TWEWY sounds kind of like 'Ptooey!' when you say it aloud
In other words, let's talk about The World Ends With You again!
So, I totally finished the game. I was spoiled to hell and back by (1)cosplaying Neku at anext and (2)being unable to resist fic until I was done, but it was still a great ride. I mean, as Nomura stories go.
there will be spoilers galore in this review, probably. do proceed with caution.
Gameplay (spoiler-free)
trends
So you read the reviews of the game and how there was the whole 'you have to wear trendy pins/items/etc in order to survive!' thing. Yeah. That. The cake is a lie.
Upon day 5 or 6 of the first Week I realized, thanks to the corresponding mission, that being trendy is just for fun. The pins have brands themselves and at the beginning of the game I was convinced that it was important to wear trendy pins. They do give you an edge in combat, it's true, but wearing the pins changes the trends. So if my favorite pins are all from Jupiter of the Monkey, then all I have to do is wear JM pins and fight everywhere. Eventually JM will become the most trendy thing in every area. In other words, you can wear whatever you damn well please - unless all your pins happen to be the least popular brand - a 1-out-of-13 chance - you're not going to lose a significant combat edge.
This means I spend a hell of a lot less time in the menu screen.
items
Making friends with the shop owners, however, continues to be one of my favorite things to do. I've settled quite happily on my favorite outfits for each combat partner for the most part - Neku wears shoes that keep him from getting knocked back in combat, something that increases EXP gained, and clothes that increase DEF BREAK and ATK BREAK stats, and his partners all wear things that give away fusion points and change their combo branches to forms that are easier for me to use. However, I still freaking love shopping in this game. The shop owners actually change their dialogue depending on how much they like you and I love finding out the abilities the clothes get you.
food
And the food is HILARIOUS. You'd think I would have picked up on it earlier but the characters have foods they like and dislike. They'll tell you how they feel about what you've given them to eat. "It's like a party in my mouth!" LOL! Neku likes fast food, Shiki enjoys snacks, Joshua ... I'm not sure about, and your last partner likes ramen. Trust me, it's funnier when you find out who it is.
pins
While in your first week you get a lot of money pins, but during the second week you get a lot of combat pins. A lot of them do the same things as pins you already have in your deck but they have different attack points and evolve differently and anyway, I think one of the goals of the game for people who have to do everything is collecting and evolving every single pin.
Neku himself only gains EXP by combat, but your pins gain EXP by (1)combat, (2)'mingling' with other DSes, and (3)turning off your game for up to 7 days. Some pins need different EXP from others to evolve. There are charts and entire websites dedicated to how pins evolve. @___@ I'm not that obsessed but I figure as long as I'm playing I might as well try to evolve my pins.
A special note about 'mingle' mode: you can run into 'civvies' (any game running over wi-fi), 'ESPers' (other TWEWY games in mingle mode), or 'Aliens'. 'Aliens' are probably random encounter. I'm willing to bet that everyone and their mom figured that out before me, but I'm grateful. If it wasn't for aliens I'd never get mingle points outside cons.
Combat (spoilers)
I went back and re-read my first review of the game and. Heh. I got a lot better as the game went on! But I still generally suck and thank goodness for auto-manual control of your partner.
The main difficulty in combat is that the DS cannot distinguish fully between pins, so sometimes I'll go for a projectile attack and instead Neku will move in for a slashing attack, etc etc. This is somewhat averted by setting pins that are similar in action to 'sub' slots, which can only be activated by pressing the L or R buttons. It's best to have each pin activated signficantly differently, though. And while there is a massive number of pins a lot of them do the same things as others. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially if you're obsessed with following trends (a pin from one company does the same thing as a pin from another company so they're interchangable depending on the area), and heck, I admit it's a little like Pokemon - gotta catch 'em all!
As for the partners:
Shiki
Shiki's minigame of 'match the card' is the easiest one in the game, and I was helped along by getting an item that changed her combo branches into the shape of a lance. With long combos I have time to figure out which branch I want to use, and she gets in more successive blows which makes it easier to 'pass the puck', the green glowing energy that passes between Neku and his partner with successful combos. (Does this thing raise your sync rate? Because its benefits seem minor unless you're fighting Taboo Noise.)
