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PreviousThe World Ends With You Review
DS Review by Dan Whitehead
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I'll be the first to admit that games reviewers can easily become jaded, brave martyrs that we are. Playing so many games does mean that the uninspired offerings need to work harder to make an impression, while games that innovate become glittering gems to be treasured. And, sometimes, the elements that jump out of the mire aren't always the first priority of the everyday gamer. The end result is that any game that arrives on the crest of a hyperbolic wave, festooned with praise for its fancy new ideas, can make you - the common peasants who have to pay for your games - suspicious of anything heralded for its fresh thinking.
The World Ends With You could certainly fall into that trap. Released last summer in Japan as Subarashiki Kono Sekai (or "It's A Wonderful World"), it's since been praised to the high heavens for the way it reinvents the RPG, making use of the DS and its unique properties in ways that make even the most hardened hack sit up and pay attention.
Of course, I'm using RPG as a sort of catch-all description, since the game flits between genres like a hummingbird, slurping up delicious nectar from fighting games, adventure games, even social management games like The Sims. Such eclecticism alone would be impressive, yet what makes The World Ends With You so surprising - and often so oblique - is that almost every element of the game is delivered in a way you've not seen before, and then proceeds to offer even more depth beyond those daunting first impressions. It's a dizzying experience.
The countdown for each new challenge appears on your palm. How very Logan's Run.
There are some familiar genre touchstones though and our lead character, Neku, is one of them. Like all good RPG heroes, he's fifteen, moody and afflicted with convenient amnesia. At the start of the game he passes out and wakes up in Tokyo's achingly hip Shibuya district. Nobody can see him, and he's somehow obtained a black pin (or badge, as we'd call it) that allows him to read people's thoughts.
Then he receives a cryptic text message - "Reach 104. You have 60 minutes. Fail, and face erasure." Clearly it's not referring to the camp pop duo. Neku has somehow found his way into the Reapers Game, in which disaffected youths must survive seven days of trials and challenges set by the hooded Reapers. Paired up with Shiki, a bubbly young lass, Neku is thrown into a world dictated by complex rules, cryptic puzzles and frequent combat, and you're coming along for the ride.
It's the combat that dominates the game, and the Stride Cross Battle System is also where much of the hype is coming from, so let's start there. The gameworld is populated by creatures known as Noise - weird animalistic manifestations of our urban malaise. Neku can see them as floating shapes when he activates his black pin, and clicking on them initiates an encounter. The gameplay then splits into two, with Neku fighting on the touch-screen using the stylus while his partner battles on the top screen, controlled with the d-pad or face buttons. Both characters are separate but battling the same foes and sharing the same health gauge.
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The World Ends With You - Battles [1] 23 April, 2008
The World Ends With You - Storyline Chapter 3 [0] 22 April, 2008
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Comments: 1-43 of 43 in total
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JohnnyWashnGo
24/04/08 @ 05:42
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Great - getting this game as soon as I can.
It looks the business and the learning curve sounds hard enough to keep me interested :) |
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Agent_Llama
24/04/08 @ 05:57
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Really impressed with this game. For those daunted by the combat, initially it's a little confusing but you'll soon get the hang of it.
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The depth sounds fantastic, but it really does seem to me sometimes that any third-party Nintendo-platform game gets an automatic point deduction at EG. If it's that innovative, shouldn't the lack of handholding early on keep it from a 10 instead of a 9? I know EG is extremely hesitant to give out 10s but the review really was glowing throughout...either way I'll definitely pick this up. It'll be the first DS game I've bought in ages (what the hell is Nintendo doing now, anyway? They're sitting on the largest install base on the planet and they're not making anymore Triple-A titles!).
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MightyPenguin
24/04/08 @ 06:29
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This game wants you to use the d-pad, the face buttons and the stylus all at the same time? Dunno about my brain not adjusting, but I'm struggling to imagine doing that without three hands. Maybe I could hold the stylus in my teeth?
At any rate, I'm getting this. For the batshit-insane O_O alone. |
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DanWhitehead
24/04/08 @ 06:48
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This game wants you to use the d-pad, the face buttons and the stylus all at the same time?
