The World Ends With You is an undeniable unique game. I never played anything quite like it, gameplay-wise, at least. And while its drive for authenticity can be its greatest ally, it also managed to be its greatest enemy.
The World Ends With You caught me by surprise. I really didn't think much of it until I got hooked in its gameplay and setting. The first thing that captivated me was its stylish presentation. Sure, it's a product of its time, but it excels in selling its aesthetic to the player. Character design is great, art style is very well done, soundtrack is bold (although quite annoying overtime) and Shibuya is as lively as it should be.
TWEWY is good on the eyes and ears, no doubt, but once you get past that, you reach the game's true gem: the combat. It's a 'love it or hate it' situation with the battle system. When it works, it's outstanding, but when it doesn't... it can get pretty damn ugly.
The pin system is addictive and makes me want to collect them all, but although it feels great to use them in battle, they're not always responsive and A LOT of them can be pretty useless, especially if combined with others of the same type. Through sheer trial and error you can make fantastic OP combos or the worst pin combos ever.
There's an amazing sense of progression, grinding feels light and ultimately rewarding, iteration hardly gets to your brain and your fighting style is, overall, very customizable. But at the same time, the horrible movement mechanic during battles, clunky and disorganized boss fights throughout the entire game, low enemy variety and the seldom-relevant item system hinders the experience.
Not to mention that scratching, slicing, pressing, tapping and dragging things on your screen may feel surprising at first, but later down the road, just gets messy and cluttered. For example, if you play this game on docked-mode, you're in for a nightmare. It's barely playable. Gladly, it works just fine undocked.
The story could've also been handled a lot better. The whole idea and message behind the game is pretty original and creative, but the writing is obnoxious and it takes a long time before you get to the actual good parts. The 2nd week, in my opinion, destroys the pacing built by the 1st one. If it wasn't for the strong and challenging 3rd one, it would be a disaster. And that's a shame, since the cast of TWEWY is great and Neku's character development is heartfelt. If the story explored its depth a bit more, it'd transform, for example, an already strong ending, into a perfect one.
The World Ends With You is addictive as hell and Neku's gameplay loop kept me interested until the end. But I can't shake this conflicting feeling that, if the story were told differently and if the combat lessened or perfected its "unique" approach, this game would've been much better.
I kinda like it, but I'm not sure if I'd recommend it unless you're looking for a different kind of JRPG. Or, I don't know, maybe you're a Kingdom Hearts fan...
The World Ends With You caught me by surprise. I really didn't think much of it until I got hooked in its gameplay and setting. The first thing that captivated me was its stylish presentation. Sure, it's a product of its time, but it excels in selling its aesthetic to the player. Character design is great, art style is very well done, soundtrack is bold (although quite annoying overtime) and Shibuya is as lively as it should be.
TWEWY is good on the eyes and ears, no doubt, but once you get past that, you reach the game's true gem: the combat. It's a 'love it or hate it' situation with the battle system. When it works, it's outstanding, but when it doesn't... it can get pretty damn ugly.
The pin system is addictive and makes me want to collect them all, but although it feels great to use them in battle, they're not always responsive and A LOT of them can be pretty useless, especially if combined with others of the same type. Through sheer trial and error you can make fantastic OP combos or the worst pin combos ever.
There's an amazing sense of progression, grinding feels light and ultimately rewarding, iteration hardly gets to your brain and your fighting style is, overall, very customizable. But at the same time, the horrible movement mechanic during battles, clunky and disorganized boss fights throughout the entire game, low enemy variety and the seldom-relevant item system hinders the experience.
Not to mention that scratching, slicing, pressing, tapping and dragging things on your screen may feel surprising at first, but later down the road, just gets messy and cluttered. For example, if you play this game on docked-mode, you're in for a nightmare. It's barely playable. Gladly, it works just fine undocked.
The story could've also been handled a lot better. The whole idea and message behind the game is pretty original and creative, but the writing is obnoxious and it takes a long time before you get to the actual good parts. The 2nd week, in my opinion, destroys the pacing built by the 1st one. If it wasn't for the strong and challenging 3rd one, it would be a disaster. And that's a shame, since the cast of TWEWY is great and Neku's character development is heartfelt. If the story explored its depth a bit more, it'd transform, for example, an already strong ending, into a perfect one.
The World Ends With You is addictive as hell and Neku's gameplay loop kept me interested until the end. But I can't shake this conflicting feeling that, if the story were told differently and if the combat lessened or perfected its "unique" approach, this game would've been much better.
I kinda like it, but I'm not sure if I'd recommend it unless you're looking for a different kind of JRPG. Or, I don't know, maybe you're a Kingdom Hearts fan...