A Hard Choice Between Instant Classic And Innovative Fun.
that said lets get to the meat of the game:
the game is in a traditional since a JRPG but it spins off from the JRPG in the battle system
the battle system in The World Ends With You is alittle hard to get down since your fighting on both screens with two characters that share the same health points but there is alittle salvation with the setting to put your partner character into automatic but after alittle while of playing it is possible to get into playing both playing with Neku on the bottom screen and then quickly jumping up to the top screen for a few button presses and then back to the touch screen for more frantic swipes and taps. which is something you'll need to learn to do more and more as you go through different partners though out the game
Neku's attacks are based upon your current pins in the deck you have equiped to him at the time which might sound limited since at first you'll only have 3 pin slots available for you but after you progress you gain more. but just because it sounds limited its really not since each pin has its own way to "activate" it and its own effects and its own refresh rate some pins have limited uses while some can be used as many times as you can tap the screen before the game considers the pin "used up" and requires you to wait while it refreshes.
the music is also amazing and works so well with the games theme that you'll catch your self singing some of the songs as your playing the game which if you have the problem i had you'll have to stop your self from singing the songs while your playing the game in public because people will stare (as i know from first hand expeirience but people also stare when blowing into the microphone for some pins as well) back to music the game's music makes me think of the jet set radio and jet set radio future soundtrack and how well that work for those games so well infact they have much of the same feel to them too
the story is catchy as well but sometimes Neku comes off as alittle predictable with his loner attitude and his hate for the fact that he's stuck otherwise with a partner who he doesnt know anything about or trust but as he starts to he gets kicked back down as the story makes its unforseen twists and turns but in the end the game's story has something that just hooks you in til the end and the replay value of the game with a different universe after story is worth putting in over 100+ hours which i have done but playing the game isnt the only thing you'll be doing you'll also be fighting the urge to play it when you let your DS rest but to reward you for taking the brakes from the game as your "supposed to" your pins will gain exp for the time your away from the game as well.
not only that but you also get exp for your pins by simply putting it into scan mode for any kind of signal. i would put it in scan mode just to pick up my boyfriends cellphone reception which it would oddly call "love-on-a-stick" but hey exp is exp what ever you call it by... and some pins evolve only by scan mode exp or by only away from the game exp
for my first review i know it's alittle jumbled but its hard to explain all the good aspects of this game when everytime you think about how it plays you get all excieted and your thoughts get jumbled up as you squirm in your seat to finish typing the review so you can get back to the game and play it some more and very few games are good enough to do that if that gives you any more positive feed back for the game
while the touch screen controls for the pins can get alittle frusterating and sometime though very rarely the game will confuse your swipes and taps in the end it doesnt take as much away from the game as one would think
all in all this is a great game and one you will probably play over and over and over again at least until kindgom hearts 358/2 days comes out