The World Ends with You (DS - 1st completion)
It's been a busy summer but I finally had time to try and finish The World Ends with You. I remember some of the rave reviews over a decade ago and thought maybe this would be worth checking out. It's a good game and can be fun, but it doesn't quite grab me. On a strange note, my timing of playing this just happened to have a recent trailer for an OVA! After over a decade that this game originally came out, now they decide on an anime movie? Bizarre. Anyways, the game was later ported to iOS and Android devices and got better reviews than the DS version - mainly better use of the touchscreen and larger screens in general, besides extra content. There was even a Final Mix enhanced port released for the Nintendo Switch in 2018. I beat the game in probably over 30 hours on normal difficulty and over level 70, but didn't do any post-game quests. This is the last game on my list for the year that I wanted to play so the rest of the year will be a random mix of games until I make my new list for 2021.
The World Ends with You takes place in a fictional version of the Shibuya shopping district in Tokyo, Japan. While everyday life goes on in the Realground (RG), the chosen dead are brought to an alternative plane of existence called the Underground (UG). The UG is also the venue for the Reapers' Game. By offering their most treasured possession to enter the Game, the dead gain the chance to contest for the prize: to be brought back to life or to transcend to a higher form of spiritual existence. Most of those who choose to transcend become Reapers, the opponents of players in future Games. Lasting a week, each Game is a contest to judge the worth of humanity. Players set out to accomplish objectives under the rules created by the Composer, who is a god-like entity who maintains Shibuya. Another Reaper, the Conductor, tasks other Reapers to obstruct the players' efforts. Failure to complete a mission will disperse the mind and spirit of the player or Reaper, thus erasing his or her existence. A player in the UG is invisible to the living in the RG, though one can sometimes read and influence their thoughts. The UG is frequented by creatures called "Noise", which are attracted by the negative feelings of the living. To progress in the Reapers' Game, players are often required to defeat Noise by killing or "erasing" them. However, each Noise exists in two parallel universes (or "zones") simultaneously, and can only be defeated by two players simultaneously fighting and defeating the Noise from these separate zones. In order to do this, Players are required to form a pact with another Player to survive the Noise. Players receive assignments via text messages sent to their cell phones, and their right hands are imprinted with a countdown indicating the time left in the mission. After a day's mission is complete, the remaining players find themselves at the start of the next day's mission, having no sense of the time that has passed in between. The protagonist is Neku Sakuraba, an initially anti-social teenage boy who claims he does not "get" people, and rarely interacts with others at first. At the beginning, he is confused at first, lacking knowledge of how he died or how he arrived at the UG. As he develops friendships with his partners, he starts to understand the rules of the Game.
To see the first 3 hours of the game, go here or below:
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Graphics/Art-9
+ Very good 2D graphics and sprites. Some good artwork too.
+ A nice recreation of the Shibuya district. The game's creators based it on the actual Japanese location - though they had to change the companies for copyright reasons.
Sound/Music-9
+ Good sound effects and voice acting.
+ Soundtrack is upbeat and funky. It kind of grew on me. There are a few regular battle themes to mix things up and keeps things from getting stale.
Music Samples:
It's So Wonderful
Twister (Japanese version)
Underground
Long Dream
Calling
Hybrid (Japanese version)
O-Parts
Give Me All Your Love
Someday (Japanese version)
Slash and Slash
Detonation
Black Market
It Is Fashionable
Economical Shoppers
Bonus Track
Control-8
+ The use of the bottom touchscreen is pretty intuitive for the different attacks you can do in battle. Everything from slashing, tapping, holding, circular motions, etc. Some are activated when you touch Neku, enemies, or open space.
+ The top screen shows your partner and is played automatically. Thankfully, you can go through most of the game without having to control your partner but there are some boss battles in which you'll have to balance making your partner the main attacker, and Neku dodge around. This can be tricky but again, it doesn't happen often.
- Sometimes it can be difficult for the touchscreen to register attacks in the chaos of battle. It allows Neku to be freely hit by enemies unfairly.
Gameplay-8
+ The World Ends with You is an action-RPG, arranged into three chapters based on the three weeks that Neku is involved in the Reaper's Game, with each chapter further divided by each day of the week. You control Neku and his partner as they explore Shibuya to complete each day's mission. Although most missions require completion within a certain time for Neku and his partner, this timer is not correlated to the passage of time for the player.
+ Shibuya is divided into several districts, some of which may be inaccessible on certain days or blocked by a wall that can only be removed by satisfying the request of a nearby Reaper, such as erasing Noise symbols, putting on a certain brand of clothing, or bringing an item. Neku can scan the area by activating a special pin. This scan reveals the thoughts of the NPCs in the Realground and memes, which may help to progress the plot. The scan also reveals random Noise symbols that drift about the area, or in some cases, float around a specific character. You initiate a battle by touching Noise symbols; each symbol constitutes one round of battle. Selecting more than one Noise symbol at a time results in a multi-round battle (referred to in-game as multiple noise "reductions") that gradually increases in difficulty with each round, but conversely leads to greater rewards upon success. Altering the difficulty of the Noise and the amount of health for Neku and his partner also alter the benefits conferred.
