The World Ends with You

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The World Ends with You
North American boxart. Clockwise from top: Beat, Rhyme, Shiki, Neku, and Joshua.
Developer(s)	Square Enix, Jupiter
Publisher(s)	Square Enix
Designer(s)	Tatsuya Kando (game director) Tomohiro Hasegawa (co-director) Takeshi Arakawa (planning director) Tetsuya Nomura (character designer) Gen Kobyasahi (character designer)
Platform(s)	Nintendo DS
Release date	JP July 27, 2007 PAL April 18, 2008 NA April 22, 2008
Genre(s)	Action role-playing
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	CERO: A ESRB: T PEGI: 12+
Media	Nintendo DS Game Card
Input methods	D-pad, face buttons, touchscreen, microphone

The World Ends with You, known in Japan as It's a Wonderful World (すばらしきこのせかい, Subarashiki Kono Sekai^?, literally "This Wonderful World"), is an action RPG for the Nintendo DS handheld video game console. Developed by Square Enix's Kingdom Hearts team and Jupiter, the game features a distinctive art style inspired by the aesthetics of Shibuya youth culture.

The game is set within the "modern world" of Shibuya, Tokyo as Neku Sakuraba awakes to find himself in a struggle for his existence within a mysterious game constructed by a group known as the Reapers. Within a seven day time limit, Neku must complete missions assigned to him along with an eclectic group of people playing the Reaper's game.

Contents 1 Plot synopsis 1.1 Characters 2 Gameplay 2.1 Pins 2.2 Combat 3 Development 4 Audio 5 Reception 6 Manga 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Plot synopsis

The World Ends With You's story is based on the "Reapers' Game" (死神のゲーム, Shinigami no Gēmu^?). The Game itself is a continual week-long contest for the enjoyment of the Reapers. A Composer and a Conductor design the overall Game, while each week, a new Gamemaster (GM) is chosen to create missions for each day of the week; other Reapers monitor the game, and "erase" any Player that fails. Players, who are people who have recently died in real life (the Real Ground, or RG), are brought into the Game and are offered a second chance at life if they win. However, to enter the Game, each Player must sacrifice their most prized possession. The Game is played in an alternate dimension known as the Underground (UG) across the Shibuya shopping district of Tokyo, Japan. Players are invisible to the people in the RG, though they can read and at times influence their thoughts. Players are required to sync up with another Player, and those that fail to have a partner are also erased by the Reapers. The UG is also home to creatures known as "Noise" that are created from the negative feelings of living persons, and Players are often required to defeat them in order to progress in the Game. Missions are given to the Players via cellphone and their hand is imprinted with a countdown indicating the time left in the mission. After one day's mission is complete, remaining Players are brought to the next day, with no conscious recollection of any events in between.

The game opens on Neku Sakuraba, an antisocial 15-year-old boy, waking up in the UG version of Shibuya, lacking memories of how he got there. He is quickly inducted into the Game as Shiki Misaki, a teenage girl, quickly forms a pact with him to prevent either of them being erased. Though initially apprehensive about her, Neku becomes friends with Shiki as they complete the missions during the week. Neku learns from Shiki that she sacrificed her looks, taking on the appearance of a close friend who she had envied when she woke up in the Game. The two encounter another pair of players, Beat and Rhyme, and form a friendship with them, as well as a strange man named Sanae Hanekoma who explains the Game in depth to the players. Near the end of one easy mission, Rhyme sacrifices herself to prevent Beat from being taken by a Noise, and is erased; Hanekoma quickly shows up to save the distraught Beat from being erased himself. Neku and Shiki along with Beat are able to finish the Game, but learn that the Reapers have determined only Shiki will get her life back; she promises to Neku that they will meet at the Hachikō statue once he has won the Game again. Beat opts to become a Reaper instead of playing the Game again.

Neku enters the Game again. His original payment, his memories, is returned to him, and he finds his mind filled with the moments before his death, but not the actual moment of death. However, his entry fee for this Game turns out to be Shiki's life; if Neku fails, Shiki will also be erased. Neku finds himself partnered with Joshua, and the two begin to clear the Game's missions together. However, the Game's current GM, Sho Minamimoto, starts to go rogue and target both the Reapers and Players with taboo forms of Noise. Joshua reveals that he has preternatural abilities that allow him to play the Game from the RG, and shows Neku the moment of Neku's death, brought about by Minamimoto. With the help of the Conductor, Neku and Joshua are able to enter Minamimoto's base and defeat him, though Joshua appeared to have died during the assault. Due to the rogue actions, the Game is declared null and void, and Neku must enter the Game again for a third time.

