In my review of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, I already said that the best, most beloved game appears in a person’s life at a specific moment and seriously changes it. This happened to me only a few times, and one of them was with The World Ends with You.

There are many interesting and unusual games on the Nintendo DS, but in my opinion, The World Ends with You is the best of them. It simply could not have been released on any other platform, and this is a perfect example of a system-selling platform when the game uses absolutely all of its innovative features. Here the player will have to constantly use the stylus, both console screens and even blow into the microphone!

The World Ends with You is a very unusual JRPG that was released on the Nintendo DS portable console in 2007. As is often the case with Japanese games, this is a very unusual fusion of completely different genres: there is action combat, and made in two dimensions, and leveling, as in Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy, and a lot of dialogue, as in Persona, and absolutely mind-blowing music.

But here it is important to talk about the fact that The World Ends with You simply could not have been released in the form in which it was released on any other platform. This game is a great example of how to work with all the capabilities of the console. TWEWY (short for The World Ends with You) uses, if not all, then many of the Nintendo DS features that set the console apart from its competitors. The D-pad is relegated to the background here, and the A, B, X and Y buttons will only need to be used if you are left-handed. During gameplay, you will almost never let go of the stylus: you need to use it to walk (although you can also use the cross-pad) along the streets of Shibuya, and fight with Noises, and move around the game menu. By switching the console to sleep mode (that is, simply folding it), you can gain experience and digest food faster. Well, of course, we shouldn’t forget how skillfully the game uses both screens of the Nintendo DS.

I will talk about the plot in detail at the very end, since this is almost the most important thing in the game, but for now – the most basic details. We play as a teenager named Neku Sakuraba, who finds himself in the Reaper Game. This game lasts for seven days, every day you need to complete some new task from the Reapers, and the seventh day is a battle with the Master of this game (in fact, with the boss).

In this game we will often have to fight with enemies, in order to also solve riddles. There are no random encounters here, like in classic JRPGs: click on the Player icon in the corner of the screen and choose your opponents yourself. To save time, you can connect them in chains, this way there will be several battles in a row at once without restoring health between battles. During the battle we receive a certain amount of experience, and when we reach a certain amount, our character’s level increases. It can also be lowered to increase the difficulty of battles and get more experience and rarer loot for them. There are three difficulty levels in the game, which can be switched at any time. I recommend playing on medium, as it is the most balanced, but if it’s too easy for you, you can play on a more difficult one. If you lose, the game will immediately offer you to repeat the battle on easy difficulty (but this is not available immediately, so I recommend saving more often at first).

Also, pumping is also realized with the help of clothes and food. By buying various food and putting it in a special slot from a character, you increase his basic characteristics (they will not increase immediately, but only when the character digests the food, which will take some time). For clothes, there are 4 slots in which you can put different types of clothes (that is, you cannot put 4 jackets in the slots). It needs to be bought in stores, and each belongs to its own specific brand. If you wear clothes of a certain brand, then after several battles it will reach the top in a specific area, and you will receive a temporary improvement in characteristics.

Actually, how to fight in TWEWY? The combat is carried out on both screens at once for Neku and his partners, of which there will be three in total during the game. Battles on the lower screen are led by Neku using icons, of which there can be a maximum of 6. Each icon has its own specific ability, and there are a lot of them in the game: some allow you to shoot lightning, and for this you just need to touch the enemy with the stylus, some allow you to control fire, and for this you need to draw a line on the screen, and some allow you to cause an earthquake, and for this you need to draw a circle on a free area.

Each icon corresponds to its own ability and its own movement with the stylus on the screen, which allows the player to create something like a build for himself. Badges can also be upgraded to several levels. The battle on the top screen is conducted by Neku’s partner: Shiki, Joshua or Beat. Each of them has slightly different gameplay, but the point is to choose the right cards while dealing damage to the enemy. For Shiki you need to guess a sequence of three different cards, for Joshua you need to choose a number that is greater, less than or equal to the required one, for Bit you just need to build a combination of card suits. For the right combinations you can get stars, upon reaching a certain number of which it will be possible to use the ult of Neku and a partner, causing a large amount of damage to opponents. It’s difficult to fight on two screens at the same time, especially since the partner combat system is not so well developed, and I’m even glad that it eventually went into the background, because you can have AI play as your partner – and although it doesn’t do that much damage, it still copes with its task, so you can completely concentrate on the lower screen.