Joshua
Joshua's minigame is also relatively easy, especially once you accept the '=' are basically impossible so stop trying bitch. Whereas Shiki fights with telekinesis, Joshua does much the same but with his cellphone, and he drop random, heavy household items on his enemies, such as cars and refridgerators. His combo branches lead to numbers, which have to be higher or lower or equal to the number at the top of the screen. having played Beat's combo game now, I find Joshua's easier than I did throughout most of his week. Not sure why though!
Keeping with the 'I'm a smug bastard' theme, when he enters a 'fusion' with Neku, he says 'follow my lead!' and Neku says 'Screw that!' I still giggle every time.
Beat
Beat's combos are based on pairing up cards, which pile up at the top of the screen until you dump the card set on purpose or fill up the top of the screen. However, the location of insertion is randomized and the card set you get on the branches is also randomized. IT'S FUCKING ANNOYING. I don't have time to be looking for that little tiny arrow that tells me where the insertion point is, then find the appropriate combo and type it in before Beat gets attacked! I ended up setting Beat to full auto because I couldn't deal with it. I just don't have the reflexes.
Storyline/Characters (SPOILERS, BIG LIKE THEY GO ON A TACKY CAR)
In summary: Joshua is a bastard.
In longer summary, there is a Whole Lotta Shit going on, and as usual it's apocalyptic and the ending iz pasted on yey. But it's still good. And it makes you crave the Secret Reports, so I guess it accomplishes its goal of making you want to play moar times infinity.
In longest summary, Neku starts out as a jerkface who hates the whole world and has amnesia, but he gets out of his teenage funk and stuff happens blah blah blah. Um. Let's try this again.
Joshua is the Composer, the person who has the most control over the Underground (UG) Shibuya. Under him is the Conductor and the Game Master, then all the Reapers, and the Players. Joshua, in a fit of pique, decides that he feels like destroying Shibuya - it's unclear if he means all of Shibuya or just the UG. His Conductor, however, thinks this is a bad idea, so he makes a bet with Joshua - if he can make Shibuya into something Joshua likes within one month, then Joshua won't blow up a whole prefecture just because he feels like it.
Joshua agrees and they set parameters - like, Joshua has to stay the fuck out of the game for the month. Joshua decides that in that case, he's going to get a proxy - someone to represent his will. Basically, if the Conductor can manage to kill off Joshua's proxy and/or erase his free will then he wins the game, if I'm understanding things correctly.
Meanwhile a certain Reaper is plotting Shibuya takeover. His name is Minamimoto - let's call him pi-face. OR the Grim Heaper, Neku's favorite name for him. When the Composer and Conductor go to play this game, Pi-Face decides this is a good time to make his grab for the Composer's seat.
So Joshua ventures out into the real world to find a proxy and happens upon Neku in the middle of an orgasmic gaze at CAT's street art. The full story is: Neku is standing there, Joshua comes around the corner with the gun, Neku freaks out, Minamimoto Pi-Face comes around the other corner. Joshua shoots Minamimoto Pi-face. Minamimoto shoots back. Joshua pulls a Composer, stops the bullets. Minamimoto runs. Neku is freaking the fuck out and then Joshua shoots Neku point-blank in the head.
That's one way to get your Proxy into the Game.
Anyway, so now Neku, representing Joshua, is running around the Game. The Conductor starts his plan for world domination making Shibuya a 'good place' by having the Players use their ability to change trends to make a particular pin popular. This pin turns out to be a way to brainwash the entirety of Shibuya so they all have harmonious (and creepy!) thoughts. I'm gonna guess that Joshua has guessed the Conductor's plans! Because it turns out the only protection against the brainwashing is the Player Pins.
Neku has two. One from when he entered the Game, and one from when he died. Because Joshua dropped it on his dead body. So when one is crushed, the other keeps protecting Neku. LOL CLEVER?
Anyway, Joshua realizes that Minamimoto is about to be successful in his grab for power when he becomes the Game Master, so Joshua enters the game himself as Neku's partner. That week is seriously fucked up but it has great hijinks and battlecries of 'SINE! COSINE! TANGENT!' and Joshua and Neku being giant dicks at each other so I forgive it. Anyway, Joshua alters Neku's Game so that Neku and Joshua together can defeat Pi-Face before he successfully destroys the Game with Taboo Noise and stuff, and when the Conductor gets wind of this he declares the whole thing null and void. Joshua, after faking his own death more or less, retreats from the Game again.
