Want to know what I was doing on every train ride, bus ride, or any sit down private time I’ve had since my friends have arrived? I’ve been playing The World Ends with You. I told my friend to pick this game up in the United States for me since it’s been sold out online consistently since release. This is a Japanese Role Playing Game, something that is usually very hit or miss with me. Either I get really involved in leveling my characters, or I tire of the story and stop caring almost immediately.
This has been one of those “hits” for me that makes me need to charge my DS multiple times because I’ll play so much. When I sit down to play this game, I’ll usually wear headphones and zone out the world for hours at a time.
You collect “Pins” that give you different attacks depending on the actions you do. For example, I collected a pin that shoots graffiti like ice beams when I stab upwards, but when I scratch sideways, I can run up to a “Noise” and beat it down. These pins upgrade and evolve, unlocking new attacks to use. This is the carrot that keeps me playing. The “one more battle will upgrade that pin” aspect is fantastic motivation to try out new combinations.
I absolutely adore the combat system. Battles take place on both of the DS screens. On the bottom screen, you control Neku, who is your main character. He is controlled by scratching, circling, or poking the stylus on the screen.
On the top screen is my partner, who attacks using a D-pad to string together combination attacks. By watching the combo I can end it in different points. If these points match some cards on the screen, I can get bonuses, collect more pins, increase my attack, or set up a special attack that covers both screens.
The basic flow of the battle is aided by a “combo puck” that passes between both screens. Beat someone down with Neku on the bottom screen, then pass the puck to the top screen for your partner to increase their damage. You can keep the puck going to get insane bonuses.
Usually I’m kicking so much ass that the battle ends too early and I want to keep fighting to see how far I can keep combinations going. Usually the WORST part of an RPG is the battle system, because it means you just have to push the “Win” button repeatedly and the monster simply takes up your time until the next plot point. In The World Ends with You, I can string together a series of battles so that I can fight multiple enemies in a row to increase my chance of getting better pins.
There are other ways to control the difficulty. As you level up, you can choose to forego the extra hit points using a sliding scale on one of the menus. If you choose to keep at a lower level and make the battles more difficult, you’ll get more experience and more great pins. If a boss battle is too hard, you can slide the level back up and take the monsters on at full strength. I just unlocked the option to make battles even HARDER and have them drop even MORE great items.
You can control the difficulty of the game on the fly, which means you never really get stuck, and you never have to fight a boring battle you are overleveled and can easily beat if you so desire. I typically fight five to six levels under my current level just to give myself more of a challenge and get better items.
The story takes place in modern Tokyo, with a twist. I’m not going to give away any plot, but because of the setting, the typical RPG tropes have been updated. You don’t drink potions. You eat junk food and get stat bonuses when you digest them after battle. You get to wear outrageous clothes that boost your stats, but only if you are brave enough to wear them in public. You can wear anything you want around, no matter how silly, but if you aren’t following fashion trends, you’ll look stupid and have stat penalties. I really enjoy the twists this modern setting brings.
There are standard sorts of “quests” you have to do each day of the game. You want to pass these tests, but so far they aren’t very different than any other role playing game. Instead of killing dragons, you read people’s minds and implant thoughts to get characters to say the right thing, or collect a certain item for someone.
The rest of the plot is original enough that the game amuses me. The localization is also superb. While the two screen combat can overwhelm at first, everything is introduced gradually, and you’ll realize you are doing better and kicking more ass each time you try it. Even if you set down the game for a while, the game will upgrade your pins for every minute you spent away for up to seven days. Putting the game down doesn’t mean you are falling behind completely! I highly recommend The World Ends with You. It’s one of the most original JRPG games in a while, an original franchise, and a WONDERFUL Nintendo DS game.
