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The World Ends With You
Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Jupiter
Genre: RPG
Release Date: April 22, 2008
Platform: Nintendo DS
Reviewer: Eric
 When the role-playing game genre changes its style it’s usually hit or miss.
Square Enix changed the way people played RPGs in 2006 with the release of Final
Fantasy XII. The reaction was a success, but it left some fans with a bad taste
in their mouth.
With the Nintendo DS market hitting huge numbers in 2008 Square Enix has been on
a rampage releasing new titles, almost monthly. The World Ends With You is the
latest game to come out on the Nintendo DS and its changing the role-playing
game genre.
In late 2004 Nintendo released the DS and up until this point not to many games
truly utilized the stylus. There has been an abundance of cheap mini game titles
that did have gamers use the stylus, but it really didn’t feel right. Square
Enix has taken the Nintendo DS’s capabilities and have turned it into the next
big RPG, changing the genre forever.
The games credit should go to the developers, Team Jupiter. This is the same
team that was behind the Kingdom Hearts series, another series that changed the
RPG genre on the Playstation 2. Team Jupiter turned heads before Kingdom Hearts
came out, but now people adore the game. The same thing happened with The World
Ends With You, but now those same people are asking for forgiveness again.
The World Ends With You takes place in modern day Japan, the Shibuya district of
Tokyo. Following the story of a teen named Neku, who wakes up in the middle of
the city streets. Neku receives a text message on his phone, stating that he
only has a few minutes to complete the first stage of “The Game”.
Not knowing of his business or not having the ability to communicate with
anybody on the streets. Neku now has to use these ghost abilities, where he can
listen to people’s thoughts, just so he can complete daily challenges in “The
Game”. He has to destroy entities known as “Noise” just so he can gain his life
back and save the world. New missions are given to Neku as The Reapers make
there presences known.
Following the games story might be hard to follow since it is so out there.
Character designs look anime like where characters waists look smaller than a
number two pencil. The games story fits well with the techno style music and the
Jet Set Radio like graphics. This is like no other role-playing game you have
played before.
 What makes The World Ends With You such a pleasure to play is the battle system.
The game combines the use of the d-pad and the Nintendo DS’s touch screen. You
have to control both Neku (touch screen) and your partner (d-pad) at the same
time. In order to battle with Neku you have to use your psychic abilities. To do
this you’ll need to do different motions with your stylus. To shoot fireballs
you simply tap the stylus on your enemy. Slashing at your enemies has you making
slashing movements on your stylus.
To control your partner on the top screen you use the d-pad. Just follow the
path the game throws on you and your partner will attack the enemies on the top
screen. The only thing you have to remember is both your characters share the
same health bar so make sure you don’t screw up on either the top or bottom
screen.
As original as the battle concept is it can become challenging. Trying to get
some of these motions to work in battle can stir up problems. Some psychic
ability motions seem to share the same path, causing you to use one psychic
ability over the other. There are 300 abilities to learn and you can equip more
than a few at a time. It might sound like too much, but you’ll get the hang of
it.
The same problems can be found on the top screen, but minus the whole stylus
part. Trying to fight two battle fronts at once can become a real challenge,
even early on in the game. There is a feature in the game that sets the top
screen on automatic, which I recommend for beginners. It’s a neat idea; just
make sure you save your game frequently.
Gamplay for battle, top or bottom, will get harder. Super attacks can only be
done by winning little mini games. Some of these mini games can be quite
challenging. The World Ends With You is really challenging, make sure you know
what you’re getting into before you start.
 Getting into battles is tedious. In order to get into battle you’ll have to use
your ghost abilities to see floating “Noise” symbols. Once you see these icons
all you have to do is click on them. It isn’t that hard, but after every battle
you need to do the same thing all over again. You also need to refresh the
screen whenever you clear an area of all its enemies. Tedious, but with it in
the end.
When you get to the third chapter of the game you open a whole new option in the
game. Since the game runs on your DS’s clock the game will always show the real
time that is if you set it right. When your Nintendo DS is off you earn
experience for each day it’s off (seven days is the max). This can defeat the
whole purpose of leveling up in the game, making this the perfect game because
you can also play another game at the same time.
There are other ways The World Ends With You uses the clock to its benefit.
Eating food gives you new abilities. You can only eat so much food per day and
the game follows the entire 24 hour span. Real-time aspects have never been used
in RPGs like this before.
Instead of equipping armor and shields, The World Ends With You has you
equipping the current trends in the streets. The best threads will earn you
special boosts. Place close attention to this. At first this seems pointless,
but you will grow to enjoy something as unique as this. Also make sure you keep
shopping too, vendors will lower their prices, sell special items, and anything
else cool that happens in real life.
Final Verdict
Few games have truly utilized the Nintendo DS’s capabilities. Some games have
tried, but the finish product wasn’t that enjoyable. The World Ends With You is
the next big that that will change the role-playing game genre forever. If you
still don’t own a Nintendo DS yet then you need to buy one right now, along with
a copy of this game.
Rating
9.50 out of 10
The World Ends With You Trailer
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