The World Ends With You (DS)

Metachronos overall score = 8.8 / 10

Positive
- Innovative combat system that can be easily tailored to suit
- Compelling story with some genuinely heartfelt moments
- Makes full use of all of the DS's technical capabilities
- Top-notch presentation
- Awesome soundtrack

Negative
- Some pin powers get mixed up in the execution
- Only one save game per cartridge

It's pleasing to see that Square Enix--despite having the Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and Kingdom Hearts megafranchises in its lineup--is still willing to go boldly into new frontiers with the release of original games like The World Ends With You. This role-playing game eschews the company's tried-and-true swords-and-sorcery settings and instead transports the action to modern-day Tokyo. Although there's nary a chocobo or keyblade to be found here, The World Ends With You still incorporates some of the company's best-known trademarks and wraps plenty of innovative new gameplay around them, particularly an initially mind-bending dual-screen combat system. The result is a game that manages to feel familiar and yet strikingly new at the same time, and one that deserves to be ranked alongside Square Enix's best works.



At first glance, the game seems little more than a pastiche of all the things that have made the famed Japanese developer's RPGs massive successes in the past. Angsty teen hero with an absurdly angular haircut? Check. Complex, team-based combat system? You betcha. Detailed customization options with weapons and armor that border on the anal retentive? Fer sure. But The World Ends With You merely uses these Square Enix conventions as a launching pad for a unique experience that is both impressive in its use of the Nintendo DS's capabilities and compelling in its storytelling.

The presentation of The World Ends With You impresses right from the game's beginning. Graphically, the game just sparkles, and its stylized version of Shibuya pops with color and detail. Large, colorful character models with speech and thought bubbles are used for the game's many cutscenes, and the battles sport some pretty effects. There are also a wide variety of strange-looking Noise that Neku and crew will run across, ranging from insane-looking kangaroos and penguins to gigantic bats. Sound is another area in which this game excels, with enough snippets of dialogue packed in to put other DS games to shame. (One of your partners yelling "There's a party in my mouth" when you give him a piece of food stands out.) Of particular note is the game's soundtrack, which is made up of an eclectic mix of J-Pop, hip-hop, and rock songs that get into your head and refuse to leave. Fitting such a large mix of music on a DS cartridge is impressive enough, but having decent songs in that mix is a luxury few games have. Flawless presentation, gameplay depth, an engaging story, and innovation all add up to make The World Ends With You a worthy addition to the already-impressive pantheon of Square Enix works. There's very little to complain about in this package, which makes The World Ends With You a must-have for any DS owner needing an RPG fix.

looks awsome for a ds game

yes and its from Square-Enix

oh gd gd

lol

cool game