The World Ends with You is a breathtakingly spectacular experience that rivals the best from Square's console games.
The Bad: One save file per game; pins can conflict; should have been a full-on console game!
Brand new IPs always impress me about companies, and even though I can think of one semi-series that has gone on quite long enough, Square Enix has never been one to shy away from them. This new IP from them is as solid as the best from the Final Fantasy series, and the only thing keeping it from surpassing them is the difference between handheld and full-production console games. With a gripping story, a unique yet attractive artistic style, and one of the most engaging combat systems I have ever seen (on handheld or console), The World Ends with You is a breathtakingly spectacular experience that rivals even the best from Square's console games.
One of the most noticeable aspects of the game from the outset is the artistic style. The graphics on the Nintendo DS look great, and even if they didn't the style would still shine. The focus of the graphics is clearly on the artistic style, and it gives the entire game a very modern feel. The frame rate was never an issue, and at important points in the story the game rewards you with stylish cutscenes. These cutscenes, and the dialogues throughout the game as well, are fed to the player like one would read a graphic novel. JRPG anime is filtered into this style in moderation, not quite as bad as Dragonball Z, but enough to fit Square Enix's tradition of outrageous hair, big eyes, and accentuated bodily features. The same animations for characters are reused over and over, but this doesn't really affect the experience, as the focus is clearly on the story and not the graphical performance.
You'll be doing a lot of switching back and forth between the game's main two modes -- running around the city of Shibuya with your party and encountering monsters, also known as Noise. Running around with your party usually serves to fulfill objectives that either further the story through dialogue or reach a place to encounter Noise and thus further the story. While you are given freedom (though often somewhat limited) to roam the city, you are strongly recommended to upgrade your character through food and clothes. No, you can't starve to death, and no, you won't be naked without any clothes, but food serves as a way to increase your character's stats (the only way to permanently increase most of them), and clothes function as armor, allowing temporary boosts as long as they are equipped. Don't worry, you still level up like a normal RPG, but the similarities cease there. Leveling up only increases max HP (and refills your current HP during battle), and thus eating food is necessary to make your character any stronger. The game does an excellent job of forcing you to fight battles to upgrade your character without using the standard method of grinding. You can have as much food in your inventory as you desire, but you must digest it if you want to make any progress. And how do you think you digest food? Through fighting battles. Similarly, you can't simply wear any piece of clothing you want. You must meet the Bravery requirements to equip a specific item. And how do you think you increase your Bravery? Through digesting food and leveling up. A not entirely innovative yet certainly effective method of reward system is the fluctuating amount of experience (PP) gained from each battle. After the end of the battle (or chain of battles), the party is awarded an amount of PP based on performance during the battle, such as time of completion and damage done. The difficulty can also be edited at any time to increase PP. And what would a JRPG be without enemy drops? Drops come in the form of pins used as skills or as pins that can be turned into cash. Just as the PP gained can be increased, the drop rates can also be increased. The player can actually decrease his player level (lowering HP) to increase this, and chaining battles together multiplies this base value. The higher your drop rate, the better chance you have of getting a potential dropped pin, and the higher your difficulty, the better pin you will get if it drops. Skill pins are implemented in various ways, although I wasn't able to figure some of them out, and many combinations can be used to tackle your foes. One of my only complaints with this game is that sometimes the pins seem to conflict, and one pin will be used when I have another in mind. And here, one of the most definitive aspects of this game is introduced here: the combat system. Both halves of the screen are used. The player will fight on the bottom screen with a party member on the top screen, controlling two different battles at once. The two party members fight the same monsters, so if one is erased on one screen, it is defeated on the other as well. However, the monsters on the bottom are mobile on the field, where the pins are implemented. Each party member (the top screen) has a different fighting style that you must master for them to be useful. The stylus controls movement and action on the bottom screen, and the four function buttons control the top screen. This dual management makes for some hectic situations, and there is a bit of a learning curve between introduction and mastery. However, because of the complications, mastery of the style is that much more satisfying.
The soundtrack is also noteworthy, and only serves to further the modern, almost futuristic style of the game. A few of the songs are initially a little annoying, but most of them are great right off the bat. Either way, by the end of the game, you'll be humming the entire setlist whether you realize it or not. Most of beats vary from Japanese pop to hip hop to techno, but the mood can be drastically altered when all music ceases for major plot turns. Sometimes the music can be a little out of place though, as most of the tracks are generally lighthearted. All in all, though, Square Enix gathered a compilation of solid tracks that not only complement the game for most of the time but also is flexible enough to point out heartfelt moments.
The story is a very close second if not equal to the gameplay. Square Enix consistently triumphs in the story-telling area, and The World Ends with You is no slouch. Through creative yet power-efficient comic book cutscenes, the story unfolds in such a way as to maximize tension while keeping the player hooked. Square Enix has a habit which carries over into this game of throwing the player into an entirely new world with a unique way of carrying out just about everything and letting him figure everything out for himself. This is often an overwhelming process, as most of the time too many questions are unanswered. However, once you understand the innerworkings of the game's systems, it is that much more satisfying when the plot is fulfilled and your questions are answered. The characters themselves are extremely well developed, even though they seem stereotypical at first. Eventually every character becomes a person of his own, with personalities and motives of their own. Some characters obviously take their roots from past Square game, but by the end of the game you'll find each character's personality to be unique. The story itself initially seems convoluted until you begin to piece together the mystery behind the city of Shibuya. Then you realize the masterpiece that Square Enix has once again created. Though there are the inevitable cheesy moments sprinkled throughout, it is easy to forgive typical plot twists to further the better parts of the story, especially when they are explained in the end. Furthermore, after completion of the game, Square taunts with another playthrough rewarded with their typical New Game+. This mode allows you to play through any chapter of the game (or all chapters) with your current items, including the possibility of unlocking extras that fill in some of the potentially unanswered questions that linger after the stunning conclusion.
The presentation of the game is solid, but it has its faults. The menu system is fairly organized, although sometimes deleting pins can be tedious. You can also only have one save file per game, so there's no turning back. The dialogue between characters obviously takes its cues from anime, and sometimes it can be a little laughable, but the translation is solid, and you'll only find a few typos. However, there's obviously no voice acting, and there are a few voiced "emotes" that are used frequently enough to alert the character that they're being recycled. This lack of voice acting brings up probably the main reason why this game isn't in my Top 5. I wish Square Enix would have taken a bigger chance with this game and put full production into making it a console game. This game would've surpassed Kingdom Hearts, most of the Final Fantasy series, and most other games they've published if they had developed it for the next generation systems. Nevertheless, it is easier and cheaper to develop a game for a handheld platform; thus, The World Ends with You arrives to us like the greatest silent film ever created.
Graphics: 8.5/10
Gameplay: 9.5/10
Sound: 9.0/10
Story: 10/10
Presentation: 8.5/10
Value: 9.0/10
Tilt: 9.5/10