The World Ends With You
From the creators of the award-winning Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts franchises comes a revolutionary, modern action-RPG title for a new generation of gamers. Square Enix and Jupiter team up once again to showcase The World Ends With You, a trendy and vibrant gaming experience developed exclusively for the Nintendo DS. Featuring an intuitive combat system and exciting multiplayer mode, The World Ends With You is set to immerse gamers into the modern-day culture of Japan.
The story begins as Neku Sakuraba, an unsociable 15-year-old boy, unexpectedly wakes up in the Shibuya shopping district of Tokyo, Japan. While trying to piece together his rude awakening, he receives a strange text message warning him that he will cease to exist unless he accomplishes a certain mission. Although he barely has time to grasp what is happening to him, he commences his assigned task in the mysterious streets of Shibuya. Features:
- Distinctive modern art style created by a team of artists led by Tetsuya Nomura, world-renowned character designer of the upcoming Fabula Nova Crystallis project which includes Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII
- Innovative Stride-Cross Battle System allows players to control two characters simultaneously, unleashing special attacks with the stylus
- Collect a vast array of custom-designed pins, each with a powerful psychic ability that can be activated with the right touch or sound command
- Customize characters with Shibuya’s coolest fashions and exchange items with other players via Mingle Mode
- Experience an amazing soundtrack combining a fusion of musical influences from hip-hop to rock to electronica
- Battle with up to three friends in Tin Pin Slammer, an exciting and fast-paced mini-game, via local wireless connection
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars FINALLY! A DS GAME WORTH BEATING!
When I picked up my copy of this game I didn’t really know what to expect. I hadn’t even intended on buying it but, when i saw it was a “Square Enix” title (being the squaresoft/sqaure enix rpg fan that i am) I thought “aww…what the heck.” I was actually shocked at how much fun and innovative this game really is. There’s alot to love about it and little to hate….not to mention its extremely addicting.
The gameplay is unique in that it revolves around using the stylus in real time combat against all the beasties you’ll be running into in this rpg. Of course there is character leveling but what I think takes the cake is that the game provides an extremely large array of attacks you can perform ranging from close combat melee, long range projectile and yes of course, everyone’s favorite, blow up everything on both screens super combo attacks! The game uses “pins” (like the ones covering every emo kid’s man purse) to represent different types of attacks or abilities. You can only equip a certain number of pins at a time which limits the number of attacks you can perform during combat but, as you progress more slots become available for pins to be equiped. One unique attribute this game provides is its pin leveling system. Basically the more you use one attack, the stronger it becomes, possibly even “evolving” into a slightly different but more powerful attack. The freedom to mix and match abilities by itself makes this game a must own.
The story (I’ll try not to give too much away) is definitely deep, gripping and keeps you wondering and wanting to find out what happens next. You wake up in the middle of Shibuya and not only find out that you are dead but you must play the “Reaper’s” game in order for a second chance at life. There are loads of plot twists and the characters were surprisingly well made. Even the voice acting isn’t bad. The game has that end chapter suspense that makes you want to play past your last savepoint for the night and end up sleep deprived at work the next day…not that I ever did that…well maybe once…ok, more than once.
The graphics are pretty good for a DS release and very smooth. Even when you run into a ton of enemies and think “oh great…here comes the choppy, glitchy, laggy gameplay” you won’t be dissapointed. The graphics are however, 2D (still, they are good for a 2D game)…which i don’t really consider a bad thing as long as the gameplay makes up for it…which it does in oh soooo many ways. The cutscenes are pretty cool. A sort of anime graffiti art style is used, and frankly its done really well.
The game also has a bunch of soundtracks, many of which are performed by actual Japanese music artists, to listen to during gameplay. You can unlock the soundtracks by buying them at shops in the game.
