Hey, that rhymed. Coolio. :D So, for the past two weeks or so, I've been gone on a sort of 'vacation'. Well, that's what I call it anyways. Around Christmas time, I decided I would try and land a spot at the Jamey Abersold Jazz camp. Turns out, the camp was fairly nice. Meals were all payed for, and I spent a fortune on piano voicings books. After the week was out, I played a terrible solo and got my ass off to a hotel with the rest of my family where no one else could see me ;). After about a day or so of staying in that... awkward hotel, We drove home. I of course slept in the back because those late night faculty concerts really take a toll on you. :(

Of course, within that time, I played 'The World Ends With You' rather sparsly. I did manage to finish the game a couple of nights ago though. In short, the simply fact that I finished the game proves that it was a rather enjoyable expirience. The story was interesting, for the most part, if not sometimes incredibly cliché. The characters were interesting, and the battle system was fun and sometimes very challenging. I personally admired the art ****very much. The 'faked' perspective and the abstract bending really added allot to the environments--it probably made more of a difference than one might think.

I personally didn't enjoy the music all that much though. :( There were a couple of songs that were nice and catchy like Twister, and that song you start out with. But, most of the music was rather shallow. Not rather. But very shallow. I don't even want to talk about the credit track. I did shamelessly buy all the tracks though--mainly to fill up that 'relationship' bar with all the retailers in the game. Normally, they would offer you some pretty cool items if you got it all the way to the top.

It's not as bad as it looks. :) This scene is WAY out of context.

The story, although mostly well told, had some issues. In the first 'week' of the game, the story feels solid and well put together. But, as you progress through the game, you start to notice small loopholes and some sloppiness. However, despite a couple of storytelling issues, the game conveys it's message rather effectively--with a few glaring clichés and plenty of new ideas. The way Neku (the main character) would comment about standard RPG cosmetics that slipped into the game would spark quite a few smirks. The 'secret' chapter they throw in at the end is also very laughable.

The battle system was great! The game worked well--even though there were a couple framerate issues, the game played. Collecting pins proved to be an incredibly satisfying hobby in the game. Especially when you find one that's powerful and really easy to use (like the wolf noise pin). Of course, the developers complicate things when they say that you can't get all the pins by buying them in stores or gunning down cute tatooed kangaroos. You have to evolve them.

All in all, I'd give the game an 8.5/10. It's a great game and highly recommended for anyone interested in the game.

peace,

-nick