February 27, 2008
Soma Bringer
Something tells me this is going to be hot:
Soma Bringer, developed by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo. It's out tomorrow here in Japan. It's a three-player action/RPG that looks to be inspired by the likes of Diablo II and Secret of Mana. You can get a bunch more info on the game at the official NeoGAF thread: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=245778 (props to duckroll for putting that together)
Having worked on four Monolith games over the years (Xenosaga Episodes I-III and Baten Kaitos Origins), I'm intimately familiar with the kind of care and attention to detail they put into their work, and needless to say, I've become a big fan. Tetsuya Takahashi, brainchild behind Xenogears and the Xenosaga series and an (IMO) incredibly talented and ambitious guy, produced this game, and Yasunori Mitsuda, one of the best game musicians on the planet, did the entire soundtrack. Soraya Saga, another key member of the Xenosaga team, penned the scenario. What more needs to be said? All signs point to awesome.
I'm extremely busy at work right now on some pretty exciting projects for 2008, but I know the very moment I get a minute to breathe I'll be digging into this baby full-force. Any of you with any interest in seeing it get released in the US, please be sure to drop NOA a line and let them know you want it! If they're too busy to localize it, tell 'em 8-4 would be happy to lend a hand... ;)