In the game, Neku Sakuraba and his allies are forced to participate in a game that will determine their fate. The battle system uses many of the unique features of the Nintendo DS, including combat that takes place on both screens, and attacks performed by certain motions on the touchscreen or by shouting into the microphone. Elements of Japanese youth culture, such as fashion, food, and cell phones, are key aspects of the missions.
The World Ends with You received positive reviews, which praised the graphics, soundtrack, and integration of gameplay into the Shibuya setting. The few common complaints were related to the steep learning curve of the battle system as well as the imprecise touch-screen controls. In the week of its release, the game was the second best-selling DS title in Japan, and the top selling DS title in North America.
Characters
See also: Neku Sakuraba
The player assumes the role of Neku Sakuraba (桜庭 音操, Sakuraba Neku?, ネク Neku), an anti-social teenage boy who claims he does not "get" people, and rarely interacts with others. Computer-controlled characters make up the rest of the cast, which includes Players who are paired with Neku.[6] In the first Game, Neku is paired with Shiki Misaki (美咲 四季, Misaki Shiki?, シキ Shiki), a teenage girl who takes on the form of her best friend; her physical appearance was her price of entry for the Game.[7] Subsequently, Neku's partner is an intelligent and sly teenage boy, Yoshiya Kiryu (桐生 義弥, Kiryū Yoshiya?), who prefers to be called Joshua (ヨシュア, Yoshua?). Neku's final partner is Daisukenojo Bito (尾藤 大輔之丞, Bitō Daisukenojō?), a Reaper who calls himself "Beat" (ビイト, Biito?).[8] Beat became a Reaper to find a way to bring his younger sister, Raimu Bito (尾藤 来夢, Bitō Raimu?) (nicknamed "Rhyme" (ライム, Raimu?)), back to life. Rhyme had sacrificed herself to save her brother from a Noise attack.[9] Sanae Hanekoma (羽狛 早苗, Hanekoma Sanae?, ハネコマ Hanekoma), the Producer, bound her soul to a pin from which her Noise could be summoned, and gave it to Beat. The final Game Master, Mitsuki Konishi (虚西 充妃, Konishi Mitsuki?, コニシ Konishi), crushes her Noise form and transformed it back into a pin.
Besides the Composer and the Conductor, there are other high-ranking Reapers.[10] For each week of the Game, Game Masters are assigned by the Conductor to lead the opposition to the Players. Of the Game Masters opposing Neku, Sho Minamimoto (南師 猩, Minamimoto Shō?, ミナミモト Minamimoto) is the most dangerous. He willingly circumvents the rules in an attempt to supplant the Composer.[11] Participating in the Games with the aim of earning promotions for their performance, the Reapers' goal is to ascend to the highest form of spiritual existence, the Angels.[12] Angels supervise the Games and if the stakes of a Game are particularly high, they send down one of their own to serve as the Producer.[13] For the three weeks of the game's story, Sanae Hanekoma is the Producer. Disguised as a Shibuya cafe owner, he guides new players and narrates the "Secret Reports" that are obtained by completing additional missions after completing the game.
Story
The game's story follows Neku over the course of the three weeks that he plays the Game, paired with partners Shiki, Joshua, and Beat for each week, respectively. Neku is confused at first, lacking knowledge of how he died or how he arrived at the UG. As he develops friendships with his partners and starts to understand the rules of the Game, he recalls small details of his death; eventually, he recognizes that he was shot at by Sho Minamimoto, one of the Reapers he faced during the Game. After the first week, only Shiki is allowed to return to the living, and she promises to meet Neku at the statue of Hachiko.[14][15] However, Shiki has become what Neku values most, and she is used as his entry fee for the second week. At the end of the second week, Joshua seemingly sacrifices himself to save Neku from a bomb created by Minamimoto.
