TWEWY is a fun and fresh RPG which came out last year for the Nintendo DS- while we played and enjoyed the title, it fell short of our review process.

The World Ends With You is another title from Square-Enix, which at first glance might seem that it has taken the stink the company carries around and keeps it inside of it- waiting for when you open the title, to smell a nice wift of a fart. While most of Square’s other titles for me leave me with this experience, there are a select few gems from the company- and The World Ends With You is one of them.

TWEWY is set in Shibuya- the game has two worlds RG (realground) and the parallel dimension which the players of this game play in which is UG (underground). While players can’t go to the RG- the RG is right there all the time- with some sneaky game play mechanics and ideas, you can still interact with people in the RG while you explore the UG.

UG is a world of its own- the Reaper’s Game. Players who come to this world play for their most dearest possession- which is given to them along with their life back. While the other option (which sadly you cannot choose in TWEWY to take the game to a different level) is to become a reaper themselves. Alas the game follows Neku around and around trying to stomp down the evil Game Master.

Did I mention that Neku is a bloody emo? Oh well.

The story though is done quite well- with some very nice cinematic cut scenes which put the user close to the action to understand the story. The game also has a long extensive list of text which a player can read to understand the story. You are playing as Neku- so he can sometimes “think” things which are clues to the games story etc. As he figures out things- you might have already noticed- or you might be surprised that is what happens. Neku’s role is also to leave doubt about many characters so the ending isn’t spoiled until well the end.

The great story is just a splash of what the game offers. The World Ends With You ‘s Music line up fits in to the title without exceptions. Neku remember is an emo- so he wants to block out the noise with his silly goofy earphones. These earphones pump Japanese tunes. These tunes are interesting to say the lest about them- to say the most- they are f’n awesome!

The game’s action is put into two sections. You have a partner which plays the top screen (you can either set it to CPU or you can play it as well) which each partner you get through the games weeks has a different style of fighting which gives the game a unique twist. Neku on the most part fights with his pins- which is a slashing, dashing action using the stylus. The aim is to whip out these monsters called noise.

The development team really made something here- with the game also having an extra day of game play after the weeks- which players can do what they want (to a strict storyline even in that day though- but you can still fight the noise by scanning for them- like in the game). There is also a side quest game play which appears throughout the main story and in the extra day- Tin Pin. Think Bayblades (god I’m old) or something simular, its interesting to say the lest- but I can’t say I’m a Tin Pin master.

Score: Thumbs Up

This is one of those games that if I gave out “gold awards” this would get it. The game works well in all places. The game feels fresh and new against other Nintendo DS titles and RPG’s for the system. This is a great change from the usual- and should be in everyone’s collection.