My 2010 Hypes: Gaming, Part Two

E3 2010 is soon upon us and the hype is over more present. What better time to update my 2010 hypes of this year with new games that I might have forgotten back in March or that was added with the forthcoming Electronic Entertainment Expo. Like Mario would say: "Here we GO!".

Final Fantasy XIV
PS3, PC

What better than a major Final Fantasy release set this year? How about two!?! Indeed, a rare sight it is, but the truth. Already in alpha testing, this new online iteration is set to replace the aging Final Fantasy XI and will boost a new gameplay mechanic that promises to be more engaging than its predecessor.

Developed using the same in-house engine as the 13th game of the series, the Crystal Tools engine, its creators have elaborated a rich aesthetic world that blends sci-fi and classic fantasy elements. It was also revealed that the entire soundtrack will be composed by none other than the legendary Nobuo Uematsu. Due for a simultaneous worldwide release in 2010, I will for now dream of the many ventures to come in the land of Hydaelyn.

The Last Story
Wii

As much as I love the Wii, there's one thing that's missing to make my day... RPGs. So, when it was revealed that Nintendo and Mistwalker partnered up to bring a full fledged RPG series to the Wii, I must confess that I was drooling all over my keyboard :D .

The Last Story looks like Hironobu Sakaguchi at his best. I can not help but recall some old memories from the glorious SNES era, back when RPG and adventure games were very popular and in abundance. Even one must admit that the logo of The Last Story has a Final Fantasy vibe to it. Even its name is suggest that. It is an attempt from Nintendo to spawn a new series on its console to rival the like of Final Fantasy? Who knows!?!? But one thing is certain, this one looks like a winner!

Tales of Graces
Wii

12th mothership title and the newest generation in the Tales series, Tales of Graces follows lead character Asbel Lhant, who desires to obtain greater strength. Remaining faithful to tradition, the battle system was again augmented and is now called "Style Shift Linear Motion Battle System" (SS-LMBS), which enables the characters to have two different fighting styles to choose from.

Launch on December 10, 2009 in Japan, exclusively for the Wii, Tales of Graces received a 36/40 (9/9/9/9) from Famitsu magazine and sold 113,000 copies during its first day. We still have yet to know if Namco Bandai will release it in North America, but after the success of both Tales of Symphonia and Tales of Vesperia, it wouldn't make sense if they didn't. I would be thrilled if an announcement was made at this year E3, as I love Tales of Symphonia back when it was released on the Nintendo GameCube.