Gamers live on edge for 'World Ends'
With a title as intriguing as the game itself, "The World Ends with You" drops you down the rabbit hole and into The Game, a purgatory-esque underground where "players" ante up that which they value most for a second chance in life.
Literally. They're dead. And players who fail The Game face erasure ... permanently.
Square Enix put together quite the edgy game -- one of the best titles for the DS -- giving the action-RPG genre a much-needed overhaul of style and substance.
The high-quality presentation blends 2-D artwork in a world exceptionally designed to appear 3-D. Add to that an engaging story line and catchy, high-energy J-pop soundtrack -- yeah, it can get a little annoying after a while, but it complements the setting so well.
Once you get past its delicious good looks, you'll find a combat mechanic unlike any other: pins. These little "pysch" badges are how you fight the Noise -- sort of like psychic monsters that exist on another plane -- and the Reapers -- kind of like game admins who get points for getting rid of players. The pins have unique touch-command attacks that you execute using the stylus -- slash, press, circle, tap, etc. You accumulate quite an arsenal throughout the game, but you can only equip a couple at time, and only those ones earn points to level up. It's great incentive to switch 'em up, while tailoring the gameplay to your combat tastes.
For a jaw-grinding challenge that will cause your eyes to twitch, you can play two characters simultaneously -- using the stylus to control one on the bottom screen, and the D-pad to control the other on the top screen. It's outstandingly hard, but you'll deal some devastating combos if you can pull it off. Thankfully, you can switch settings to let A.I. take over the top screen if you can't hack it.
Set on the streets of Tokyo's shop-aholic Shibuya, it makes sense that fashion trends matter. Each district favors certain brand names, and this affects the strength of your pins, as well as your attribute-boosting clothes and accessories.
The story line really drives the pace, with twists, surprises and revelations that connect you with the characters. Sometimes the characters wade into the shallow end, but the overall theme is smart. The mystery of The Game slowly untangles as Neku, the anti-social teen protagonist, opens his mind to the world around him.
"The World Ends with You" caters to various skill levels, letting you switch difficulty levels whenever you wish. You also can lower your character's level on a slidebar to reap higher rewards in battle.
This is one of those rare titles that gets everything right: mechanics, visuals and story. There are so many ways to approach the game, and I haven't even touched on everything it offers.
It's the slickest, hippest DS title, aesthetically presented and a great crash course in Japanese culture geared to expand your world -- precisely the point it's trying to make.
Additional Information:
'The World Ends with You'
Grade: A
Developer: Jupiter/Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Platform: DS
Genre: Action-RPG
ESRB: Teen
Retail: $39.99
