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Nitpicking video games!! The World Ends With You (Part 1)
Kay on psychic Japanese teenagers who go shopping for power-ups in order to fight invisible monsters!
All names are in "English" order because that's how the game does it and I don't really care all that much.
The Plot: Neku Sakuraba hates everyone. He doesn't need anyone else to survive and he hates that everyone keeps wanting him to be civilized. But something happens, and he wakes up in an alternate Shibuya with no idea how he got there, what he was doing, or -- anything about himself other than his name. He's now a Player in what they call the Reaper's Game, where people (?) called Reapers give you missions once a day for seven days, which you must complete combating monsters called Noise. If any Player wins the challenge, then the game continues. If the Players lose... they get "erased".
Unfortunately, Players can't fight the Noise by themselves. They can only fight in teams of two. And Neku made a pact with a girl named Shiki who he now has to -- brr! -- spend time with.
The Music: Normally I don't think music makes or breaks a game, e.g. CC had some truly beautiful music but I didn't feel compelled to point it out. I have to point out that this game has what may be the worst soundtrack I've ever heard. If there was any music that didn't annoy me after a few minutes, it's solely because it was too bland to notice. Generally speaking, there's a lot of annoying techno-sounding music accompanied by droning voices "singing" nonsense lyrics, all the damn time. This game's music is terrible. It's the first time I've actively felt reluctant to turn on the volume on a game, ever. Tycho called the soundtrack "sparkling" and I'm wondering if he refers to the sparkle of blood after it comes out your ears or something.
The Battle System: First of all, let me explain it. There are monsters called Noise that Neku can usually only see when he's "scanning" the area, and all non-plot combat (e.g. here is a boss fight, here you must defeat this Noise to get into the next area) is optional. When in combat, Neku and his partner (so far only Shiki) each fight on a different screen; you control Neku with the stylus, and you can optionally control his partner through the D-Pad, otherwise she'll autofight. You acquire various Pins during gameplay, and these Pins can be sold for yen or equipped and used. Each Pin has a different psych, or trick to using it -- for example, equip, um, a lightning-related Pin, and that unlocks a technique where you tap an enemy twice and it will be hit by lightning.
Now, the negatives: It is very annoying that Neku's lifebar and Shiki's lifebar are connected. So far I have had about five Game Overs because she sucks, and only one Game Over because I suck. I am sitting here totalling enemies, and she is sitting there getting totalled. It's like a race to see if I can kill the enemies before they kill her. Her AI is fucking retarded or something. And the worst part is that my clumsy efforts to control her don't really help. Right now I can't manage the dual screens very well, but when I do control her she just seems to get hit even more often (since the D-pad controls her attacking, but not her movement. I can't move her).
And then there's Fuse. You achieve Fusion by doing some... things... it's not explained very well, while controlling Shiki's attacks. If you get the right pattern, then you unlock the Fuse technique. It is a really bad sign that they gave me a tutorial battle in which to learn how to use Fusion and I play through it three goddamn times to try and get it right and both times they kill the enemies before I can have a chance to use Fusion.
But ignoring her and just focusing on Neku's battle screen, the battle system is pretty fun and I like it. I love the Pins and I love their leveling system and I like the dorky fail of collecting them.
The Characters
Not-Sora/Neku: There's something wrong with me, but I really appreciate characters who think everyone around them is fucking annoying. I liked Luke early on in TOA, and I like Neku. He's very Squall-esque: he'll have a lot of internal narration, things he won't actually say out loud to anyone, often right over Shiki's dialogue just totally ignoring her, and then only speak a few words out loud, often rude. (But not as rude as what he's saying in his head, a lot of the time! See, totally civilized!) I appreciate that seeing what a good person Shiki is and how he's misjudged her and wronged her has not yet made him like her more, or, you know, made him into a better human being somehow. He's still really quick to think, "She's so fucking dumb" or "Why won't she shut up? She just keeps chattering on pointlessly." For all this, he is actually very clever and is apparently a "genius" with Pins -- he can use a lot of them, and most people can only use one? maybe two? Anyway, also he has two different Pins that mark him as a Player, which is weird, because you obviously only need one. Future plot ahoy.
Not-Kairi/Shiki: Despite her tragic lack of pants and really unsettlingly sharp hipbone protruding right out of her skin, Shiki hasn't annoyed me yet. She tries really hard to communicate with Neku, obviously failing because he is so very anti-people, and she's the one who keeps them rolling a lot of the time, and she's nice but not too nice to not yell at Neku when he needs to be yelled at. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to think she's stupid or that Neku is just that much smarter than everyone else, but either way her flailing when she says something inane or when he puts together pieces she didn't know they had is cute.
Not-Namine/"Rhythm" and Not-Seifer/"Beat": These two are another partnered pair playing the Reaper's Game. They go by aliases (his name, for example, is Daisukenojo Bito, and why would you do that to someone?) because they are that fucking trendy. Tragically, Beat has some verbal quirk that causes them to translate him like a stereotype. "WHATCHOO TALKIN BOUT, PHONES?!" See, he calls Neku "Phones" because he wears headphones... Okay. Beat seems to be aggressive and a little dumb, and Rhythm seems to be mild and pleasant and smiley, and there's definitely something there. ("She's my... ...partner." Shiki didn't pause like that when describing Neku as her partner, and that kid is a fucking alien. And Beat got really angry when Neku made Rhythm feel bad.) Rhythm is the only person with an alias who doesn't have a "real name" revealed, which makes me think she has plot. Anyway these two totally make me feel vindicated for my Seifer/Namine crackship.
