Game of the Month #113 (June 2024) - The World Ends With You

From the creators of the award-winning Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts franchises comes a revolutionary, modern action-RPG title for a new generation of gamers. Square Enix and Jupiter team up once again to showcase The World Ends With You, a trendy and vibrant gaming experience developed exclusively for the Nintendo DS. Featuring an intuitive combat system and exciting multiplayer mode, The World Ends With You is set to immerse gamers into the modern-day culture of Japan.
How long is The World Ends With You?
When focusing on the main objectives, The World Ends With You is about 25 Hours in length. If you're a gamer that strives to see all aspects of the game, you are likely to spend around 127 Hours to obtain 100% completion.
Platform: Nintendo DS
Genres: Action, Role-Playing
Developers: Square Enix, Jupiter
Publishers: Square Enix, Ubisoft
NA: April 22, 2008
EU: April 18, 2008
JP: July 26, 2007

I put this game off for so long, the remake came out. Looking forward to playing this on Switch!

For anyone who wants to play TWEWY, but isn't sure how, there are 3 versions:
* Nintendo DS (original)
* iOS (Solo Remix)
* Nintendo Switch (Final Remix)
You could also try the DS version on an emulator, but Reddit posts mention an anti-piracy measure on English versions that you would have to work around. (This is not an endorsement of pirating games.)

Some notes:
* NEO: The World Ends With You is the sequel, not another version of the same game.
* I've heard that the DS version and the Switch version in handheld mode offer the best experiences.
* The iOS version of the game may have compatibility issues with newer versions of iOS.

I didn't care for the switch port of this, so I dropped it. Excited to give the DS version a go! :)

So started my first play through of TWEWY. I'm playing on the switch version in handheld mode:

Reached the fourth day

So I'll be honest the tutorial almost put me off it did a terrible job of explaining things and didn't allow for repeat of information in case you missed something. However luckily I got into the gameplay by the third day. I'm now enjoying the swiping and different ways using the touchscreen to fight. I do wish that my character wasn't controlled via the touchscreen but so far a unique way of playing the game. Would work extremely well on a phone.

Reached the fifth Day

Getting more types of pins and seeing the RPG elements. The fashion system seems interesting but alot of the clothes I need higher bravery to wear. Likely buying endgame clothing. Not sure about the locks on areas feels alot of busy work. See how bad this can get later however the bosses so far have been pretty good and unique

So, yeah. This is definitely my favorite game ever, so I'm more than happy that this won GotM! I think I played through this game about 5 times in the past, and I really don't get tired of it. To this day I haven't played anything similar to it when it comes to mechanics, and the story and setting also really got me hooked when I played it as a late teenager.

However, I'll say, this is certainly not the best game ever made. It has its fair share of issues, and new players tend to get a bit confused/annoyed when trying the battle system for the first part of the game since it's so unlike pretty much anything else. It demands a lot of divided attention which is not super easy to get used to.

I'll probably be starting a new playthrough of this one this week to ensure I'm remembering stuff correctly and because I always can use an excuse to play through it again.

I hope everyone who joins has a good time with it!

Finished Final Remix quite some time ago. The story sure was awesome, but I didn't care about the combat system at all. I've heard that the DS version had better combat, but I don't think there's a point in trying it out without a real console.

Playing the Final Remix version on handheld. I’m on the fourth day. I’m wondering if there will be some overtime after the last day as it feels like I got here pretty quick? Neku as a character is a little too angsty for me but I am enjoying the game. I do see why it’s been recommended for handheld play; this would have been fun on NDS.

Something that surprised me was the idle game mechanic (for earning PP). I feel like I never saw something like this until the mobile game era. As the game is still keeping track even when I’m sleep mode I think it negatively affected one of my boss fights? I had to temporarily put it down and tapped past the results too fast but I thought the fight time was longer than it should have been. Highest charge I got for a fusion attack was 3.0 on a particularly good run.

Im playing on switch on TV screen. I do prefer handheld.

I am very interested in the "noise" concept; it seems to have some similarities with our social problems.

Thoughts AFTER finishing THE GAME.

The truth is, I enjoyed the game a lot, even if I have been playing on Switch TV. If my hands hurt, it's because the switch controller is awful, not just the controls of the port. 
I can't say The World Ends with You will become one of the best games I have played in 2024, but it is certainly one of the best RPGs on NDS. I feel a bit guilty about not having discovered it during the NDS period. I think I was too young and too affected by Pokemon games. In addition, I think it wasn't released in Spain.