Now for the part I’m sure you are still wondering about. Why did I only give this game 4 stars?? One reason was the game progression. As you play the game you are given 7 days before the game supposedly is over…well that is not the case. Just as you believe you are about to beat it and find out the climatic ending *BOOM!!* plot twist! You now have seven more days before blah blah blah… So basically you think its over but find out its only just begun. This happens more than once in the game. But don’t fret and throw your DS across the room! It’s worth playing through! Just keep at it! The other downer is that often you are left in the middle of the game with no idea where to go. Running around for half an hour just trying to find out where I need to go is never fun. But once again, don’t fret! Just keep playing…its definitely worth it!
If you are an RPG fan, I highly recommend you pick yourself up a copy of this game. If you are looking for a game that is truly unique and actually does what the DS was meant to do and introduce a new type of gameplay then it should be your goal to get this game ASAP! Hope you enjoy the game!
5 Stars A polished, enjoyable RPG for DS
Square-Enix has created a truly novel game with this title for the Nintendo DS. The core of a game is an action RPG, where you fight monsters using both the stylus and keypad, while improving your characters’ statistics. However, there are so many innovative new features in this game that make it unlike any other game I’ve played.
The combat system is incredibly unique. You control two characters, one on each screen, and fight simultaneously with them, using the stylus to control the action on the bottom screen and the keypad to control the action on the top screen. While this sounds complicated (it is, especially when you start out), the game features fully adjustable difficulty, which lets you fine-tune the difficulty to a level you find enjoyable. On the easiest setting, the game is quite easy, even for novice DS players, but is very challenging at the highest difficulty settings. The touch-screen lets you attack by using the stylus in various ways on the screen. Some attacks require you to tap monsters, while others have you draw rudimentary figures on screen. Some attacks even make use of the DS microphone!
The art style is reminiscent of Square-Enix’s popular series Kingdom Hearts, although the characters and story is completely new. If you’re not into anime, the art might turn you off, though I don’t particularly care for anime and I thought the art style was fine. The music is a rather strange mix of jpop and techno, but is actually quite enjoyable. The story is really odd but compelling, and kept me guessing right until the end. Interestingly enough, the game takes place in a slightly modified version of the Shibuya district of Tokyo, with many prominent real-life landmarks only slightly modified in the game.
The RPG aspects of the game are really well handled. There is a good degree of customization with respect to your combat abilities as well as your characters, and for people who enjoy maxing our their character’s statistics, there’s plenty of that in this game as well. Even though the main story of the game is rather short (most people will probably finish in about 20 or so hours), there is a substantial amount of bonus material that can keep you playing for dozens more hours.
Since this game is really different than any other RPG on the market, there will undoubtedly be some people who find this game off-putting. In lesser hands, all the strange features could have made this game a disaster, but the design is so strong that everything works well. If you’re interested in a novel experience for the Nintendo DS, look no further than this game. If you really are unsure about whether or not you want this game, even after reading reviews online, looking at screenshots, and watching videos, see if you can find a friend who has it and test it out. I know that I had a blast playing this game, and a lot of admiration for the team that created it.
4 Stars The World Ends With You–Greatest RPG of All Time?
I see positive reviews for this game everywhere, from simple customer reviews to professional game critics. All seem to be hailing this game as one of the must-have RPGs for the DS. You’d think it was the best thing since Final Fantasy VII. I must admit, it’s nice to see something refreshingly new amid the sea of ports, remakes and sequels. But is the fact that this game is one of the few original RPGs available on the DS the only thing that’s convincing people that it’s truly awesome? Does “The World Ends With You” live up to all the hype? Well, let’s find out!
Graphics (score 10/10): One word sums up the graphics, and that’s “stylish”. Everything is just so sleek and stylish looking. Whether or not you’ll actually like that style is another matter. If you don’t like anime or comic books, then this isn’t the game for you. The graphics are very anime-ish, and the cutscenes look like they were pulled right out of a comic book. I happen to love the bold direction the game developers took when deciding what the game would look like. They could’ve used generic RPG settings and character styles, but they chose to go a different route, and I respect that.