All three weeks of the Nonukcasinosites.co.uk/review/royal-fortune/ game take place in an area of ​​Tokyo called Shibuya. It is divided into areas: it can be either a square or just a separate street. By the end of the passage, you will clearly have memorized the location of all these sectors and will be well oriented around the city. In every region, fashion is constantly changing: first one brand reaches the top, then another. If one of them becomes the most popular, then the icons associated with it become stronger and more powerful. And sometimes there is such a task: to raise a certain brand to the top. To do this, you need to dress in the clothes of this brand, put on its badges and fight a couple of times – and then the brand reaches the top, and your badges receive an attack buff.

Well, let’s talk about the tasks and puzzles of the Reapers, since this is also, in my opinion, an interesting part of the game. Every in-game day a new task awaits us from the Reapers. At first they will be quite simple (for example, the very first mission is just to get to the area called “104”), but the further you go, the more interesting. Somewhere we will need to change a person’s thoughts to those that are beneficial to us (there is some similarity with Christopher Nolan’s “Inception”), somewhere we will need to make the brand the most fashionable in the area. Towards the end of the game there was just an amazing puzzle with boxes, where you need to defeat only certain noises and leave the rest alone: ​​it took me about half an hour to understand what they actually wanted from me. Also, very often you need to go to some location, but there is a wall there, next to which there is a Reaper. And to go further, you need to complete his task. That is, it turns out to be a puzzle within a puzzle. Basically, it all comes down to the extermination of Noises, but there are exceptions, one of which I described above.

But the bosses in TWEWY are really difficult: while ordinary enemies did not cause any inconvenience, the leaders always challenged me. And in most cases I switched to Easy because I was simply tired of the battle. Some of the bosses (for example, Kariya or Minamimoto) were unpleasant because they were difficult to fight, some (Kitaniji in the form of a dragon) were interesting. They don’t cause any particular anger, you just need to concentrate and defeat them. And this is exactly the case when it was impossible to trust the artificial intelligence controlling my partner Neku, because then I would receive much more damage and deal less.

But what really pissed me off was the final boss. The last day is basically a boss rush chapter (I think one day can be counted as one chapter), where you will need to defeat three bosses in a row. And if the first two did not cause me any particular difficulties and, in general, did not differ in complexity from the previous ones, then the last one turned out to be a very tough nut to crack, which I was never able to crack. Not only is it logically far-fetched (you need to fight Kitaniji for the third time), the boss itself is very tough: you have to maneuver among his projectiles, like in some Gradius, while still having time to attack him. Moreover, at some point he can completely restore his health, which for me was the last straw. As a result, I went to level up, and in about an hour I earned myself 5 levels (I went up from 35 to 40). But this changed little, and I just couldn’t get past the boss. In the end, I gave up on it and watched the ending on YouTube (especially since I already knew it from the anime adaptation).

There are a lot of collectibles in TWEWY that you can collect – these are CDs with the soundtrack, and badges that are needed for battles, and various clothes… And I, to be honest, do not envy those who want to complete this game 100%. The overall percentage of completion of the entire game with all items is visible only on the save screen, and you will either have to write everything down in some kind of notebook, or go strictly according to the guide. In both cases, this is not very convenient, but keep this feature in mind if you aim for a full passage.

But what I want to idolize The World Ends with You for is its music: I rarely come across such cool and powerful songs written specifically for a game. If you play TWEWY for at least an hour, you will definitely remember several songs. They stick in your memory and you want to listen to them again from time to time. What’s interesting: the song “Twister” is heard in the opening scene of the game and is therefore memorable. But in the game there are quite a few different versions of it: sometimes the instruments will change, sometimes the lyrics of the song will completely change, but the rhythm will remain the same… Because of this, a pleasant feeling of déjà vu arises: it seems to be the same melody that we have already listened to, but still it is a little different.