I think The World Ends with You is a look at the future of indie games in many aspects (narrative and exploring new ways of jugability). The game tries to implement new ways to understand RPGs, and it does certainly well!!!.
Even if we talk about its narrative, it is quite deep. It's a missed opportunity to not make the game more dynamic by creating new scenarios for each part of the game. It is quite claustrophobic to walk through the same scenarios repeatedly. I don't understand the purpose of using the music in that chaotic way. It's also bad management for an incredible OST.

It has lots of end-game content that improves the depth of the narrative and makes farming more interesting if you are in the mood to do it.

Thank you for the club. I don't speak or write English well, but I like to read all your thoughts about this and future games.

Playing the Final Remix version on handheld. I’m on the fourth day. I’m wondering if there will be some overtime after the last day as it feels like I got here pretty quick? Neku as a character is a little too angsty for me but I am enjoying the game. I do see why it’s been recommended for handheld play; this would have been fun on NDS.

Something that surprised me was the idle game mechanic (for earning PP). I feel like I never saw something like this until the mobile game era. As the game is still keeping track even when I’m sleep mode I think it negatively affected one of my boss fights? I had to temporarily put it down and tapped past the results too fast but I thought the fight time was longer than it should have been. Highest charge I got for a fusion attack was 3.0 on a particularly good run.

The Shutdown PP (the idle game mechanic) is very interesting for its time, I agree. On the original DS version there was also "Mingle" PP, which was basically a predecessor for the StreetPass functionality on the 3DS. You could walk around with Mingle mode activated and you would get PP for passing other users that were also mingling (called "ESP'er"s in game), or that had another game on their DS running (called "Civvies" in game). Since just going around with your active DS wasn't that common at the time there were also "Alien" encounters, which was basically that you could get a random bonus sometimes while mingling.

These three types of progress were pretty innovative for the time, which I definitely give kudos for. There are some other aspects of the PP system that I certainly do not like, but I think those are a bit spoiler-y...? Not a major spoiler in any way, but just in case you don't want any extra information spoiler tagging: The evolution system requiring certain types of PP can be very annoying. I understand that a Pin randomly evolving for you and not for a friend can lead to those "playground" rumors type of things, but I don't think the game is good for that sort of thing. What ends up happening with the evolution system is that you get locked from a better Pin for either battling too much, leaving a Pin equipped while you were away, or just not wanting to mingle...And you don't even know you are missing out! And if you do know you are missing out, you just need to grind specific types of PP which is just not fun.

I'm not sure about the boss fight thing you are talking about, though... I don't remember anything like that on the Switch version, but I've run into some bugs on the NDS version for pausing at weird times. I remember one time for example that I used a fusion attack just when the last enemy was killed, the animation played, but since there were no enemies when the game returned to the battlefield I just got stuck there with nothing to kill and no way to quit that particular fight. So I wouldn't be surprised if there was something weird with the timer if sleep was involved in any way.

— 06/03/2024 10:04 PM
Reached day 6. Seems that i'm dead and theres some secret to my partner that has got her currently down

— 06/05/2024 10:02 PM
Reached the 7th day. Not much too say but now seeing the costs and such

— 06/06/2024 10:03 PM
So finished the first reaper game and onto the second. Reached the second day and finished the game task however my new partner has his own errands. He is rather mysterious and seems to have his own agenda in the reaper game

— 06/08/2024 11:04 PM
So Third day of the second week. No mission this time but there seems to be something that my partner is searching for. We now have a tracker from the cafe owner and looking into the marketing for a dubious ramen shop. Wondering if that business man has any connection to reapers due to the pins he has been passing out

— 06/09/2024 10:07 PM
Reached the fourth day of the second week. Need to find a mic from a singer who believes it was stolen and the reasoning do point to that

Okay so been a week so think I have a better understanding of the game (going on holiday next week though prob not have much time to play next week). So i'm really enjoying the combat system with the pins. There is a huge variety of pins and I haven't used them all and each have so far been unique enough to not have many overlaps. I will admit that I have been spamming them alot however when you reach bosses they actively have different weakness then the standard enemey and discourage spamming. The bosses are well designed from what i've seen and are atm my favorite aspect of the game.

