Its style only bested by its substance, TWEWY is different, inventive, brilliant, immersive and, in general, fun to play
Basically you play the role of Neku, a teenager who really has a passionate hate for the world. I mean his first line in the game is 'Outta my face! You're blocking my view!' as well as moving on to telling everyone around him to 'Shut up'. He's not exactly friendly as you can tell. Depending on your tastes, the game would be boring if it was just a person going around yelling at everyone he meets. So after the opening cutscene Neku wakes up in the middle of Shibuya's centre crossing with absolutely no clue why he got there. Not only that but from nowhere creatures start attacking him and the people around him, he sees no other option but to run.
The game progresses from that point telling you the truth behind Neku himself and what the actual narrative of the game is. I'm not spoiling that for you. The characters are all unique too with their own personalities; as well as Neku being a hard ass you have Shiki, a girl who's quite impatient but has faith in those around her, Beat, a hot blooded skateboarder with the total IQ of 10 dormice, Rhyme, an optimistic girl with a soft spot for Beat, and Joshua, a cocky, arrogant so-and-so with an intellectual mind. The banter between these characters is genuine. After all, their vision of the world is different from each others, so they each begin to clash. As well as the main crew you have a lot of different side characters, the villains are just as diverse as the heroes, and the assisting characters all have a special spark showing that they aren't all just mindless sprites.
I suppose I should take some time away from the plot to go into Gameplay detail. This is an innovative action RPG that steps outside of the traditional press-this-do-that routine that we're more used to. During the game you explore the streets of Shibuya via the touch screen dragging Neku and his partner around. You can actually avoid battles much easier than in most RPG's as you only fight by pressing a button in the lower right side of the screen and then touching an enemy icon. Of course you will have to fight sometimes without a choice, so it's best to get to grips with the fighting mechanics fast before going up against some of the end of week bosses. The fighting style is different too. You have complete control over both Neku and his partner each of whom reside on different screens. Sounds confusing and to be honest it is but you'll eventually get your head around it and figure out a style of playing. This is unfortunately where the game has its flaws. Both Neku and his partner share the same life. If the person on the top screen dies before Neku, they both die. But funnily enough that's not the main quarry. It mainly comes from having to do way too many things at once. For example, each of the partners has a way of giving you a special attack. As well as moving Neku around via the touch screen you've also got to time your button presses on the D-pad for the partner to get the special move; as well as dodging incoming attacks and watching the 'puck' (a light that goes from player to player that enhances their strength for a time). As you can guess it does get a bit fiddly. But that's only if you want special moves, you can let the computer control your partner if you wish, granted they'll be a lot slower.
Although this game has amazing graphical style and good gameplay, the music is where it's at. A blended mix of J-pop, rock, instrumental, and hip hop, you'd think it would sound like an elephant trying to force its way up you ear canal but it isn't. The music suits the atmosphere of the game; fight music varies between the genres but no matter which genre is playing it still suits the situation perfectly. You'll be going about your day humming them after a while. Saying that there are some duffers to be had like the 'overture' of the game which is the same 15 seconds of a song repeated over and over. Hopefully the gameplay will distract you from getting that sort of repetition in your mind. On a different note, it is disappointing that the game ends after about 2 weeks of dedicated play. Yes it's challenging and once it's done you can go around trying to do daily missions but after a while you'll come to question whether or not it is all worth it. Also annoyingly the game features only one save file. Meaning siblings that you may want to recommend to will either have to get their own copy or delete your game file. Even if you wanted to replay the game a year after you completed it, you'd have to delete your old game. Annoying.
Okay summery time, drum roll please (or not…)
Graphics – beautiful graphic novel style that makes you feel like you're playing a Japanese Manga. Nothing too flashy mind, so don't expect eyes to be melting any time soon.
Sound – Music is absolutely great to listen too. So much so that I've gone ahead and bought the music of iTunes. And the sounds aren't bad either. Even some pretty good voice acting is thrown in there.
Value – about 2 weeks with dedicated playtime (that's about 10-20 hours) and once the game is done there is a few extra things for you to go back and do. Whether you're dedicated enough to go and get them is up to the completist inside you.
Gameplay – excellently put together and quite innovative in its direction although sometimes having too much information is not a good thing. At least you can turn the computer AI to do that while you focus on the bottom screen.
Overall a brilliant game with a few minor downsides that really can be overlooked by just how great the experience is. The storyline is original and down right good to follow, like a good book it keeps you immersed in its universe. For an action RPG this is quite definitive as well as setting a new standard for games to come. And Sho Minamimoto is probably the best character Square Enix have created in a long while.
9