The World Ends With You…

May 22, 2008 at 5:49 pm | Posted in The World Ends With You | 13 Comments
Tags: It's a Wonderful World, Nintendo DS, RPG, The World Ends With You

“The World Ends With You” is a video game for the Nintendo DS developed by Square Enix and Jupiter. (( In Japan the game is called “It’s a Wonderful World” or “すばらしきこのせかい, — Subarashiki Kono Sekai” ))

While I haven’t played this game (I don’t have a DS) it sure has caught my interest. :D Square Enix is the company that brought Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy so this game is bound to be good. So far all the reviews for it are good (X-Play even gave it a 5/5) but what’s to be expected from the Final Fantasy/Kingdom Hearts giant? (I’ve never played Final Fantasy either ^_^; and I still haven’t beat both KH:CoM or KHII ;;;)

Beat (left – support char) and Neku (right – main char)

Neku Sakuraba, an antisocial 15 year-old boy, wakes up in what seems to be the Shibuya shopping district of Tokyo, Japan. He opens his hand to realize he is holding a strange black pin, which allows him to read minds. His cellphone starts to ring in his pocket, and a text message appears: “Reach 104. You have 60 minutes. Fail, and face erasure. -The Reapers.” After discovering he can’t delete the message, a timer of 60 minutes imprints onto his right hand. Neku is in Shibuya to play the “Reapers’ Game” (死神のゲーム, Shinigami no Gēmu), which spans a total of seven days. Neku is forced to form a pact with a girl named Shiki Misaki in order to avoid being erased from existence.

~ From Wikipedia

That’s the basic plot of the game. From the sounds of it, the Shinigamis remind of the Heartless in Kingdom Hearts — although I can’t say if this is true or not since I haven’t played the game. However, unlike the Heartless, the Shinigami do talk and they are actual beings not born from the darkness in others’ hearts.

The official North American site on the game can be found here. There’s even some nice music that was made just for the international version of the game. (: Also, there is an English version of the main theme of the game, A Lullaby For You by JYONGRI. There’s a version of it on YouTube that I found here. :D As for the official Japanese site, it can be found by clicking here. And a YouTube video featuring the theme song in Japanese is right over here. The English version of A Lullaby For You is surprisingly nice. I fairly like it — although I’m still not sure if I prefer the English version over the Japanese version. There’s even a line that goes “Is it because I’m still fifteen” that I really like – only because I’m fifteen. ;P

After watching the “Day 1” video on the NA site, I think the gameplay doesn’t seem that bad. It actually seems pretty fun. That’s probably because a DS has a touch screen and I absolutely love them! XD; I can’t say much on the gameplay since as I said before, I haven’t played it. Dx [[ But here’s an interview with the creators! :3 | And the section with all the features ]]

Character designs are really nice. The main character (Neku) reminds me a lot of Sora from Kingdom Hearts though. I suppose that can’t be helped… Out of all the characters that are listed on the NA Site, mine would have to be Rhyme. (Based on character design and the description) Besides… her name is awesome! :D

Rhyme :3

The story seems really interesting though (albeit slightly confusing.) The story sequence differs slightly in the manga from the game. (Or at least from what I can see.) Square Enix even has the manga all nice and translated up and running! :D You can read the manga here. It’s only two chapters though and does not cover the entire storyline of the game. It seems that huge chunks are also left out – making it utterly confusing. At the end of each chapter, there’s a little announcement that you can download the OST from iTunes. The link provided at the end of the manga to get the OST is right here.

There was even a contest on deviantART for the game. The winners were supposed to be announced on May 2nd. I’m not so sure who won though. I’ll go lurk around and find out who won! [[ deviantART account of The World Ends With You | DA contest (contest over!) ]]

Shiki Misaki

Shiki Misaki is apparently the main heroine. She always carries this stuffed toy cat around… Which I found a plushie version of. (I’m not sure if it’s official or fanmade though)

Did I mention that there are even figurines for Neku and Shiki?! I’ve gotten into wanting some figurines recently… although I know it’ll be a pretty expensive hobby to pursue. And of course, I have no place to put them… (( I have no clue where to buy these figurines though… I couldn’t find them on HLJ or HS ))

Neku and Shiki Figurines x3

Ah well… that’s all… me ranting about a game I’ve never played yet would SO BUY if I had a DS. Dx I really want a DS now just to play this game. I’d be willing to trade my PSP or something… but I still have to beat Disgaea : Afternoon of Darkness. I’d want to ask for a DS for my birthday but I know I’m only going to play this game on there and that’s it – so it’d be a waste of money. (Except for maybe Brain Age or something… since that seems seriously amusing.) Besides… I want a tablet too! I seriously need to get a job… But from what I heard from these people at this Youth Job Fair that I went to, you have to be 16 to even APPLY even if you’re going to 16 by the time you’ll start working. Ah well… we’ll see what I can do. If I do get a job I could probably manage to buy myself a DS and the game, along with a tablet (considering I don’t get one for my birthday), and still have some money left over for AX and the Italy trip that I’m going to. My dad though says that he is going to buy me a new laptop for my birthday. O_o; I immediately rejected for two reasons: a) he already gave me $100 to buy my cosplay outfit and b) I know he’ll buy a cheap one. I honestly thought that the cosplay was intended for my birthday. In all honesty, I’d so go out to ask him to buy me a Nintendo DS as well but that’s asking too much!

(( Well… aren’t I spoiled…? ))

The End!! (( XD … The World Just Ended……… yeah I’m lame….. ))