No, top screen control is via the d-pad if you're right-handed or the face buttons for lefties, not both. It's still quite a test of coordination though. |
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TriggerHippie
24/04/08 @ 06:48
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/relief
I've been looking forward to this for ages and seeing it listed under "crud released on the ds" this week had me worried. An interesting involving game that has genuine style (please pay attention EA) the same way Jet Set Radio did. Sold. |
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GamesConnoisseur
24/04/08 @ 06:57
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EG refuses to give out 10s and yet too easy give out an 8s when they should not!
Kidding aside, I think the review is spot on as the game is great but combat, man! I am still having problems after 5 hours in with controlling both screens as usually having one get arse kicked, so have found best to leave on auto the top combat screen. Others may be able to cope better but that may be more to do with having the natural ability to do two different things at once (ie top of head and tummy thing) rather than a sign of a gamemaster! Good use of DS hardware though, would never translate well to any other format. |
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peak_performance
24/04/08 @ 07:17
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Looks interesting - interest gained.
Just have to get Prof. Layton first. |
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Honestly, I've been playing his non-stop since Friday, easily the best DS game I've ever played! As a self-confessed Jet Set Radio fanatic, this game picks up the urban vibe of that more than anything else, and yeah, it's pretty crazy for a short while, but once you get past that, there's nothing else out there quite like it. The review didn't even mention about the (real-time) eating of food to boost stats, or plenty of other things I've forgotten now!
BTW, anyone who takes the tube, fancy leaving your DS's in Mingle Mode at all? I could really do with the PP! :)
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 24/04/08 @ 09:36
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Slipstream
24/04/08 @ 09:30
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On the homepage I read: Teenage dicks
Damn, Max Power beat me to it >.< I read the same thing, had to stop and stare at the text for a while lol! Been tracking this game for a while, I love the Jet Set Vibe it gives off, aswell as the innovative looking gameplay, looks very confusing but then I know it'll be one of those games you have to actually play yourself to really understand what is happening. Whenever Square step outside of their traditional RPG agendas, I feel things usually go horribly wrong, I'm glad that this doesn't look, or feel like that has happened this time around...but then I said the same thing with The Bouncer too... T_T |
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Been playing this for just over a week - It really does have style and for any Japanophile its a definite must. I have to agree about the steep curve at the beginning though if you stick with it it clicks and then youre laughing. I think it deserves a nine but at the same time I reckon losing a mark for its inaccesibility to some is justified. Playing makes me wish theyd do another Jetset Radio..... fingers Xed though Its unlikely :((
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I've been playing this the past few days and I love it. One of the best DS games I've played so far. The combat can get confusing but really it's as easy or as hard as you make it (the HP slider or the difficulty level can be changed whenever you like). If I find a fight too difficult I'm enjoying mixing up the pins to try to make it easier. Looking at both screens simultaneously is tricky but doable. Gameplay wise, I love it.
Art style I'm impartial to, the music I think is naff, and the ridiculous emo-'I hate people' beginning is absurd, but that isn't so important to me in light of the gameplay. |
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hiddenranbir
24/04/08 @ 10:02
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Another whiny rpg hero. Really not willing to put myself through that.
I hope it has a skip dialogue and ignore story button! |
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+1
I have been playing this almost non stop since last week. It really is one of the best DS games to ever appear (also: made by the team who did Kingdom Hearts games, if that wasn't celar) and I daresay that it is extremely addictive even though it dispenses with most of the 'hardcore' myths about the game having to be extremely challenging to be really addictive. Instead, this game is addictive because it is VERY deep and it gives you so many things to do, yet seldom demands of you to do boring or repetitive stuff in order to progress. For instance: combat is FUN and yet there are NO random battles whatsoever. You do get athe odd unexpected fight here and there but those are story-related and usually come after you have already engaged a character in the game. And, yet, despite teh absence of random battles, you end up actively seeking conflict because it's FUN and it's always barely two stylus taps away. That, my friends is GOOD game design.