Music (score 8/10): Now, the music, like the graphics, are either love or hate. I like the fact that they once again chose heavily stylized music in favor of generic RPG tunes. The soundtrack mostly consists of J-pop and Rap-type music, which I feel fits the game pretty well. My only issue is that some of the tracks seem to loop every 30 seconds, which grates on the nerves when it involves a song with vocals. Just imagine listening to the same stanza of a song over and over again. Thankfully, most of the songs are tolerable. Now, let’s discuss the voice acting and dialogue. The voice acting is limited, but decent. I just don’t like the way they implemented it. Most of the text is silent, except occasionally things like a grunt or scream will be voiced. That’s just awkward sounding. They really should’ve left it all silent or all voiced. The other voice acting you’ll hear is in shops, where the store owner will say something like “Thanks for dropping by”. These sound decent, but are pretty unnecessary. As for the dialogue, well, I just assume that the game takes place in an alternate reality where people talk the way the characters do in the game. Seriously, I don’t know where the writers came up with this stuff. With phrases like “You’re zetta slow!”, who knows?! If you treat it like I do, and just assume that’s normal for the game world instead of comparing it to reality, then the game is fairly enjoyable.
Characters (score 8/10): Many people have said that they hate the main character, Neku. I can understand why. He’s a bit like Squall (from FFVIII), except to the tenth degree. In other words, he’s anti-social, unlikeable, and has serious trust issues. Thankfully, I have special love in my heart for such character types. Plus, it’s refreshing to have a main character that doesn’t have the stereotypical “hero” personality. You know, the characters that just rescue people for the sake of rescuing people and being heroic. Anyway, I could see how some people wouldn’t be able to stand Neku. Now, as for the other characters, they are all well developed. Even Neku exhibits excellent character growth over time (so he does have a change of heart). Overall, everyone has well fleshed-out personalities. The villains, on the other hand, don’t seem to have much personality at all. Plus, we really don’t learn much about their motivations on a personal level. Oh well, this section gets a score of 8/10 just for the excellent characterization of the main characters.
Story (score 8/10): The story starts out with Neku being attacked by something that looks a bit like a half-animal, half-tattoo monster in Shibuya, Japan. He later teams up with a girl named Shiki, who teaches him how to fight the monsters. He learns from her that he is trapped in some kind of weird game, and that in order to survive, he must continue to work with her as his partner. I won’t spoil the rest of the story, but rest assured, it is good. You won’t really understand it until you replay the new game+ and get the good ending. Even then, you may not really understand it, but it’s still pretty good.
Battle System (score 7/10): Oh boy. Well, I guess I had to talk about it eventually. Let’s see, the battle system is a bit complicated, and yet, not, if that makes any sense. You’ll basically be fighting on two screens; the top screen controls your in-game partner character, with Neku controlled on the bottom screen. Enemies seem to move between the two screens and also to exist simultaneously on both screens (don’t ask). I’ll be honest here, I have no idea how to use the top screen outside of simple attacking and dodging/blocking. I got through the game just fine anyway, though, so it’s not too tough. Also, it’s hard to fight on two screens simultaneously. Thankfully, the game has an auto-play feature since Squeenix realized most people wouldn’t be able to fight simultaneously on two screens. So, I just use the auto-play on the top screen most of the time and focus my attention on the bottom screen. The only time you’ll really need to use the top screen is during boss fights (especially during a boss in the middle of the game, which seems to be the hardest boss of the game; go figure). The bottom screen involves fighting with pins, which you equip on Neku. These give you different abilities in battle. For example, one pin has a lightning ability; you just tap an enemy and it electrocutes it. So, that’s pretty simple. However, movement of Neku is controlled by the stylus, the same thing that controls the attacks. This is bad because the game often does an attack when I want to move Neku, or moves Neku when I want to attack. This is frustrating. Instead of having the stupid top screen battle, they should just have used the d-pad for Neku’s movement, and the stylus for his attacks. They could have your second character be A.I. controlled and fight on the bottom screen with Neku. The top screen could’ve been reserved for character stats or something. In the end, my main problem with the battle system is that it just becomes tedious tapping and raking the stylus across the screen constantly. And trust me, you’ll be doing it a lot. I hear this game compared to Kingdom Hearts a lot, but unfortunately, I find that Kingdom Hearts is a lot more fun to play than this game. I can’t really put my finger on why, it just is.
