The World Ends with You is so Zetta Old Today (3*5 years)
When The World Ends with You was first released in 2007, I wasn’t a massive fan of JRPGs. It was still a JRPG that I enjoyed, so when it was first released in the West in 2008, it was something of a whim. I bought it in one of those clunky and transparent UK DS cases. It quickly became a favorite of mine, thanks to its unique mechanics and narrative themes of connection and isolation.
The World Ends with You begins with a JRPG classic — the amnesiac protagonist. Neku Sakuraba is our protagonist. He’s a young boy who wears headphones to prevent people from interacting with him. Neku soon discovers he is dead and is now walking as a ghost through Tokyo’s Shibuya shopping district. He cannot interact with the living people except to defeat “Noise,” which attracts negative emotions. Neku is paired up with various friends who appear and disappear throughout the game. He learns how to work and connect with others to win The Reapers’ Games, which offers the chance to return to life or ascend to a higher level of existence.
TWEWY’s combat system was explicitly designed for the DS hardware. It perfectly matches the game’s theme, “Connection.” The touch screen controls Neku, and the top screen is his partner for the week. Battles require synchronizing actions between the characters. Although it seems complicated, this concept is quite fun in practice. There are many pins characters can use to access different attacks via touch screen gestures in place of traditional weapons. You will need to know the mechanics of each partner’s character, which further emphasizes the importance (and difficulty!) of getting along with others.
TWEWY has so many clever ideas. The Bravery mechanic allows you to wear more daring, fashion-forward outfits. The “Active Encounter” system gives you a bonus XP if the console is in sleep mode. Also, the console will automatically go into sleep mode if you encounter other players in the wild. You can also get bonus XP if the console is in sleep mode. And the way “fashion trends” impact stat bonuses for clothing and pins. It’s a captivating story with mysterious supernatural elements but also very down-to-earth. The game deals with loneliness in a modern setting and is much more relatable than typical JRPGs. This is a JRPG created by Kingdom Hearts. It’s about killing God.
TWEWY was re-released for iOS and Android in 2012 and 2014, respectively. Later, it was ported to Switch as The Ends with You: Final Remix. These versions were required to adapt the original’s gameplay to devices with one screen. They also lose some translations, but the original is still the best way to play it. Square Enix also released Neo. The World Ends with You last year. It was well received but not as popular or successful. It’s unclear if it would be as popular as the original, but I may try to find a second-hand copy for the DS.