It is however without flaws. I'm not a big fan of the story as it very much angtsy teen shit and I'm prob too old for that now so disinterested in the story. The game also literaly puts up walls to force you to interact with the game which I don't think is a great design way of providing interaction with the game. I'm still not a fan of using the touch screen to move as well. Finally there is a lack of information passed to the player in battle especially with pins. Each pin has a different method you need to do to cause them to work but the only way to find out is outside of battles which is not helpful when trying to fight with a pin your not use to.

It's a solid game and well designed I think bout 1/2 way through so hopefully will reach the end

I started playing on Friday. I was pretty busy the first week of this month, but I made sure to start on the 7th, since that was Travis's birthday.

I played through the first two days and am enjoying it so far. I think the decision to make the main character so unlikable, at least so far, is a bold one. I'm enjoying that the plot already hasn't been entirely straightforward, so I have hope for it. I wasn't expecting the betrayal at the end of day 2, although it's also sort of awkward that the player character keeps making decisions that I disagree with.
I wasn't expecting the soundtrack to be entirely rap (at least so far), although it is fitting. It's a little annoying to have lyrics playing when the game is so dialog-heavy, though.

Story stuff: Went past day 7 and started game 2. I figured getting out of the game wouldn’t be so easy but that was an interesting plot twist with Shiki, both of them. I’m disappointed Beat said he wanted to become a reaper although I’m thinking he has ulterior reasons for doing so. That and the second GM make me wonder if Neku was a reaper at some point, or even a GM.

I’m at level 19 although I play a little under that for drops. Is there a certain threshold anyone plays at? There was a day that I was getting pretty annoyed while battling; I detest those tadpoles. Kept getting swarmed by wolves while the birds took my pins. Although, inefficient utilization of the shops haven’t done me any favors. I should use them more. I would have appreciated a different map so I could better see what shops are where.

While the touch screen controls are ok, sometimes I feel like I can’t quite do the functions I meant to. Either because I’m trying to move around so fast or the gesture gets interpreted for a similar but different pin. Could be a me thing though, as I don’t do much mobile gaming.

— 06/10/2024 10:02 PM
Reached the fifth day of the second week. Seems like Josuha is supposedly my killer. Reads fully red herring though so yeah I doubt that'll stick

— 06/11/2024 10:07 PM
Reached Day 7 of the second week. Confronted Joshua now and it seem he implied he killed me but I still think this is a red herring. The game master seems of pulled out alot of deadly noises on the sixth day and looks like he might've gone rogue as the noises attacked everyone around. Have to go and defeat him now for the last day

On holiday for the rest of the week so won't be able to play till Monday (going to a festival so want to limit the amount of electronics I take). Will hopefully pick up once I return

Ok finally started my playthrough and got to the second day.

Playing this on Switch with the touch controls got me so frustrated, the 'Slash' pin infuriated me. Finally had to swallow my pride and change pin.

Also I changed to using an old stylus pen which made the controls a tad better.

Between the control frustrations and the unlikeable protagonist Neku, I'm so far not impressed, but will stick with it.

Ok finally started my playthrough and got to the second day.

Playing this on Switch with the touch controls got me so frustrated, the 'Slash' pin infuriated me. Finally had to swallow my pride and change pin.

Also I changed to using an old stylus pen which made the controls a tad better.

Between the control frustrations and the unlikeable protagonist Neku, I'm so far not impressed, but will stick with it.

There are two kinds of slash pins I’ve encountered, vertical slash and horizontal slash (other than the “slash Neku” type. With that, sometimes it’s a little picky on how you’re slashing, so maybe you might be slashing at a slight angle in which a different kind of slash is getting interpreted? Or the length of the slash?

There’s also a pin hierarchy that was frustrating me until I realized it existed. You can’t equip two pins of the same type, but different pins can have similar gestures. In order of 1 2 3 4, if they’re similar the pin that’s in an earlier slot will get prioritized. At least that’s how it seems to me, but someone please correct me if I’m wrong!

You can also switch the touch screen sensitivity in local settings if you haven’t done so yet. There’s one for finger touch and one for stylus. Still iffy if you’re doing a “press an empty space” pin and something gets in your way by one pixel.

Im not quite sure if I bought this game yet, id have to check my catalogue but it is definitely a game that im excited to take a bite out of when I get a chance.