Each song here has its own role (for example, the aforementioned “Twister” is Neku’s theme), and the authors thus transferred part of the narrative from the cutscenes to the soundtrack, which I think is quite unusual.

We can’t help but mention the unforgettable style of The World Ends with You. Tetsuya Nomura is truly an outstanding person in the gaming industry, and you definitely know the characters he had a hand in. TWEWY is remembered primarily for its style, and this applies to both the main characters and other aspects of the game – thanks to this, the game is well etched in the memory, even for those who spent a little time in it.

Well, now we can talk about the plot: this, in my opinion, is the main advantage of the game, besides the music. I don’t want to retell the whole story: I’d rather describe how the Reaper Game works, and then I’ll talk about the characters. I’ll try to tell you without major spoilers, since a couple of surprises are definitely waiting for you if you decide to go through TWEWY, and I don’t want to spoil them.

So, the main idea is that when a person dies not naturally (but is hit by a car, for example), he ends up in the Underground (in the original Underground, abbreviated as UG) – essentially, a dimension parallel to the real world. People in the Underground see people from the Realground, the real world (in the original Realground, abbreviated RG), but somehow cannot physically interact with them. The point of the Reaper’s Game is to give people who die by accident a second chance. But there is also one important point: people are charged for participating in the game. It can be anything, but, as a rule, it is the most expensive thing a person has. The game itself lasts 7 days: every day, people who are called Players here must complete certain tasks that the reapers send to them on their phones at the beginning of the day. In general, Reapers are needed to keep an eye on the players and ruin their lives in every possible way. Each game one of the reapers becomes its Master (in the original – Game Master). The monsters we have to fight are called Noises. They can have only 2 possible origins: either they are caused by the Reapers (which does not happen very often), or they are formed from the negative emotions of people in the Realground. Players need to fight the Noises using icons, which I have already described in detail above, but it is literally impossible to do this alone: ​​you need to form an alliance with another player and thus become partners. Over the course of six days, players complete various tasks, and the seventh day can be called a boss battle – you will need to fight the current owner of the game. If a pair of players win, one of them will return to their world.

Now that the rules of the game have become more or less clear, we can talk about the characters. Although TWEWY is a really big game, there aren’t very many of them in it. And you will remember each character (if it is not an episodic character). Everyone here stands out in some way, be it people trying to help the main characters with something, or the Reapers. The latter seem to be not the most pleasant side of this story, but one couple, Koki Kariya and Uzuki Yashiro, allows you to see the Game from the inside. Neku and his friends will meet them more than once, and we will often watch the dialogue between these two. With the help of Kariya and Uzuki, the Reapers are humanized, the game shows that they are just doing their job and that they also have a lot of their own problems, including those close to us. I really like that TWEWY doesn’t have an antagonist. Yes, the Reapers brought Nek a lot of trouble, but they were just doing their job. Only the Masters are closest to the status of full-fledged antagonists, but even they did not do so many clearly negative actions.

Neku’s partners, of course, are given significantly more time than other characters. Only Joshua remained unsolved, but it seems to me that he should remain a mysterious figure about whom we know little. He appears here as an omnipotent being, playing with the destinies of people (including the main characters) and omnipotent even in the Realground. In my opinion, this is what a deity who is already several hundred years old would look like: he is dressed in a simple shirt, which stands out quite strongly among the stylish clothes of Neku and Shiki, clearly knows more than he says and is calm even in the most extreme situations. Despite the fact that we know very little about Joshua, he remains one of the most charismatic and therefore memorable characters in the game.

Shiki and Beat have their own dramatic arcs and difficulties they must overcome. Bit’s entire line is tied to his sister and talks about love as sincere care for each other. Basically, it is Bit who is revealed here: he understands that everyone makes mistakes, the main thing is to admit these mistakes in time and try to correct them, and that is why he is Neku’s last partner, this is how he atones for his earlier actions.

