Questing with friends in (Secret of) Soma Bringer

Monolith Soft’s first after Nintendo’s acquisition project, Soma Bringer, is scheduled to come out in Japan on February 28. Unlike their typical core RPG projects, Soma Bringer is an action RPG where you assign attacks to the ABXY buttons and consecutively attack monsters with the break system by timing your button presses. With about a month away from its release Soma Bringer is getting little attention, but the three player wireless cooperative play feature makes it noteworthy.

When you team up with two friends each of you can freely explore the world, including entering towns without having to worry about where the other players are placed on the screen. If you’re flying solo the AI takes control of the two other party members and the game continues. Sounds vaguely like good old Secret of Mana! Here’s hoping Soma Bringer delivers a solid multiplayer experience. The thought of bringing a customized character into a game with two friends is quite appealing, especially if Soma Bringer has a decent combat system that doesn’t rely on button mashing. Am I asking for too much and setting myself up for a disappointment?