This Game Begins and Ends with You

  

 

 

In recent years Square Enix has relied heavily on existing franchises and new intellectual properties were few and far between. Gamers have mostly seen various sequels, remakes and releases for the company’s best selling properties. Then earlier this year, the gaming world saw the release of what may be the first breath of fresh air from the RPG giant in years with the help of Jupiter. The World Ends with You or It’s a Wonderful World (Subarashiki Kono Sekai) in Japan, is a new game on the DS that aims to be unique in a crowded RPG market. The attempt at trying something new hasn’t gone unnoticed by critics and gamers.

Shortly before and after its release in the United States, the title quickly caught the interest of many gamers and gaming publications. GameRankings.com gives the title an average score of 88 percent out of 100, based on the average rating of 54 different major reviews. It scored handheld game of the month in Game Informer’s May issue and scored as high as 100 percent in some popular reviews, including G4 TV’s X-Play. Shortly after its April release the game sold out at many retailers nationwide in early June, surpassing Square Enix’s sales expectations. Yet the most important question remains, does the quirky title live up to the hype?

The World Ends with You may have a bleak title but the outlook for the game is good. In fact, any gamers craving a new RPG experience on the DS probably won’t be disappointed. The game has many shortcomings but its innovations help set the bar high in a genre where gameplay has been relatively stale at times. That alone makes this title worth a try for avid RPG gamers.

TWEWY’s story takes place in modern day Shibuya, a major district of Tokyo. Much of the novelty of the setting is lost on Western gamers who’ve never set foot in Shibuya, but the highly urban setting has an appeal of its own. A fifteen year old boy named Neku Sakuraba wakes up one day in the middle of Scramble Crossing in Shibuya. He has no idea how he got there or what’s going on, while crowds of people walk by him as if he didn’t exist. Suddenly the teen sees strange animal monsters emerge from tribal tattoos that materialize out of nowhere and attack people. The people instantly vanish in front of his eyes, and soon he is attacked. Running for his life, he meets up with a girl who urges him to make a pact. Given no choice, Neku accepts and together they fight the monsters, now revealed as the Noise.

The girl, Shiki Misaki explains to Neku (who has lost his memory since waking up) that they are in a game for survival in Shibuya. They must play the game and make through a week of fighting in order to win. They don’t have a choice in the matter as this game is a matter of life or being erased from existence, ie death. Ever the anti-social loner, Neku reluctantly partners up with Shiki in order to win the seven day game. The game itself is constructed by a group of people known as the Reapers. The story then goes through a series of plot twists (some of which may remind anime junkies of GONZO’s Gantz series) and the game lasts longer than just seven days.

The characters of the game are rather eccentric. Neku is a jerk of a protagonist who trusts no one and is difficult to like at the start of the game. His partner Shiki is more outgoing but tends to annoy Neku. Joshua is another character who can easily grate on nerves because of his sly and arrogant nature. Beat is rash and not very bright despite being kind. Even the Reapers themselves are a strange crew. From the two lively field grunts to the math loving psychopath, the major players within this game never fail to entertain (or annoy). Thankfully, the playable characters eventually become tolerable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neku and Shiki, later Beat Neku. Also, one angry work-loving Reaper. Yashiro really loves her job…

The gameplay is where this RPG really distinguishes itself and makes interesting uses of the DS touchscreen. Combat is both frantic and innovative making simultaneous use of both DS screens. HP is shared and the entire system is referred to as the Stride Cross Battle System. Gamers will either love or hate the style of play, which is essentially tapping, scratching, drawing, dragging and pressing the stylus on the bottom screen, and playing something akin to DDR with the d-pad (or A,B,X,Y) on the top screen. Personally, after playing a solid month of Square Enix’s other action RPG, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, I found the change of pace to be refreshing. Some critics have complained that the combat system is impossible for new players to grasp. It simply comes down to getting used to the game’s mechanics. The hopelessly lost can always adjust the game’s settings to easy, and those seeking a challenge can adjust them to hard or ultimate.

Fortunately, TWEWY does its best to ease players into combat with multiple tutorials, adjustable difficulty settings and ample time to practice without taking any damage. There is a lot to be conscious of while playing the game, at times there’s almost too much to be aware of. On the top screen each character has a different fighting style, complete with ground and air combos, blocks, dodges and finishing attacks. Cards on the very top of the screen determine when characters on both screens will team up for a huge fusion attack that does a large amount of damage. The cards system for each character works differently and in the end most players will end up ignoring the system altogether because the d-pad can be mashed and eventually a fusion attack will show up. Players who find themselves overwhelmed can set the top character to auto-play, but the AI isn’t particularly useful in this game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Combat is daunting at first but becomes easier in time. Each partner has their own style of play, and Neku can use all kinds of psychs.

The bottom screen is where most of the serious action takes place and Neku can be moved just about anywhere. His strength comes from the psych pins that he wears into battle to fight with. The pins allow for different types of physical attacks, magic attacks, support, and healing. There are three hundred different types of pins that can level up and even evolve to into stronger forms before being mastered. With different types of pin combinations possible, just about anyone can come up with a fighting style tailored to their own tastes and the types of Noise being fought. The battle system may be busy, but it becomes manageable, fun even, after practice.

When it comes to fighting fashion sense is important in this game, after it is Shibuya that we’re talking about. Every part of the Tokyo district has brand charts that determine the effectiveness of branded pins. For example a DB brand might be the current trend in an area, and its attack will be doubled, while another brand’s attack might cut in half, effectively making it weak. But the trends can be influenced and even weak brands can become the new trend after repeated fights with the Noise. Shopping for clothes also involves different brands, like pins and affects character stats.

Visually, TWEWY looks gorgeous on the DS. It proudly sports a blend of 2D and 3D graphics, in addition to the 16-bit style sprites used. The 2D looks like something out of a comic book or manga (if it were fully interactive), complete with speech and thought bubbles. Overall the sometimes angular graphics support the urban style of the game. Even the limited animations are well done, with boss transformations being some of the most stunning scenes to watch.

On the audio front, the game has a limited amount of voice acting that blends well with the story. Some of the phrases used in the game are fairly brash to outright amusing and are perfect for the contentious nature of some characters. This game is also about music and elements of music. Takeharu Ishimoto (who recently composed Crisis Core’s soundtrack) composes the music and the soundtrack does not disappoint. Orchestrated pieces are tossed out in favor of J-pop, rock, and hip hop among other things. The music is always changing, which keeps each song from getting old. Fans that dislike the said genres may be discontent with the music.

Playing the game the first time around won’t fill in all of the plot’s gaps. The ending, while satisfying does not answer all of the game’s questions. The game allows for the keeping of all previous stats and items (and the ability to start at any chapter) in a game+ mode. In order to learn more about the game, secret reports and items must collected each day, between the game’s main storyline. New elements have also been added to the story, keeping the replay value high. The unlocked story elements reveal a complex plot lurking just under the surface of the game’s original premise.

The game’s main message of trust and friendship may seem preachy to many but for many introverts the message may hit home. In any case, The World Ends with You is a must have for any DS owner wanting to try something new. By all accounts, the title is selling well and one can only hope that Square Enix continues create new and exciting games based on new IPs. In the spirit of the game’s ultimate message, remember the world begins with you.

Images courtesy of Gamespot.com