept art they have up on the site. I hope the game's graphics and gameplay can live up to them, as my interest is definitely piqued.

Shining Legend will be available for Nintendo DS sometime this Winter.

As a side note, this appears to be related to Blueside's previously announced Princess and Knight (if not the same game with a different title).

[Shining Legend Official Site]
[Famitsu]