Gameplay (score 7/10): This is a bit of a catch-all category for me. Well, there are several things to discuss here. Firstly, you can move through the game with the d-pad (thank goodness!). The menu controls are handled with the stylus and work pretty well. In general, the out-of-battle controls are pretty good. Unfortunately, the game is somewhat repetitive in its gameplay. You start off a day (the story’s split into days) with a mission, usually involving fighting monsters, then you start a new day and do it again. And, you’ll be doing this in the same areas over and over again. Still, it’s not so bad, as the story manages to keep things interesting from day to day. My big complaint is that there seems to be a lot of tacked on crap that seems unnecessary to me. For example, the brand system is pointless. So is the shop system whereby you must get popular with the clerks for them to reveal the abilities in the items. Why not just have a regular shop system where you just buy accessories and then equip them. Even Tin Pin Slammer, the one minigame available, isn’t very fun and is also pointless. The one thing I did enjoy was the food system. You can eat food that gives you stat upgrades. That’s pretty awesome. The other things, though, seem to be tacked on in order to try to lengthen the game. I guess a completionist may enjoy all that the game has to offer, but I felt it was unnecessary and bogged down the gameplay. Sometimes, less is more. As a whole, the gameplay works, and if you want to utilize all that extra stuff, you can, but if you want to ignore it, you can do that too.
Overall (score 8/10): NOTE this score is not an average; it’s my subjective overall score. Well, “The World Ends With You” gets a respectable score of 8/10 overall. This game is far from perfect like so many make it out to be, but it is a pretty good game nonetheless. Even though I wouldn’t say it was the greatest RPG of all time for the DS (that game is yet to be made, I think), it is definitely worth getting, especially at it’s current reasonable price ($20). If you’re an RPG fan, you should add “The World Ends With You” to your collection.
5 Stars Quirky action RPG
There are obviously many reviews for this game on Amazon. However, I feel compelled to add my own comments about this game. I bought this game last year when it was released, but due to a lack of time I put it on the shelf and decided I would get to it later. I was on vacation when I bought it and I put a few hours into before I put it away. I knew I liked it but I wasn’t sure what to make of this game. It isn’t your typical Square Enix title. The atmosphere reminds me of Jet Set Radio set in Japan and the music, while Jpop (which I am not a fan of), is catchy and enjoyable. A lot has been said about how great this game is, but here are a few things I have not read in other reviews:
If you are left handed, you can use the buttons to control your partner on the top screen. I did not feel handicapped by this at all.
The game evolves with you. When you get new pins you have to level them up as well. So while you may have the mechanics down, new pins change the way you play enough to keep it fresh. Also, the game presents new facets of the game in pieces so you are not overwhelmed from the start. Also, you unlock game behavior, for example, being able to restart a battle after a defeat is something that you unlock about mid-way though the game.
Early on in the game I would get D and E scores on my combat. After the ability to buy clothing and other pins became available my scores improved. The improvement of my ability to control both characters helped this as well.
This has been said, but you can adjust the difficulty of the combat. While controlling two characters may seem daunting, you can make it easy so that you ease into the mechanics of pulling this off.
This is one of the few games where I look forward to grinding.
The story is great, the interface is great, the music is great, the action is great, the combat is fun, and the style is original. This game isn’t for everyone, but if you like a good story, action, and aren’t afraid to try something different, you should give this game a shot.
5 Stars A highlight of the entire DS lifespan
Excellent game, story, gameplay, ect.
It does make you want to expand the way the characters do in the story.
I would just say, if this looks like a game you would play you won’t be disappointed at all. REplay value is astronomical. If you like RPGs, then this is definitely for you.