On the last week the Conductor is desperate to finish Neku off and Neku survives by the skin of his teeth and with Beat's help. Beat, to save his sister Rhyme, wants to become the next Composer, so they decide to go after Joshua without realizing that's who they're after. Meanwhile everyone is being really really CREEPY. But in the end Neku saves everyone! And then goes off after the Composer, and finds out about the bet.
And finds out it's Joshua.
So basically because the Conductor has failed to kill off/brainwash Neku, Shibuya is going to be blown to smithereens by Light Yagami a psychopath Joshua Dick-Face. He's pissed, and betrayed, because remember, the last he heard of Joshua Joshua died saving his life. Luckily, Joshua is a benevolent god! And he tells Neku that basically, if Neku can kill Joshua before Joshua kills him (with a gun!), that Neku can choose to save Shibuya.
Neku refuses, and Joshua shoots him (again!), and then Neku wakes up. At the Scramble Crossing. It's Day One again. FUCK ME WITH A STICK, he says. Luckily you do not have to play this final week - instead you get the credits, with Neku blissfully chillin' out with his pals who apparently all came back to life. And Shibuya is not blown to smithereens! So I guess Joshua decided he liked Shibuya enough to keep it around after all.
See? Ending is pasted on yey. I mean, will I get a reason for Joshua keeping Shibuya around in the Secret Reports? I hope so. Because seriously.
Neku Character Development (spoilers)
I'm going to assume that if you're reading this you've finished the game, so let's just talk about character development.
Neku really IS a jerkface when the story starts - a smart jerkface, but a jerkface nonetheless. He's intelligent and figures things out for himself but I didn't particularly like him to start - in fact I sympathized much more with Shiki, who tries so hard to get Neku to open up only to have Neku throw her efforts back in her face. And this is why I'm actually quite impressed by the character evolution in this game, because it was just subtle enough that when I went to replay Day One, I was startled by just how much of a jerkface Neku is.
Over the course of the Game Neku finds his groove, if you will. At the end of the game he's not suddenly a Christ figure who wants to save humanity, he just realizes that people are more tolerable than he's given them credit for. And the step-by-step process - well, you can totally break it down, but it's still gradual enough to not bother me. First, Shiki's angst - Neku gets used to Shiki behaving a particular way, so when she changes, he gets uncomfortable and he pries. He doesn't really set out to comfort her but there's some visible warming between them. Bearing in mind that Neku has amnesia and can't remember anything but his own name, it's no surprise that Shiki becomes his entry fee for week 2. This might be the most jolting part of the development, since Neku obviously cares about this a lot and is royally pissed. But his response is all Neku - singlemindedly throwing himself into the Game.
Joshua, his current partner, helps soften things because he is purposely antagonistic. Neku finds him frustrating beyond belief (I do too) and therefore snipes at Joshua, so while it's obvious he's changing, he's still fully capable of being a jerkface. But Neku even warms to Joshua, because ultimately Neku is a sucker for a sad story. When Joshua (apparently) pays the ultimate price to save Neku's life, I think that's the final nail in the coffin for the old Neku. Neku never liked anyone enough to sacrifice himself for them, so when a person who irritates him SO MUCH is willing to do just that, it touches him.
Additionally there's Hanekoma, who is also Neku's hero CAT. Knowing that Hanekoma is CAT, when Hanekoma gives Neku advice, Neku most definitely listens. Hanekoma tells Neku that his art means 'individuality', but also 'expand your horizons'. "The world ends with you, Neku," he says. "Clash with other worlds sometimes - you might make your world a little bigger." Neku idolizes the man, so it only follows that Neku would take this advice to heart.
Neku still finds people irritating at the end of the game, but he's also willing to attach to them. So when the last scene of the whole game (besides the secret ending) is Neku casting off his headphones? YEAH. I want that as my livejournal layout. I don't suppose anyone would make that for me, huh?