Neku learns that the entry fee this time is the need for a partner, and finds himself as the sole Player in the Game and his survival in jeopardy. However, he is able to team up with Beat, and able to work through the Game's missions. They come into contact with a resurrected Minamimoto, who attempts to kill the Conductor, Megumi Kitaniji, but fails. After battling Kitaniji, Neku and Beat find Joshua has been resurrected as well. Joshua reveals that he is the Composer and that he and the Conductor have a bet over the fate of Shibuya. Joshua himself killed Neku in real life, instead of Minamimoto, to allow Neku to act as his proxy during battles. With Kitaniji defeated, Joshua challenges Neku to the status of Composer, but when Neku refuses, Joshua shoots him down. The main story line ends seven days later with Neku awaking to find himself still at the scramble crossing in Shibuya, but back in the RG. Neku, Beat, Rhyme and Shiki (in her real form) are together again, alive and well and free from the Reapers' Game.

"Another Day", an extra chapter unlocked after beating the game, is, for the most part, noncanonical. However, as revealed by the Secret Reports (also obtained after the main story), the alternate reality of Another Day is just one of millions of alternate realities. As shown by conversations with Joshua in Another Day, after Joshua was hit by Minamimoto's attack, he teleported to this universe, and stayed solely because he enjoyed Tin Pin Slammer so much. Joshua says certain things that reveal that he is from another world, as opposed to the Tin Pin-based one that Another Day is based in. After climbing to the top of Pork City, the alternate Neku meets with the real Hanekoma, and Hanekoma decides to test the alternate Neku by fighting him, as he wasn't allowed to do so in his original world. After this, he takes Joshua back with him to their own world, and returns in time to confront Kitaniji. Also revealed in the reports is that Hanekoma was the one who taught Minamimoto how to summon Taboo Noise, so that he could help keep Shibuya from being destroyed.

[edit] Characters

Main article: List of characters in The World Ends With You

The game's story is focused on Neku Sakuraba (桜庭 音操, Sakuraba Neku^?), an anti-social teenage boy as he plays the Reaper's Game over the course of three weeks. During that time, he is paired with other teenagers including Shiki Misaki (美咲 四季, Misaki Shiki^?), Yoshiya Kiryū (桐生 義弥, Kiryū Yoshiya^?) (Joshua for short), and Daisukenojō Bitō (尾藤 大輔之丞, Bitō Daisukenojō^?) (Beat for short) in order to beat the challenges put forth by the Reapers that run the game.

[edit] Gameplay

The World Ends With You uses common elements of console role-playing games but includes many additional features. The game is broken down into three chapters and one bonus chapter, following the three weeks that Neku is involved in the Reaper's Game, which each chapter further divided down by each day of the week. The player controls Neku and his partner as they explore Shibuya to complete each day's mission. Though most missions require Neku and his partner to complete within a certain time, this timer is not correlated to the passage of time for the player.

Shibuya is divided into several districts, and some districts may be inaccessible on certain days, or may be blocked by a wall that can only be removed by meeting the request of a nearby Reaper, such as killing a number of Noise or obtaining a certain pin. Neku has the ability to scan the area by activating a special pin. This scan will reveal the thoughts of the non-player characters in the Real Ground, which may help to progress the plot at times. Alternative, the scan may provide a word or phrase that Neku can then use to implant into the thoughts of others, such as reminding a mechanic to collect a new fuse from a store. The scan will also reveal random Noise that drift about the area, or in some cases, floating around a specific character. The player can initiate combat by selecting from one to four Noise while scanning in order to start battle; selecting more than one Noise to fight initiates a chain battle, where each consecutive Noise becomes tougher, but also leads to better rewards if won. In some cases, the Noise may attack Neku if the scan is initiated. The player can alter the benefits earned from battle by changing both the difficulty of the Noise and the amount of hit points Neku and his partner have going into battle through the game's menus.

Each district has fashion trends that affect gameplay. By wearing pins or clothing from the more popular designs in that district, the effects of the items will be improved; alternatively, the least popular fashions will have diminished effects. However, the player can alter the fashion trends of the district by wearing less popular fashions into repeated battles. Players can enter selected shops to buy new pins and fashions, as well as food items that are gradually consumed during battles to improve the characters' basic stats. A mini-game called "Tin Pin Slammer" is similar to marbles, with each player attempting to use their pins to knock the other player's pins off the gameboard.

[edit] Pins

The World Ends With You features the use of pins that are used for combat as described below, for "Tin Pin Slammer", or as items to be traded in for money or equipment. Most pins, particularly those used in combat, can become more powerful as the player accumulates "Pin Points" (PP), which can also lead to evolution of the pins into more potent versions. Pin Points are most commonly earned through battle, but two other methods exist for earning such points. One type is earned for shutting down the DS and then restarting some time later, giving the player credit for up to seven days of inactivity with the game. The other type is earned through "Mingle Mode" which utilizes the Wi-Fi features of the DS. By playing others one-on-one in Tin Pin Slammer or mingling with another player playing The World Ends With You, or even communicating with another DS playing any other Wi-Fi compatible game or random wireless noise, the player is credited with Pin Points. Each of these methods of acquiring Pin Points influences the evolution of pins within the game.

