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Most Anticipated RPGs of 2010
By Heath | January 25, 2010 at 8:21 am
We’re three weeks into 2010 and a ton of great-looking RPGs are on the horizon. Because we are consumerist whores like you, we named a few RPGs as our “Most Anticipated Games of 2010,” broken down by platform.
These decisions were not easy to make, as this list is by no means a comprehensive guide to all of the awesome games coming out this year. We also realize that there is a duality among our audience, and for that reason, all categories feature two games even though we say “game.” Call the grammar cops :O Anyway, they’re all winners in our book! Click any game’s name to see our previous coverage of it, or the game’s box art to shop. Let’s get started…
MOST ANTICIPATED PSP GAME OF 2010:
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| Lunar: Silver Star Harmony |
| Developer: GungHo |
| Publisher: XSeed |
| Release: March 2 |
| Remade again? Yeah, so? The story of Alex and Luna is consistently entertaining — even that time UbiSoft butchered it. The updated visuals look great, and XSeed is using what our early impressions indicate is a good mix of the old Working Designs script with some touchups. |
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| Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep |
| Developer: Square Enix |
| Publisher: Square Enix USA |
| Release: 2010, not yet specified |
| There are a lot of Kingdom Hearts haters out there, but this game just looks too damn good for us to deny it a spot in what we’re looking forward to playing this year. Looks can always be deceiving, but this one appears to have the potential to be the best KH entry since the PS2 days. |
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MOST ANTICIPATED DS GAME OF 2010:
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| Infinite Space |
| Developer: PlatinumGames |
| Publisher: Sega |
| Release: March 16 |
| Take outer space and fill it with rock and roll. Infinite Space is expected to be a solid pickup for those who want a portable with a ton of depth, challenge, length, and a rich, complicated story. It’s the kind of title that we expect to end up flying under the radar in terms of mainstream success, but us being hardcore (elitist) RPG players, we’re highly anticipating it. |
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| Dragon Quest IX |
| Developer: Square Enix |
| Publisher: Square Enix USA |
| Release: 2010, not yet specified |
| The Dragon Quest series, despite great reviews and high sales with every installment, has been getting bagged-on for recycling its formula for some time now. Dragon Quest IX on the DS aims to change that with its expanded customization and multiplayer options. We’ve seen people grouping in this one in Japan, and it appears pretty damn addicting. It’ll be interesting to see how it does in the West. |
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MOST ANTICIPATED PLAYSTATION 3 GAME OF 2010:
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| 3D Dot Game Heroes |
| Developer: Silicon Studio/FromSoftware |
| Publisher: Atlus USA |
| Release: March 11 |
| 3D Dot Game Heroes is just plain fun, so we’ve learned from the Japanese version. The whole environment and atmosphere is meant to be a homage to the 2D games we knew and loved as kids, and the experience is one that brings many smiles. |
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| Resonance of Fate |
| Developer: tri-Ace |
| Publisher: Sega |
| Release: 2010, second half |
| (Also on 360) Called End of Eternity in Japan, this one will see its Japanese release on Jan. 28, and its North American release in the second half of the year. Janelle played it at the Tokyo Game Show and wrote this. |
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MOST ANTICIPATED PC GAME OF 2010:
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| Final Fantasy XIV |
| Developer: Square Enix |
| Publisher: Square Enix |
| Release: 2010, yet unspecified |
| (Also on PS3) The announcement of this game took most people by surprise last year, and its planned simultaneous worldwide release in 2010 caught the game world even more off guard. After having success with part XI, the Final Fantasy series goes online again |
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| Star Trek Online |
| Developer: Cryptic Studios |
| Publisher: Atari |
| Release: February 2 |
| This call probably won’t be the most popular, but this game’s been on MMORPG players’ waiting lists for a long, long time. We’re quite interested to explore space with the Federation, and to — waaiit forrr iiit — boldly go where no man has gone before. |
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MOST ANTICIPATED WII GAME OF 2010:
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| Fragile Dreams |
| Developer: Tri-Crescendo |
| Publisher: XSeed |
| Release:March 16 |
| First revealed in 2007, this one has been on and off our radar for an awfully long time, and it looks and sounds hauntingly awesome. Plus, it involves the moon (as the full title is Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon), which makes us love and hate it at the same time. |
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| Shiren the Wanderer |
| Developer: Chunsoft |
| Publisher: Atlus USA |
| Release: February 9 |
| This is a game that’s definitely not for everyone. It’s for people who enjoy playing very challenging RPGs — the type in which you walk into a dungeon honestly not knowing if you’re gonna walk out, crawl out, or even make it to the end at all. Softies need not apply whereever Shiren goes a-wandering. |
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MOST ANTICIPATED XBOX 360 GAME OF 2010:
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| Mass Effect 2 |
| Developer: Bioware |
| Publisher: Electronic Arts |
| Release: January 26 |
| (Also on PC) This sequel to the 2007 megahit has most of the gaming world loading up on NyQuil. Remember the strategy? The sooner you go to sleep, the sooner Christmas comes. We’re only a couple of days away from this one, so ‘Quil up, gamers. |
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| Resonance of Fate |
| Developer: tri-Ace |
| Publisher: Sega |
| Release: 2010, second half |
| (Also on PS3) Called End of Eternity in Japan, this one will see its Japanese release on Jan. 28, and its North American release in the second half of the year. Janelle played it at the Tokyo Game Show and wrote this. |
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Man, this was a tough one. 2010 looks to be a great year for gaming in almost all genres, RPGs included — especially if these above games live up to the expectations. It was hard as heck to narrow it down to just these, but there they are.
Thanks for reading. Let us know your own highly anticipated games of 2010 via email, forums, Facebook, or Twitter.
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