My final word? ZETTA AWESOME. I'm not sorry about how dorky that is.
So, I totally finished the game. I was spoiled to hell and back by (1)cosplaying Neku at anext and (2)being unable to resist fic until I was done, but it was still a great ride. I mean, as Nomura stories go.
there will be spoilers galore in this review, probably. do proceed with caution.
Gameplay (spoiler-free)
trends
So you read the reviews of the game and how there was the whole 'you have to wear trendy pins/items/etc in order to survive!' thing. Yeah. That. The cake is a lie.
Upon day 5 or 6 of the first Week I realized, thanks to the corresponding mission, that being trendy is just for fun. The pins have brands themselves and at the beginning of the game I was convinced that it was important to wear trendy pins. They do give you an edge in combat, it's true, but wearing the pins changes the trends. So if my favorite pins are all from Jupiter of the Monkey, then all I have to do is wear JM pins and fight everywhere. Eventually JM will become the most trendy thing in every area. In other words, you can wear whatever you damn well please - unless all your pins happen to be the least popular brand - a 1-out-of-13 chance - you're not going to lose a significant combat edge.
This means I spend a hell of a lot less time in the menu screen.
items
Making friends with the shop owners, however, continues to be one of my favorite things to do. I've settled quite happily on my favorite outfits for each combat partner for the most part - Neku wears shoes that keep him from getting knocked back in combat, something that increases EXP gained, and clothes that increase DEF BREAK and ATK BREAK stats, and his partners all wear things that give away fusion points and change their combo branches to forms that are easier for me to use. However, I still freaking love shopping in this game. The shop owners actually change their dialogue depending on how much they like you and I love finding out the abilities the clothes get you.
food
And the food is HILARIOUS. You'd think I would have picked up on it earlier but the characters have foods they like and dislike. They'll tell you how they feel about what you've given them to eat. "It's like a party in my mouth!" LOL! Neku likes fast food, Shiki enjoys snacks, Joshua ... I'm not sure about, and your last partner likes ramen. Trust me, it's funnier when you find out who it is.
pins
While in your first week you get a lot of money pins, but during the second week you get a lot of combat pins. A lot of them do the same things as pins you already have in your deck but they have different attack points and evolve differently and anyway, I think one of the goals of the game for people who have to do everything is collecting and evolving every single pin.
Neku himself only gains EXP by combat, but your pins gain EXP by (1)combat, (2)'mingling' with other DSes, and (3)turning off your game for up to 7 days. Some pins need different EXP from others to evolve. There are charts and entire websites dedicated to how pins evolve. @___@ I'm not that obsessed but I figure as long as I'm playing I might as well try to evolve my pins.
A special note about 'mingle' mode: you can run into 'civvies' (any game running over wi-fi), 'ESPers' (other TWEWY games in mingle mode), or 'Aliens'. 'Aliens' are probably random encounter. I'm willing to bet that everyone and their mom figured that out before me, but I'm grateful. If it wasn't for aliens I'd never get mingle points outside cons.
Combat (spoilers)
I went back and re-read my first review of the game and. Heh. I got a lot better as the game went on! But I still generally suck and thank goodness for auto-manual control of your partner.
The main difficulty in combat is that the DS cannot distinguish fully between pins, so sometimes I'll go for a projectile attack and instead Neku will move in for a slashing attack, etc etc. This is somewhat averted by setting pins that are similar in action to 'sub' slots, which can only be activated by pressing the L or R buttons. It's best to have each pin activated signficantly differently, though. And while there is a massive number of pins a lot of them do the same things as others. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially if you're obsessed with following trends (a pin from one company does the same thing as a pin from another company so they're interchangable depending on the area), and heck, I admit it's a little like Pokemon - gotta catch 'em all!
As for the partners:
Shiki
Shiki's minigame of 'match the card' is the easiest one in the game, and I was helped along by getting an item that changed her combo branches into the shape of a lance. With long combos I have time to figure out which branch I want to use, and she gets in more successive blows which makes it easier to 'pass the puck', the green glowing energy that passes between Neku and his partner with successful combos. (Does this thing raise your sync rate? Because its benefits seem minor unless you're fighting Taboo Noise.)