Things get more interesting with Shiki: Neku initially rejects her, but because of the Reaper Game he has to trust the girl. Shiki’s inner conflict is accepting herself for who she is. As payment, they take away her appearance, and at first Neku falls in love with the external beauty of the girl (who belongs to her friend). But then, having spent more time with Shiki and getting to know her better, Neku notices the beauty of her soul in her, and their relationship leads to the fact that at the end of the week Shiki is already the most important and dear person for Neku, whose loss will be difficult.

The arcs of this trio are written perfectly, you believe these characters. Moreover, they often find themselves alone with each other or even with themselves. This is an excellent technique that allows you to take a little breath after another battle and get into another conversation between Neku and Beat, for example, which can reveal their characters.

But the main character here, of course, is Neku. The whole plot is built around him, this is his story. At the beginning of the game, this is a person you probably wouldn’t want to talk to. The world is limited to himself, he does not trust anyone but himself. But the circumstances in which Neku finds himself, namely the Reaper Game, force him to change. The meeting with Shiki also had a strong influence on him, because to successfully win the Game you need to completely trust your partner in order to act in symbiosis with him. For the next two weeks, Neku fought not so much for himself and his survival, but for her. Even in scenes with conversations, you can see from the expression on the teenager’s face how he changes, becomes more welcoming and friendly. Well, in the finale, Neku manages to save Shibuya, because he was able to trust Joshua, despite everything that he did. Without his friends and the influence they had on him, he would not have won the game, he would not have been able to go through all these trials.

The finale of TWEWY is a wonderful conclusion to a great story, in which Neku fights not with abstract evil, but first of all with himself, his fears and inner demons. The only flaw in the plot that I discovered for myself is connected with the ending: as the game progresses, things will happen that they are not in a hurry to explain to us. And only at the end, literally before the credits, everything will become clear, so all the questions that arose during the passage just need to be brought to the end. But let’s return to the finale: it turned out to be very emotional. Neku realizes himself, understands who is dear to him, and only by trusting Joshua does he save Shibuya. The last scene before the credits, when all the friends are reunited in the Realground, brings tears to my eyes: all the storylines are completed, all the dots are done – Neku’s story ended beautifully. The rules of the Game fit perfectly with his story: he was given a second chance, and he took advantage of it, changing and internally reborn into a completely different person.

It’s Neku Sakuraba’s story that makes The World Ends with You such a powerful influence on me. Your favorite game appears in your life at exactly the right moment, remember? Neku’s character turned out to be very close to me. And his arc prompted me to change something in my life, to change somehow. As a result, I became more open, for which I am grateful not only to TWEWY, but also to those around me. Therefore, we can safely say that this game greatly influenced me, prompting me to change my life for the better.

Many games have a good story. Story is an integral part of many video games: an interesting plot motivates the player to continue playing the game, even if the gameplay is not very exciting for him. If you remember a game with a really cool plot (for example, BioShock Infinite), many people immediately remember the story, and not the gameplay discoveries and interesting situations: the plot and gameplay are clearly separated from each other, and if you remove one from the game, the second will not suffer in any way. The World Ends with You doesn’t work like that: in it, both the plot and the gameplay are in symbiosis: just by watching the cutscenes, you won’t get a feel for the game. When in the game Shiki says that partners should trust each other, this is immediately visible in the gameplay: you need to fight the Noises together, on two screens at once. Neku should get a feel for Shibuya, just like the player: you need to know where each area is so as not to wander around for a long time looking for the right location, follow fashion trends that are constantly changing and regularly go to stores for new clothes. Games like The World Ends with You are few and far between and should therefore be treasured. We need to value even more games that express some thoughts and give a reason for self-development and changes in life. This is a true work of art that has had a huge impact on me and I am grateful for it.

And if we talk about the meaning of the name of the game, then everything will become clearer if we translate it: the world is limited to you. Everyone sets the boundaries of their inner world differently. Neku shuts himself off from everyone, but then expands his inner world, letting his friends in. This is the main moral of this work – do not isolate yourself, open up new horizons… None of us are perfect, but we can become the best version of ourselves if we expand the boundaries of our inner world and trust the people around us.