[edit] Combat

The game's combat system is called the "Stride Cross Battle System". The combat takes place across both screens on the DS, with Neku on the bottom touchscreen and his current partner on the top; the two characters battle the same enemies simultaneously. The player controls Neku by using touchscreen actions based on the currently equipped pins. These actions may include slashing across an enemy, tapping the screen rapidly to fire bullets, or holding down on an enemy to inflict damage. Other pins need to be touched to active them, such as for health restoration. Each pin has a limited number of uses before it must "reboot", during which time those actions produce no result. Neku can only be equipped with three to six pins at any time.

Neku's partner on the top screen can optionally be controlled by the player, though the player can opt to have this character controlled by the game. Each of Neku's partners has a slightly different approach, but in general, attacks are made by completing a sequence of card-based games. For example, Neku's first partner, Shiki, requires that face-down cards be correctly identified. To select a card, the player uses the directional pad or face buttons to navigate through a pathway to select the card to be used; if the card is correct, the partner will make an attack. When a series of cards is matched, a special pin appears on the touchscreen side allowing for a combination attack of both Neku and his partner to be unleashed; each series matched can build up this attack further if it is not used. The player can also help the partner character dodge attacks.

Neku and his partner are in sync during battle; they share the same pool of hit points so that even if one character does not take any damage, the pair can fail in battle if the other takes too much. A green "light puck" will pass between the characters during battle; when the character has this puck, their damage is increased. The movement of the light puck is determined by the "sync ratio" between Neku and his partner, with the puck staying longer with one character with higher ratios, and equipment that causes the puck to move faster or slower between characters.

[edit] Development

The game was developed by the same team which created the Kingdom Hearts series, with input from Jupiter, the company that developed Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. Character designs were handled by Tetsuya Nomura and Gen Kobayashi. In an interview shown in deviantART's website, Nomura stated that the character designs are made to match with the real-world Tokyo setting, after which their outfits are designed based on the character's personality.^[1] Kobayashi was also in charge of designing the game's non-player characters (NPC) and he noted how most NPC designs made it to the final product.^[2]

The Japanese title, It's a Wonderful World, was not used internationally due to copyright issues.^[3] Instead, the game was released in North America and Europe under the name The World Ends with You, from a line by Mr. Hanekoma in the game.

[edit] Audio

The music in the game is composed and produced by Takeharu Ishimoto. It includes a large variety of music with an influence of hip hop and electronica. The main theme of the game is "Lullaby For You" by Japanese pop artist, Jyongri. Various vocal artists featured in the game include:

• SAWA
• Makiko Noda
• Leah
• Ayuko Tanaka
• Mai Matsuda
• WAKAKO
• Hanaeryca
• Cameron Strother
• Andy Kinlay
• Nurlie Nurly
• Londeil "Taz" Hicks

The official soundtrack of the game was released in Japan on August 22, 2007 and is on sale in the English-language iTunes Store. A physical CD format of the soundtrack is available for purchase on the Square Enix North American E-Store for the price of $16.99 USD. The soundtrack, however, does not include four tracks unique to localizations outside Japan, due to the CD's sold in North America being imports of the Japanese CD.

However, Square Enix will be releasing an "arranged" version of the soundtrack on July 30, 2008. This soundtrack will contain tracks from both the Japanese and the North American/PAL version of the game.^[4]

[edit] Reception

Reviews
Publication	Score
1UP.com	A-
Edge	8/10
Electronic Gaming Monthly	A-, A-, B
Famitsu	35/40[5]
Game Informer	8.25/10
GamePro	9/10
GameSpot	9.0/10
IGN	9/10
Nintendo Power	9.0/10
X-Play	5/5

Overall, The World Ends With You has enjoyed critical acclaim. Many critics note the departure from other popular titles such as Square Enix's Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts series. Thunderbolt gave the game 9/10, citing its refreshingly original story, integration of urban culture and spiritual myth, and intuitive, fast-paced combat via the touch screen; while bringing up the aforementioned differences between it and other Square Enix games.^[6] GamePro also awarded the game 9/10. Game Informer gave the game 8.25/10 along with the Handheld Game of the Month award for May 2008. IGN has given the game three different reviews, each from a different regional branch (UK, US, and AUS), and scores of 8.9, 9.0, and 9.1 out of 10 respectively, as well as Game of the Month for April.^[7] All three have awarded the game an Editor's Choice Award. In addition, X-Play gave it 5/5 and called it a "must play" DS game. This is the first DS game in almost two years to get a perfect score from the show. The previous DS game awarded this score was Mario Kart DS.^[8]

[edit] Manga

The World Ends with You was adapted into a two-chapter one-shot manga by Shiro Amano. The manga ran in two issues of Monthly Shōnen Gangan. In North America, the manga has been released online via the Square Enix Members website.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Japanese Website
• Official North American Website
• Official European Website
• Official DeviantArt account
• Official Square Enix Portal
• Wikia has a wiki on this subject: The World Ends with You