Joshua
Joshua's minigame is also relatively easy, especially once you accept the '=' are basically impossible so stop trying bitch. Whereas Shiki fights with telekinesis, Joshua does much the same but with his cellphone, and he drop random, heavy household items on his enemies, such as cars and refridgerators. His combo branches lead to numbers, which have to be higher or lower or equal to the number at the top of the screen. having played Beat's combo game now, I find Joshua's easier than I did throughout most of his week. Not sure why though!
Keeping with the 'I'm a smug bastard' theme, when he enters a 'fusion' with Neku, he says 'follow my lead!' and Neku says 'Screw that!' I still giggle every time.
Beat
Beat's combos are based on pairing up cards, which pile up at the top of the screen until you dump the card set on purpose or fill up the top of the screen. However, the location of insertion is randomized and the card set you get on the branches is also randomized. IT'S FUCKING ANNOYING. I don't have time to be looking for that little tiny arrow that tells me where the insertion point is, then find the appropriate combo and type it in before Beat gets attacked! I ended up setting Beat to full auto because I couldn't deal with it. I just don't have the reflexes.
Storyline/Characters (SPOILERS, BIG LIKE THEY GO ON A TACKY CAR)
In summary: Joshua is a bastard.
In longer summary, there is a Whole Lotta Shit going on, and as usual it's apocalyptic and the ending iz pasted on yey. But it's still good. And it makes you crave the Secret Reports, so I guess it accomplishes its goal of making you want to play moar times infinity.
In longest summary, Neku starts out as a jerkface who hates the whole world and has amnesia, but he gets out of his teenage funk and stuff happens blah blah blah. Um. Let's try this again.
Joshua is the Composer, the person who has the most control over the Underground (UG) Shibuya. Under him is the Conductor and the Game Master, then all the Reapers, and the Players. Joshua, in a fit of pique, decides that he feels like destroying Shibuya - it's unclear if he means all of Shibuya or just the UG. His Conductor, however, thinks this is a bad idea, so he makes a bet with Joshua - if he can make Shibuya into something Joshua likes within one month, then Joshua won't blow up a whole prefecture just because he feels like it.
Joshua agrees and they set parameters - like, Joshua has to stay the fuck out of the game for the month. Joshua decides that in that case, he's going to get a proxy - someone to represent his will. Basically, if the Conductor can manage to kill off Joshua's proxy and/or erase his free will then he wins the game, if I'm understanding things correctly.
Meanwhile a certain Reaper is plotting Shibuya takeover. His name is Minamimoto - let's call him pi-face. OR the Grim Heaper, Neku's favorite name for him. When the Composer and Conductor go to play this game, Pi-Face decides this is a good time to make his grab for the Composer's seat.
So Joshua ventures out into the real world to find a proxy and happens upon Neku in the middle of an orgasmic gaze at CAT's street art. The full story is: Neku is standing there, Joshua comes around the corner with the gun, Neku freaks out, Minamimoto Pi-Face comes around the other corner. Joshua shoots Minamimoto Pi-face. Minamimoto shoots back. Joshua pulls a Composer, stops the bullets. Minamimoto runs. Neku is freaking the fuck out and then Joshua shoots Neku point-blank in the head.
That's one way to get your Proxy into the Game.
Anyway, so now Neku, representing Joshua, is running around the Game. The Conductor starts his plan for world domination making Shibuya a 'good place' by having the Players use their ability to change trends to make a particular pin popular. This pin turns out to be a way to brainwash the entirety of Shibuya so they all have harmonious (and creepy!) thoughts. I'm gonna guess that Joshua has guessed the Conductor's plans! Because it turns out the only protection against the brainwashing is the Player Pins.
Neku has two. One from when he entered the Game, and one from when he died. Because Joshua dropped it on his dead body. So when one is crushed, the other keeps protecting Neku. LOL CLEVER?
Anyway, Joshua realizes that Minamimoto is about to be successful in his grab for power when he becomes the Game Master, so Joshua enters the game himself as Neku's partner. That week is seriously fucked up but it has great hijinks and battlecries of 'SINE! COSINE! TANGENT!' and Joshua and Neku being giant dicks at each other so I forgive it. Anyway, Joshua alters Neku's Game so that Neku and Joshua together can defeat Pi-Face before he successfully destroys the Game with Taboo Noise and stuff, and when the Conductor gets wind of this he declares the whole thing null and void. Joshua, after faking his own death more or less, retreats from the Game again.
