This morning’s Nintendo Direct was full of surprises for Wii U owners. The Wii U-centric presentation revealed several new releases for the console that I’m sure will have owners and would-be owners foaming at the mouth, but one in particular just blew me and many other Xenoblade fans away.

Monolith Soft’s new unnamed Wii U title was revealed during Nintendo Direct with a trailer that gives us a small taste of what to expect. The gameplay and environment look extremely similar to Monolith Soft’s Xenoblade Chronicles, which was released on the Wii last year. Steven and I sung its praises during last week’s podcast, both dubbing it our game of the year. The red X that appears at the end of the trailer also resembles the Xenogears logo, which gives even more reason to believe this game is related to the Xeno series. Tetsuya Takahashi, who directed both Xenogears and Xenoblade, returns as director for this title, as well as character designer Kunihiko Tanako. I’m a little disappointed that Yoko Shimomura isn’t doing the soundtrack but, if the song from the trailer is anything to go by, Hiroyuki Sawano’s music sounds like it’s going to be amazing.

What really has me excited though is that Monolith Soft seems to be bringing back one of the best features of Xenogears, the ability to fight both inside and outside of a mech. This game seems to take it even further with being able to hover and transform into vehicles as well. And if the world is as vast and fun to explore as Xenoblade’s was, then I can only imagine what they have in store for players this time around now.

I’ve already re-watched that trailer more times than I care to admit, and it gives me chills each and every time. I have to say, this is the game that may convince me to get a Wii U. And even if it weren’t, there are plenty of other reasons for gamers to purchase one after today’s Nintendo Direct. For Nintendo, it looks like the gloves are coming off.