The World Ends with You (Nintendo DS, 2008)

This is one of those games that when you first here about it you don't pay much attention to. My first exposure to it was a Square Enix press conference and it was unimportant in the way it was thrown on the list of games to be released. The only thing that caught my initial attention was the art style and it reminded me of Kingdom Hearts' aesthetic only more exaggerated in some respects and using sprites. After getting it for a Square Enix-loving friend's birthday and hearing her rave about it I was swayed and decided to get it, my first hand-held game purchase in over a year. It wasn't an easy find due to limited production but I found it (at an anime convention) and dusted off my DS.
The main character Neku, a hate-filled, self-centered teen boy, wakes up on the streets of Shibuya being attacked by mysterious creatures called "noise." He is then given a task to complete or face death and he must team up with a partner to do so. Being a mostly typical RPG he then finds more team members and learns a life lesson that is meant to evoke tears by the end. The story does have an unforeseen twist or two and if you're willing enough you can get hooked. However the story is given through text weighted cut scenes that resemble a comic book in some ways and they drag on forever and can't be skipped if one so desires. Also some scenes are completely needless because they give answers to riddles and clues gathered that could be solved by a chimp with half its brain removed. Now to critique the actual game-play.
Most of your time is spent running from area to area helping the characters get from one cut scene to another while unlocking gates and battling more "noise". Combat is the most unique thing about the game due to two facts. One is the fact that YOU almost always choose when to fight and the other is the way the combat is executed. It is split between the two screens with a character on each and each has its own control scheme. The bottom screen is controlled by selecting pins that represent attacks and then drawing on the touch screen in a designated fashion. The upper screen is controlled by bottom mashing but there is the option to let the computer take over which leads to similar results which in retrospect is sort of a needless feature. At the start switching between both screens and controls is difficult and by the end I still barely had the hang of it. Also the drawings for attacks are constantly mixed up with one another. Now there are singular points that are worth pointing out.
As an RPG you do repeat the same quests over and over and there are points where leveling up is almost mandatory. Also there are pieces of equipment and clothing that supposedly make a difference to combat depending on the area of Shibuya but to me it made no difference. At the end of the game you can replay any part of the story and try to get EVERYTHING in the game, a feature I found pointless. A feature I appreciated is that pins can level up while you leave the DS turned off. To wind things up if you like or don't like RPGs this game won't change your opinion.

TWEWY is a exciting new type of RPG. It has many new features never before seen in an RPG, and a must own. A few of the features are as follows.

Pin System - Your main character, Neku, battles with "Pins". They range from being able to fire beams of energy, to being able to pick up and throw objects, to "Street Fighter" type close combat moves.

Duel Screen Battles - You partner up with different characters throughout the game. You fight on the bottom screen, they fight on the top screen. You fight agains the same enemies, but you control both of your characters at once. Neku, your main character is controled by the stylus, and your ally is controled by the D-pad, (Or the XYBA for lefties)

Food System - You consume food and raise your stats. It takes a certain number of battles to digest food, but when you do, you get a stat bonus for the rest of the game. You can consume up to 24 bites of food at the start of each day, the first 18 of which replenish each day, but you can always eat food with 6 bites or less.

Clothing System - You wear clothing as equipment, and it gives you stat bonuses, but it also affects your pins based on the trends. Each area has different trends. Wearing the trend increases the power of your Pins in battle. You can also start your own trends by battling with clothing or pins that may not be trendy.

Choose your level/Battle Chains - You gain XP and increase your "max level" throughout the game. Any time out of combat, you have a slider bar where you can choose any level below your max you want to fight at. In doing so, you increase the challange of battles, but increase the reward. You can also chain combats together to Multiply your reward. For example, your Max level is 10, you choose to fight at lv 8. That rewards you x3 the chance of loot (10=x1, 9=x2, 8=x3). Choosing then to chain 3 battles together (no break in between, and difficulty increases in each battle) would result in x9 chance of reward on every battle (3x3). Also, outside of battle, you can choose the difficulty of the battles, from "Easy, Normal, Hard, and Ultimate"


That being said, TWEWY is a definate must own for any RPG fans. It is the most refreshing RPG I have played in years. It has a great story that unfolds as you progress through the game, so many inovative features, and has many options so you can set it to your own difficulty. There should never be a time when you get bored with the game being to easy, or frustrated with the game being to hard.

This game impressed me insanely! Long story short, you play as Neku Sakuraba, a young punk living in the fashionable Japanese district of Shibuya, who wakes up one day to find out that he's been swept up and involved in what's called The Reaper's Game. If he doesn't accomplish the mission that appears on his cell phone each day for seven days, he's "erased." Clearly, this causes quite a strain for Neku, which is further exacerbated by his loner attitude being punched in the gut by his need for a partner, his first of which is an overly spunky type, to counteract the wildly deisigned "Noise" monsters. While this seems like a typical rpg, the modern style, clever quick wit of the dialogue, and expansive level of items, psych pins, food, and clothing to buy, along with the terrific music, beautifully colorful art design and full-of-life characters make this game one not to miss.

Square Enix is famous for role-playing franchises such as Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, and Dragon Quest...but The World Ends with You is a great new property by the company, one that will likely stick with players for a long time!

I am a big JRPG/Square-Enix fan, so I thought I'd check this game out now that I have a DS. All I can say is that I am completely mesmerized.

This game is so fun and original and complex! (I like my complex games.) The art is neat, and I've always been a fan of stylistic art in games. I find the characters interesting, and the plot is original and fun to follow. My only complaint is that there's a lot of text to wallow through, and sometimes you can't complete an obvious mission because the characters have to talk amongst themselves to figure it out first. It seems sort of arbitrary.

But the battle system is fun. I've been letting the DS handle the top screen because I simply can't pay attention to both of them at once, but you get to set bears on fire with your mind, and the frantic scribbling does take some skill. The item drops are interesting, since you have to scale down your levels to get anything good (or sometimes anything at all). Pins and clothing and food are a cool idea, but sometimes it feels sort of grind-y, especially when you're "digesting" the food.

But no matter how much I sound like I'm complaining, I was completely absorbed in the game for hours on end. It's very fun and original and I would definitely recommend it to RPG fans.

This game is unlike any I've ever played and I've been playing video games since I discovered "Space Invaders" in a bar back in 1978!

When I first heard about this game and watched the videos on youtube, I was a little intimidated. Why? because I didn't think I could handle fighting on two screens at the same time. Guess what? You don't have to. This game is so customizable that you can change the controls, difficulty, your HP and levels all on the fly. You don't have to play through the whole game on easy or normal, you can change it up when ever you want. I played through the whole game having the A.I. control my partner in all the fights.

One of the things I found enjoyable in this game that I didn't think I would like is the fashion trends. In each section of Shibuya different brands of clothes are more popular than others. Popular brands give you bonuses in battle.

This game is, easily, my favorite game right now. (Sorry, Animal Crossing) If you are looking for a JRPG with a great story, complete with plot twists and self discovery, combined with a unique and fun battle system, don't listen to the haters and pick up this game...if you can find it!