"The World Ends With You" revolts against the stereotypical "RPG" and invents something AWESOME!
To start off this review I just want to point out that I chose the classification of "Mixed reactions" as, in my opinion, "The World Ends With You" is a combination of an "instant classic", a "masterpiece" and many other factors!
This is a basic overview of "The World Ends With You";
The actual setting of "The World Ends With You" takes place in a fictional version of the Shibuya, which is a shopping district in Tokyo, Japan. While everyday life goes on in the so-called "Real-Ground", or "RG", the chosen dead are brought to a alternate plane of existence called the "Under-Ground", or "UG". The "UG" is also the venue for the Reapers' Game.
By offering their most treasured possession to enter the "Game", the dead, which are the "Players", gain the chance to contest for what is considered a most prestigious prize, which is to be revived back to life or to transcend to a higher form of spiritual existence. Most of those who choose to transcend become "Reapers", these are the opponents of Players in future Games.
Lasting a week, each Game is a contest to judge the worth of humanity. Players set out to accomplish objectives under the rules created by the "Composer", who is "pragmatically" described as a "god-like" entity who maintains Shibuya. Another Reaper, the "Conductor", tasks other Reapers to obstruct the Players' efforts. Failure to complete a mission will disperse the mind and spirit of the Player or Reaper, thus erasing his or her existence.
A Player in the UG is invisible to the living in the RG, though one can sometimes read and influence their thoughts. The UG is frequented by creatures called "Noise", which are attracted by the negative feelings of the living. To progress in the Reapers' Game, Players are often required to defeat Noise by killing or "erasing" them.
However, each Noise exists in two "zones" simultaneously, and can only be defeated by two Players fighting the Noise from separate zones; Players are therefore required to form a pact with another Player to survive the Noise.
Players receive assignments via text messages sent to their cell phones, and their right hands are imprinted with a countdown indicating the time left in the mission.
After a day's mission is complete, the remaining Players find themselves at the start of the next day's mission, appearing as if they have skipped ahead in time
The "game-play" of "The World Ends With You" is really quite fascinating! As "The World Ends with You" is an action "RPG", or a "role-playing game", arranged into three chapters following the three weeks that Neku, who is the main character of the game, is involved in the Reaper's Game, with each chapter further divided by each day of the week. The player controls Neku and his partner as they explore the fictionalized Shibuya to complete each day's mission. Although most missions require completion within a certain time for Neku and his partner, this timer is not correlated to the passage of time for the player.
Shibuya is divided into several districts, some of which may be inaccessible on certain days or blocked by a wall that can only be removed by satisfying the request of a nearby Reaper, such as erasing Noise symbols, putting on a certain brand of clothing, Yes! Certain brands of clothing can affect the Players' fate of where to go in the fictionalized Shibuya, or bringing an item. Neku can scan the area by activating a special pin, and I'll describe more about "Pins" further in the review. This scan reveals the thoughts of the non-player characters in the Real-Ground and memes, which may help to progress the plot.
The scan also reveals random Noise symbols that drift about the area, or in some cases, float around a specific character. The player initiates a battle by touching Noise symbols; each symbol constitutes one round of battle. Selecting more than one Noise symbol at a time results in a multi-round battle that gradually increases in difficulty with each round, but conversely leads to greater rewards upon success. Altering the difficulty of the Noise and the amount of health for Neku and his partner also alter the benefits conferred.
Each district has fashion trends that affect gameplay. By wearing pins or clothing from the more popular brands in that district, items' effects will be improved; wearing the least fashionable items will do the opposite, and items from brands in between are not affected. However, the player can increase a brand's popularity in one district by repeatedly fighting battles in that district while wearing items of that brand.
The player can enter shops to buy new pins, clothes, and food items that are gradually consumed during battles to improve the characters' basic attributes.
Here's something, after completing the game, the player can return to any day in the story and play those events again, keeping the characters' current statistics and inventory. "Secret Reports", written segments that reveal background elements of the story, can be unlocked through this mode by completing specific missions during each day.
As I said, I'd explain particular "pins" and well here's the description;
"The World Ends with You" features "psych pins", decorative pins that possess powers that only Neku can activate while wearing them. Psych pins are used for combat. Most pins, particularly those used in combat, can become more powerful as the player accumulates "Pin Points", aso abbreeviated as "PP", which can also lead to evolution of the pins into more potent versions. Pin Points are commonly earned through battle, but can also be earned through a period of inactivity with the game, or by interacting with other DS players or random wireless sources. Each of these methods influences the growth of pins within the game
Another great factor in "The World Ends With You" is the game's combat system! The game's combat system is called the "Stride-Cross-Battle-System". The combat takes place across both screens of the Nintendo DS, with Neku on battling on the touch-screen and his partner, however it may be, on the top screen of the Nintenso DS, representing the different "zones" of the same local area; the two characters battle the same enemies that exist in both "zones" simultaneously. Neku and his partner are synchronized during battle; they share the same health bar so that even if one character does not take any damage, the pair can fail in battle if the other takes too much.
A green "light puck" will pass between the characters during battle; when the character has this puck, the damage they inflict is increased. The movement of the light puck is determined by the "sync ratio" between Neku and his partner; the puck stays longer with the character with higher ratios. The player can equip Neku and his partner with clothing that can alter the light puck's speed.
The player controls Neku by performing touch-screen actions based on the currently equipped pins. These actions may include slashing across an enemy, tapping the screen rapidly to fire bullets, or holding down on an enemy to inflict damage. Other pins need to be touched to activate them, such as for health restoration.
Each pin has a limited number of uses before it must recharge for a certain time. Other pins may only be used a fixed number of times during a series of battles, and do not recharge until the battle sequence is over. Neku can only be equipped with a maximum of two pins at the game's start; this can eventually be upgraded to a maximum of six.
Neku's partner on the top-screen can be controlled by the player or the game itself. Each of Neku's partners has a card game-based mechanic; for example, Shiki's card game requires the player to match face-down Zener cards.
The partner can make a basic attack after the player navigates through a pathway of arrows to select one of several shown cards using the directional pad or face buttons. By navigating to a card that fits within the card game rules, the player earns a star. Once enough stars are collected, the player can launch a powerful "Fusion" attack using both Neku and his partner through the "Harmonizer Pin" that appears on the upper right of the touch-screen, that is based on the assumption that you haven't rearranged where it's to be displayed! The player can also help the partner character dodge attacks
Anyway! The overall game of "The World Ends With You" is really a beautifully poetic masterpiece! And I was happy to play it! And bring the 'GS', or GameSpot, community this EXTENSIVE review!
- ThatGameSpotGuy
:D