On the last week the Conductor is desperate to finish Neku off and Neku survives by the skin of his teeth and with Beat's help. Beat, to save his sister Rhyme, wants to become the next Composer, so they decide to go after Joshua without realizing that's who they're after. Meanwhile everyone is being really really CREEPY. But in the end Neku saves everyone! And then goes off after the Composer, and finds out about the bet.
And finds out it's Joshua.
So basically because the Conductor has failed to kill off/brainwash Neku, Shibuya is going to be blown to smithereens by Light Yagami a psychopath Joshua Dick-Face. He's pissed, and betrayed, because remember, the last he heard of Joshua Joshua died saving his life. Luckily, Joshua is a benevolent god! And he tells Neku that basically, if Neku can kill Joshua before Joshua kills him (with a gun!), that Neku can choose to save Shibuya.
Neku refuses, and Joshua shoots him (again!), and then Neku wakes up. At the Scramble Crossing. It's Day One again. FUCK ME WITH A STICK, he says. Luckily you do not have to play this final week - instead you get the credits, with Neku blissfully chillin' out with his pals who apparently all came back to life. And Shibuya is not blown to smithereens! So I guess Joshua decided he liked Shibuya enough to keep it around after all.
See? Ending is pasted on yey. I mean, will I get a reason for Joshua keeping Shibuya around in the Secret Reports? I hope so. Because seriously.
Neku Character Development (spoilers)
I'm going to assume that if you're reading this you've finished the game, so let's just talk about character development.
Neku really IS a jerkface when the story starts - a smart jerkface, but a jerkface nonetheless. He's intelligent and figures things out for himself but I didn't particularly like him to start - in fact I sympathized much more with Shiki, who tries so hard to get Neku to open up only to have Neku throw her efforts back in her face. And this is why I'm actually quite impressed by the character evolution in this game, because it was just subtle enough that when I went to replay Day One, I was startled by just how much of a jerkface Neku is.
Over the course of the Game Neku finds his groove, if you will. At the end of the game he's not suddenly a Christ figure who wants to save humanity, he just realizes that people are more tolerable than he's given them credit for. And the step-by-step process - well, you can totally break it down, but it's still gradual enough to not bother me. First, Shiki's angst - Neku gets used to Shiki behaving a particular way, so when she changes, he gets uncomfortable and he pries. He doesn't really set out to comfort her but there's some visible warming between them. Bearing in mind that Neku has amnesia and can't remember anything but his own name, it's no surprise that Shiki becomes his entry fee for week 2. This might be the most jolting part of the development, since Neku obviously cares about this a lot and is royally pissed. But his response is all Neku - singlemindedly throwing himself into the Game.
Joshua, his current partner, helps soften things because he is purposely antagonistic. Neku finds him frustrating beyond belief (I do too) and therefore snipes at Joshua, so while it's obvious he's changing, he's still fully capable of being a jerkface. But Neku even warms to Joshua, because ultimately Neku is a sucker for a sad story. When Joshua (apparently) pays the ultimate price to save Neku's life, I think that's the final nail in the coffin for the old Neku. Neku never liked anyone enough to sacrifice himself for them, so when a person who irritates him SO MUCH is willing to do just that, it touches him.
Additionally there's Hanekoma, who is also Neku's hero CAT. Knowing that Hanekoma is CAT, when Hanekoma gives Neku advice, Neku most definitely listens. Hanekoma tells Neku that his art means 'individuality', but also 'expand your horizons'. "The world ends with you, Neku," he says. "Clash with other worlds sometimes - you might make your world a little bigger." Neku idolizes the man, so it only follows that Neku would take this advice to heart.
Neku still finds people irritating at the end of the game, but he's also willing to attach to them. So when the last scene of the whole game (besides the secret ending) is Neku casting off his headphones? YEAH. I want that as my livejournal layout. I don't suppose anyone would make that for me, huh?
My final word? ZETTA AWESOME. I'm not sorry about how dorky that is.