In the far future on the moon, humans have begun to colonize it. A young boy named Haru has been chasing his wildest dream. His dream is to stand where no man has stood before, and in order to do so he needs capital, a ludicrous amount of capital. What better place to get that amount of capital by using the stock market? There are two key rules that govern the stock market. The first rule: Never take a loss. The second rule: Never forget the first. Only those who follow these rules are able to obtain enormous wealth... Finally, the 3 episodes of WORLD END ECONOMiCA are collected in one game, allowing you to enjoy the entire story!
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Every once in a while I see game or VN and get this feeling in the back of my mind that it's exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for based on nothing more than a short store blurb and a couple screenshots. My instincts were spot on with this one.
World End Economica is a love story, financial industry drama, and near-future sci-fi woven elegantly together into a three part saga on chasing dreams and the consequences of doing so. It's a work written with an appreciation for economic history and that essential human element which spins its gears and shifts its structure. And it's very unapologetic about the depth of that appreciation.
I can't imagine most people could follow the plot of this game after the halfway point unless they already have some amount of knowledge on stock trading and banking. By episode 3 there are full on diagrams explaining the bundling process to create Asset-Backed Securities (all my 2008 financial crisis homies, where u at). But if you've seen something like The Big Short and could follow it well enough to enjoy, then I'd like to think you could appreciate what's here.
Can't say I know many people like that, though. Especially not the kinds who would be willing to pick up a somewhat obscure Japanese VN.
World End Economica isn't just about the financial intrigue, though, and that's what I love most about it. There is a superb cast of complex — but not complicated — characters here, and writer Isuna Hasekura does a phenomenal job displaying their conflicts and growth as they pursue often lofty but very human goals. From the outset you know what drives each of them, but the decisions they have to make along the way are far from cut-and-dry, leaving plenty of room for uncertainty in their choices and shifting relationships.
And I personally found the romantic interactions in all of it quite charming. If I had to put my finger on what makes it stand out there, it would be that there's a consistent feeling of meaningful progress between the characters, even when some are destined for heartbreak.
All of that delicious character drama is then nicely underpinned by the exotic setting — a young city-state on the moon — which serves as both a representation of how far they're trying to reach and how much can go wrong. The depicition of the lunar metropolis is delivered with just enough rigor to give a sense of wonder, while demonstrating just how many more factors work against humankind the further we get from the dirt we came from.
It's no action thriller, though. Even when the stakes are at their highest, it's the "threat of what could go wrong" that makes people anxious enough to vomit, much like many real-world crises in "developed" countries. Which is a very rare approach for space-faring sci-fi and I quite appreciate it.
From a more critical angle the only thing I can think to say about the story at this point then is that the first episode does take a bit before it really sinks a hook into you, so it took me a bit to get into it. After that, though, it kept the roll going smoothly enough.
Presentation-wise, I think the art is fairly pretty overall. Not mind-blowing, but fittingly clean. The VN engine used is fairly barebones, especially coming off the heels of Witch on the Holy Night. I don't consider this to be much of a negative, though, as this is the media niche where Higurashi became a widespread hit. If you're this far in, you aren't going to be complaining about modest budgeting.
More of an issue, though, is that I don't think I can recommend the Switch port of the collection. There are some bugs with loading sprites and other assets that actually detract from the experience. Like the kind where I got an hour into episode 2 before I saw the first sprite and only then realized that it wasn't a change in artistic choice or because they entirely ran out of budget for the second part. Thankfully I could correct it by reloading the entire game, but every once in a while a another, similar problem would rear its head or I'd be a bit paranoid that I was missing something when the VN was intentionally clearing the screen.
If that's the only convenient platform you could read it from, then I'd say go for it. Simply being aware of that should let you sidestep the problem. Shame it is that way at all, though.
In any case, I imagine most will see the "technical financial drama" part and run for the hills. But if that's actually a plus for you, then I thoroughly recommend this VN. It's delightfully intricate and packed with a gentle passion for both the excitement and heartbreak of life and the markets.
World End Economica is a love story, financial industry drama, and near-future sci-fi woven elegantly together into a three part saga on chasing dreams and the consequences of doing so. It's a work written with an appreciation for economic history and that essential human element which spins its gears and shifts its structure. And it's very unapologetic about the depth of that appreciation.
I can't imagine most people could follow the plot of this game after the halfway point unless they already have some amount of knowledge on stock trading and banking. By episode 3 there are full on diagrams explaining the bundling process to create Asset-Backed Securities (all my 2008 financial crisis homies, where u at). But if you've seen something like The Big Short and could follow it well enough to enjoy, then I'd like to think you could appreciate what's here.
Can't say I know many people like that, though. Especially not the kinds who would be willing to pick up a somewhat obscure Japanese VN.
World End Economica isn't just about the financial intrigue, though, and that's what I love most about it. There is a superb cast of complex — but not complicated — characters here, and writer Isuna Hasekura does a phenomenal job displaying their conflicts and growth as they pursue often lofty but very human goals. From the outset you know what drives each of them, but the decisions they have to make along the way are far from cut-and-dry, leaving plenty of room for uncertainty in their choices and shifting relationships.
And I personally found the romantic interactions in all of it quite charming. If I had to put my finger on what makes it stand out there, it would be that there's a consistent feeling of meaningful progress between the characters, even when some are destined for heartbreak.
All of that delicious character drama is then nicely underpinned by the exotic setting — a young city-state on the moon — which serves as both a representation of how far they're trying to reach and how much can go wrong. The depicition of the lunar metropolis is delivered with just enough rigor to give a sense of wonder, while demonstrating just how many more factors work against humankind the further we get from the dirt we came from.
It's no action thriller, though. Even when the stakes are at their highest, it's the "threat of what could go wrong" that makes people anxious enough to vomit, much like many real-world crises in "developed" countries. Which is a very rare approach for space-faring sci-fi and I quite appreciate it.
From a more critical angle the only thing I can think to say about the story at this point then is that the first episode does take a bit before it really sinks a hook into you, so it took me a bit to get into it. After that, though, it kept the roll going smoothly enough.
Presentation-wise, I think the art is fairly pretty overall. Not mind-blowing, but fittingly clean. The VN engine used is fairly barebones, especially coming off the heels of Witch on the Holy Night. I don't consider this to be much of a negative, though, as this is the media niche where Higurashi became a widespread hit. If you're this far in, you aren't going to be complaining about modest budgeting.
More of an issue, though, is that I don't think I can recommend the Switch port of the collection. There are some bugs with loading sprites and other assets that actually detract from the experience. Like the kind where I got an hour into episode 2 before I saw the first sprite and only then realized that it wasn't a change in artistic choice or because they entirely ran out of budget for the second part. Thankfully I could correct it by reloading the entire game, but every once in a while a another, similar problem would rear its head or I'd be a bit paranoid that I was missing something when the VN was intentionally clearing the screen.
If that's the only convenient platform you could read it from, then I'd say go for it. Simply being aware of that should let you sidestep the problem. Shame it is that way at all, though.
In any case, I imagine most will see the "technical financial drama" part and run for the hills. But if that's actually a plus for you, then I thoroughly recommend this VN. It's delightfully intricate and packed with a gentle passion for both the excitement and heartbreak of life and the markets.