As for the review, I feel that this could perhaps been a nine rather than eight if you'd take into cosideration the relative lack of RPGs on the DS (at least compared to its predecessor, the GBA), plus the fact that this game is a definite step away and forward from the tried and tested RPG formula. I also felt that Dan's description of combat sounded perhaps overtly dramatic. Yes, in the first half hour it is pretty confusing to have to control both characters at once, but it quickly becomes second nature, especially once you understand the dynamics of the combat (passing the green puck dictates most of it with formidable combos becoming possible as the time passes) and you earn some Shiki stickers that allow the upper screen character to block. As any good JRPG combat system, this one is about clever combos rather than raw enthusiasm and this is emphasised throughout the game. I will not exaggerate to say that this is one of the most satisfying combat system I've experienced on the DS because it * encourages strategic approach to each battle with careful selection of pins for the particular area and your own longer term plans, * encourages tactical thinking in battles with the emphasis on combos (and at the same time doesn't hit you over the head with it because for the most of the inital couple of days you can let the upper screen character play on automatic), * gives you the highly pleasing tactile approach to actually engage the enemy in realtime (somewhere between Zelda and Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword). It simply feels great to pick up a car with the stylus and smash the enemies with it. What IS somewhat daunting and what MIGHT scare some people away is the amount of info the game throws at you in the first few hours. Seriously, if the game didn't already suck me in through gameplay and story (excellent writing and presentation, btw), I would consider whether to play on because of all the stuff you are expected to read, understand and apply. But all this depth definitely ends up being rewarding and all the time you spend in initial reading and experimenting with all the options you have at your disposal actually turns out to be beneficial to your final enjyoment of the game. Highly recommended for anyone itching to play a deep and involving game that is only enhanced by being on the particular platform. Probably a future classic. |
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+1
"Another whiny rpg hero. Really not willing to put myself through that.
I hope it has a skip dialogue and ignore story button! " Well, if it helps, it IS written very well even though it is true you mostly get the usual anime/RPG philosophy and characterisation. There is no way to skip the story parts but I didn't find them difficult to endure in any way. Your mileage may vary, obviously, but I don't think anyone would actually be iritated with the story enough to abandon the game because of it... |
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I liked that the main character is such a self-centered asshole. I haven't seen a JRPG hero that's this emo. It's fantastic. I love all of the little pokes that the game takes at this kind of superficial, selfish and insular lifestyle. I don't play so many JRPGs, so maybe that's why this feels so fresh.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 24/04/08 @ 16:59
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FenderMaster
24/04/08 @ 13:04
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ordered it last thursday, now im jus waiting (not so patiently) for it to arrive
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tubeoftoothpaste
24/04/08 @ 13:22
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meho - nice comment - im gonna get his game having read what you said. cheers.
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Square-Enix should be hanging my portraits on their walls, obviously. But anyway, I felt it necessarry to point out that this is indeed an involving game with depth one would not necessarrilly expect from a title that puts such emphasis on fashion trends and style, especially on DS that is of late easy to view as a platform for those 'casual' owners only interested in _____ training titles...
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ive gotten towards the end of the second week i never had too much trouble with the simultaneous battling. about 80 percent of your attention is focused on the bottom (neku) whilst unconsciously hammering the left of ore right d-pad to make your partner perform attacks (faster then leaving it automatic). Everynow and then your eyes will flicker to the top to make sure your partner is actually hitting something (sound feedback helps in this regard) and to check the health bar.
I do admit the dev went a bit overboard with the multitasking, eg, you can make your partner evade attacks by pressing up or down which requires paying carefull attention to enemies movements on the top screen whilst attacking with neku.You will need two pairs of eyes to manage all that. Still loving this game so far, easily one of the best games i have ever played on the ds |
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That reads for all the world that you desperately wanted to give it a 9 but were concerned about a backlash from those who won't 'get' it. Superb review, but you should have stuck with the 9, IMO.
It's brilliant, this. Absolutely brilliant. Easily one of the best games on the DS, and probably the best thing I've played all year. |
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johnlenham
26/04/08 @ 08:51
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How people have trouble with the combat I dont know.. set top guy to auto and use decent pins- job done.
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Slipstream
28/04/08 @ 00:00
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@So you couldn't help but stare at teenage dicks for a while? :D
Tee-hee...well now that you mention it... |
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I guess The World Ends With You is a compelling and immaculately presented RPG from start to finish.. great one! Free Games
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Comments: 1-43 of 43 in total
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