+ Each district has fashion trends that affect gameplay. By wearing pins or clothing from the more popular brands in that district, items' effects will be improved; wearing the least fashionable items will do the opposite, and items from brands in between are not affected. However, you can increase a brand's popularity in one district by repeatedly fighting battles in that district while wearing items of that brand. You can enter shops to buy new pins, clothes, and food items that are gradually consumed during battles to improve the characters' basic attributes.
+ After completing the game, you can return to any day in the story and play those events again, keeping the characters' current statistics and inventory. "Secret Reports", written segments that reveal background elements of the story, can be unlocked through this mode by completing specific missions during each day. Completing the game allows you to access "Another Day" from the game's menus, an additional day of missions that explains certain events related to the main storyline.
+ There is one minigame called Tin Pin Slammer (or Marble Slash) that can be played against computer opponents or with up to 3 others via a wireless connection. Tin Pin Slammer is similar to the marble game ringer in that each player attempts to use their pins one at a time to knock the other players' pins off the gameboard.
+ "Psych pins", decorative pins which possess powers that only Neku can activate while wearing them. Psych pins are used for combat, for "Tin Pin Slammer/Marble Slash", or as trade value for money or equipment. Most pins, particularly those used in combat, can become more powerful as you accumulate "Pin Points" (PP) which can also lead to evolution of the pins into more potent versions. Pin Points are commonly earned through battle, but can also be earned through a period of inactivity with the game, by interacting with other DS players or randomly if none are found. Each of these methods influences the growth of pins within the game.
+ The game's combat system is called the Stride Cross Battle System. The combat takes place across both screens on the DS, with Neku on the touchscreen and his partner on the top screen, representing the different "zones" of the same local area; the two characters battle the same enemies that exist in both "zones" simultaneously. Neku and his partner are synchronized during battle; they share the same health bar so that even if one character does not take any damage, the pair can fail in battle if the other takes too much. A green "light puck" will pass between the characters during battle; by alternating battle between the character who possesses the puck, damage is increased. The movement of the light puck is determined by the "sync ratio" between Neku and his partner; the puck stays longer with the character with higher ratios. You can equip Neku and his partner with clothing that can alter the light puck's speed. The light puck also has the ability to magnify Neku and his partner's attacks as long as when they hold the puck, they are not attacked by an enemy and can continue this in a volley.
+ The player controls Neku by performing touchscreen actions based on the currently equipped pins. These actions may include slashing across an enemy, tapping the screen rapidly to fire bullets, holding down on an enemy to inflict damage or shouting into the microphone to cause a full screen attack. Other pins need to be touched to activate them, such as for health restoration. Each pin has a limited number of uses before it must recharge for a certain time. Other pins may only be used a fixed number of times during a series of battles, and do not recharge until the battle sequence is over. Neku can only be equipped with a maximum of two pins at the game's start; this can eventually be upgraded to a maximum of six.
+ Neku's partner on the top screen can be controlled by the player using the face buttons, although players can use options to have the computer assist them. Each of Neku's partners has a card game-based mechanic; for example, Shiki's card game requires the player to match face-down Zener cards. The partner can make a basic attack after the player navigates through a pathway of arrows to select one of several shown cards using the directional pad or face buttons. By navigating to a card that fits within the card game rules, the player earns a star. Once enough stars are collected, the player can launch a powerful "Fusion" attack using both Neku and his partner through the "Harmonizer Pin" that appears on the upper right of the touchscreen (assuming that the player has not rearranged where it's displayed). The player can also help the partner character dodge attacks.
+ In the game's releases on single screen systems (mobile and Switch), the Battle System has been modified to reflect the lack of a second screen. The current partner instead acts as a separate pin among Neku's other pins, which you can call in to perform attacks by similar touchscreen actions like tapping on an enemy or slashing down on one. You must balance the use of the partner pin with Neku's own attacks, going to your partner repeatedly to build up towards the Fusion attack. The Fusion attack is launched by tapping the partner pin on screen; you then have a limited period to complete card-based minigames to build up a damage multiplier. For example, with Shiki as their partner, you're shown one Zener card, along with a number of other Zener cards that are shown face-up for a moment before being turned over. You must select those face-down cards that were matches for the shown Zener card.
Fun/Story/Misc-8
+ While there is quite a learning curve to this game, some practice and experimentation will help you get used to things. Watching a playthrough on YouTube is recommended.
+ I will give the game credit in that you can determine difficulty and the rewards that go with it. This actually make things fair: the easier you make things, the less rewards you get but the more risk you take, the greater the rewards. You can lower your experience levels, the overall Noise difficulty, and toggle when you want control of your partner.
+ There are no random battles and you can choose to fight whenever you want. This makes for a more streamlined experience - grinding when you want to, and travelling around freely when you've had enough.
- While it's nice to have post-game content, the main game is about 60% of all content in the game. The post-game is rather long and a lot to do since it opens backtracking to previous days.
- The story is interesting but complicated. Dialoguing is too frequent and too long.
- The game hasn't totally grabbed me. It's a good game with original ideas, but it is not my thing. Perhaps I'll check out the animated movie version in the future...
Total: 42/50 (Grade Level: B)
The World Ends with You official website is no more, outside of the Final Mix re-release. The Wikipedia article is here.
Next Game: Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies (DS)
Currently playing: Lost in Shadow (Wii)