There are two kinds of slash pins I’ve encountered, vertical slash and horizontal slash (other than the “slash Neku” type. With that, sometimes it’s a little picky on how you’re slashing, so maybe you might be slashing at a slight angle in which a different kind of slash is getting interpreted? Or the length of the slash?

There’s also a pin hierarchy that was frustrating me until I realized it existed. You can’t equip two pins of the same type, but different pins can have similar gestures. In order of 1 2 3 4, if they’re similar the pin that’s in an earlier slot will get prioritized. At least that’s how it seems to me, but someone please correct me if I’m wrong!

You can also switch the touch screen sensitivity in local settings if you haven’t done so yet. There’s one for finger touch and one for stylus. Still iffy if you’re doing a “press an empty space” pin and something gets in your way by one pixel.

It was the first slash pin I got, which I think was the horizontal one?

Not sure what I was doing wrong, I even looked up if other people were having issues with it and sure enough people were talking about it on Reddit. Others recommended using the joycons and pushing the a button after the slash. Oh well, I've since played a bit more with my stylus and the game is becoming more enjoyable.

Ok I've since progressed a lot further and glad I didn't give up. Game is drastically more enjoyable once you get past the initial learning curve (It does a terrible job at teaching the player).

I can't really play for extended sessions as my hands cramp up from the frantic swiping, but at least I can get ⭐ ratings now.

Still not fully getting the item system, seems kinda redundant, but maybe that changes later on.

Game was a lot of fun. It was my favorite 3ds game the year it came out!

Finished the main game. The story took me through some twists and turns with some characters going back and forth so it kept me intrigued. You feel like one character needs a bonk on the head one minute and a little while later it looks like they need a hug. Gameplay wise, I ended up maxing out a lot of pins. Normally I get too impatient with level grinding but with a decent amount of battles you feel like you do make progress, so I didn’t mind it as much. It also made me level up too.

I felt like my strategy kept changing when my pin and partner changed. Which is natural, but it just felt like a constant reevaluation of what would work best with what. Sort of keeps you on your toes. I did start part of A New Day (made it half way) but I don’t think I’ll be finishing it this moment. Just feel like I’m good for now, but good game.

But really, poor Neku can’t catch a break can he? I feel like if Joshua decided to give the world a second chance so did he. I would have been pretty upset if I didn’t have the sequel. Hoping things go better for him there.

Although, when I do go back to this, maybe I’ll find a stylus. I had a lot of “touch and drag” pins and I have slight finger burn. 😅

On Holiday next week so gonna drop my updates now:

— 06/18/2024 10:03 PM
right back from my holidays... until next week although I will be able to take my switch then. Rec for people keep ya phone safe while in mosh pits pickpocket galore in there:

Finished the second week and now onto the thrid week. Made it till the second day decided to a bit of grinding the bosses are starting to pack a punch now

— 06/19/2024 10:03 PM
SO made it through to the next day have 4 days left. Defeated the lady reaper now going fight the lollipop reaper

— 06/20/2024 10:02 PM
3 days left. Defientely getting to end game. Defeated both reapers who were constant in the game. Now in the next day and everyone is repeating the same phrase

Just completed the Final Remix, along with the DLC A New Day and Another Day.
Really wanted to love this game, but some major flaws held it back.

Things I loved:
Art and style is beautiful, especially the HD version.
Gameplay can get really addictive, collecting items, leveling up pins, trying new play styles (each partner has a somewhat different play style).

Things I disliked:
Controls! My stylus broke because of the frantic swiping, and my fingertips got burned.
Early game is rough, tutorial is horrible, map is next to useless. I didn't realize I could feed/equip my partner until the final week.
Inventory management is clunky, wish there was a better sort/filter.
Story and characters are pretty annoying, I would have probably enjoyed it more in my teens.

TWEWY is a very creative game, that tried to do something new, which I respect, but it unfortunately fell short of my expectations.

All things considered, I give it a mediocre 7/10.

I've been working through this one this month, but since I'm nowhere near finishing it in time, I'd thought I'd leave a few thoughts here:

I really like it! The story is the only part of it that I'm not entirely in love with (yet), but the presentation is so wonderfully kickass that it's hard to not love. I've really enjoyed the gameplay mechanics too, (I'm on a DS), I think they clicked with me a bit easier than they seem to do with other people. Something about the multi-tasking just feels so fun to get better at.

I'll probably come back here with fuller thoughts when I beat it at some point hopefully next month, but definitely glad I gave it a try.