Due to Neku and Joshua bending the rules for the game, the game is ruled null and Neku is forced to replay the game a third time. His entry fee this time is all of the other players, meaning Neku cannot form any pacts and stands no chance against the Noise. However, Beat immediately defects from the Reapers and rejoins Neku. Neku and Beat find that the Reapers and the entire population of Shibuya are wearing special red pins that cause them to think the same harmonious thoughts. Without any missions to complete, the two venture to the fabled "Shibuya River", which Joshua was looking for during the second week. At the river, they find Megumi Kitaniji (北虹 寵, Kitaniji Megumi?, キタニジ Kitaniji), the Game's Conductor. Kitaniji explains that he created the red pins in an attempt to remake Shibuya, which the Composer challenged him to do; if he fails, Shibuya will be erased.[16][17]
At that moment, Joshua reappears and reveals himself to be the Composer. Joshua returns the missing part of Neku's memory of death: Joshua himself shot Neku, choosing him to be his proxy in his challenge with Kitaniji. Minamimoto, who had been trying to usurp the position of Composer, was trying to kill Joshua in his weakened state as a human. After failing to defeat Neku by using his friends against him, Joshua gives Neku one last challenge: To fire upon Joshua to determine the fate of Shibuya. Neku is too conflicted to make a choice, and is shot down by Joshua.[18] Neku finds himself once again at the scramble crossing, confused by events.
The game's credits show scenes seven days later. Neku meets Beat, Rhyme, and Shiki (in her real body) by the statue of Hachiko, indicating that Neku and his friends have finally been returned to the RG.[19] Secret reports that can be obtained by completing additional missions after beating the game reveal that Joshua, after seeing the change in personality of Neku over the weeks of playing the game, decides to spare Shibuya, now believing the city to be ideal.[20]
Gameplay
The World Ends with You is an action role-playing game, arranged into three chapters following the three weeks that Neku is involved in the Reaper's Game, with each chapter further divided by each day of the week. The player controls Neku and his partner as they explore Shibuya to complete each day's mission. Although most missions require completion within a certain time for Neku and his partner, this timer is not correlated to the passage of time for the player.[21]
Shibuya is divided into several districts, some of which may be inaccessible on certain days or blocked by a wall that can only be removed by satisfying the request of a nearby Reaper, such as erasing Noise symbols, putting on a certain brand of clothing, or bringing an item. Neku can scan the area by activating a special pin. This scan reveals the thoughts of the non-player characters in the Realground and memes, which may help to progress the plot.[5] The scan also reveals random Noise symbols that drift about the area, or in some cases, float around a specific character. The player initiates a battle by touching Noise symbols; each symbol constitutes one round of battle. Selecting more than one Noise symbol at a time results in a multi-round battle that gradually increases in difficulty with each round, but conversely leads to greater rewards upon success. Altering the difficulty of the Noise and the amount of health for Neku and his partner also alter the benefits conferred.[22]
Each district has fashion trends that affect gameplay. By wearing pins or clothing from the more popular brands in that district, items' effects will be improved; wearing the least fashionable items will do the opposite, and items from brands in between are not affected. However, the player can increase a brand's popularity in one district by repeatedly fighting battles in that district while wearing items of that brand.[5] The player can enter shops to buy new pins, clothes, and food items that are gradually consumed during battles to improve the characters' basic attributes.[5]
After completing the game, the player can return to any day in the story and play those events again, keeping the characters' current statistics and inventory. "Secret Reports", written segments that reveal background elements of the story, can be unlocked through this mode by completing specific missions during each day.[23] Completing the game allows the player to access "Another Day" from the game's menus, an additional day of missions that explains certain events related to the main storyline. The World Ends with You has one minigame called Tin Pin Slammer (or Marble Slash) that can be played against computer opponents or with up to 3 others via a wireless connection. Tin Pin Slammer is similar to the marble game ringer in that each player attempts to use their pins one at a time to knock the other players' pins off the gameboard.
Pins
The World Ends with You features "psych pins", decorative pins which possess powers that only Neku can activate while wearing them. Psych pins are used for combat, for "Tin Pin Slammer/Marble Slash", or as trade value 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 commonly earned through battle, but can also be earned through a period of inactivity with the game, or by interacting with other DS players or random wireless sources. Each of these methods influences the growth of pins within the game.[5]
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