Sanae Hanekawa something, I only remember his given name because it's girly: This guy is really cool. He's very Paul Wan or Urahara or something. Just your local friendly barista who knows everything for some reason. Neku feels oddly compelled to "want to talk to him again". I snicker.
"Joshua": I haven't met whoever this guy is yet, but the game manual makes a big fucking deal about his connection or lack thereof to Neku. I assume I'm probably meant to pair them.
Overall: The battle system is slightly aggravating, and the music is mind-blowingly bad, but the game is really fun and really cool so far. I'm going to tentatively recommend it until I've had a chance to play further.
All names are in "English" order because that's how the game does it and I don't really care all that much.
The Plot: Neku Sakuraba hates everyone. He doesn't need anyone else to survive and he hates that everyone keeps wanting him to be civilized. But something happens, and he wakes up in an alternate Shibuya with no idea how he got there, what he was doing, or -- anything about himself other than his name. He's now a Player in what they call the Reaper's Game, where people (?) called Reapers give you missions once a day for seven days, which you must complete combating monsters called Noise. If any Player wins the challenge, then the game continues. If the Players lose... they get "erased".
Unfortunately, Players can't fight the Noise by themselves. They can only fight in teams of two. And Neku made a pact with a girl named Shiki who he now has to -- brr! -- spend time with.
The Music: Normally I don't think music makes or breaks a game, e.g. CC had some truly beautiful music but I didn't feel compelled to point it out. I have to point out that this game has what may be the worst soundtrack I've ever heard. If there was any music that didn't annoy me after a few minutes, it's solely because it was too bland to notice. Generally speaking, there's a lot of annoying techno-sounding music accompanied by droning voices "singing" nonsense lyrics, all the damn time. This game's music is terrible. It's the first time I've actively felt reluctant to turn on the volume on a game, ever. Tycho called the soundtrack "sparkling" and I'm wondering if he refers to the sparkle of blood after it comes out your ears or something.
The Battle System: First of all, let me explain it. There are monsters called Noise that Neku can usually only see when he's "scanning" the area, and all non-plot combat (e.g. here is a boss fight, here you must defeat this Noise to get into the next area) is optional. When in combat, Neku and his partner (so far only Shiki) each fight on a different screen; you control Neku with the stylus, and you can optionally control his partner through the D-Pad, otherwise she'll autofight. You acquire various Pins during gameplay, and these Pins can be sold for yen or equipped and used. Each Pin has a different psych, or trick to using it -- for example, equip, um, a lightning-related Pin, and that unlocks a technique where you tap an enemy twice and it will be hit by lightning.
Now, the negatives: It is very annoying that Neku's lifebar and Shiki's lifebar are connected. So far I have had about five Game Overs because she sucks, and only one Game Over because I suck. I am sitting here totalling enemies, and she is sitting there getting totalled. It's like a race to see if I can kill the enemies before they kill her. Her AI is fucking retarded or something. And the worst part is that my clumsy efforts to control her don't really help. Right now I can't manage the dual screens very well, but when I do control her she just seems to get hit even more often (since the D-pad controls her attacking, but not her movement. I can't move her).
And then there's Fuse. You achieve Fusion by doing some... things... it's not explained very well, while controlling Shiki's attacks. If you get the right pattern, then you unlock the Fuse technique. It is a really bad sign that they gave me a tutorial battle in which to learn how to use Fusion and I play through it three goddamn times to try and get it right and both times they kill the enemies before I can have a chance to use Fusion.
But ignoring her and just focusing on Neku's battle screen, the battle system is pretty fun and I like it. I love the Pins and I love their leveling system and I like the dorky fail of collecting them.
The Characters
Not-Sora/Neku: There's something wrong with me, but I really appreciate characters who think everyone around them is fucking annoying. I liked Luke early on in TOA, and I like Neku. He's very Squall-esque: he'll have a lot of internal narration, things he won't actually say out loud to anyone, often right over Shiki's dialogue just totally ignoring her, and then only speak a few words out loud, often rude. (But not as rude as what he's saying in his head, a lot of the time! See, totally civilized!) I appreciate that seeing what a good person Shiki is and how he's misjudged her and wronged her has not yet made him like her more, or, you know, made him into a better human being somehow. He's still really quick to think, "She's so fucking dumb" or "Why won't she shut up? She just keeps chattering on pointlessly." For all this, he is actually very clever and is apparently a "genius" with Pins -- he can use a lot of them, and most people can only use one? maybe two? Anyway, also he has two different Pins that mark him as a Player, which is weird, because you obviously only need one. Future plot ahoy.
Not-Kairi/Shiki: Despite her tragic lack of pants and really unsettlingly sharp hipbone protruding right out of her skin, Shiki hasn't annoyed me yet. She tries really hard to communicate with Neku, obviously failing because he is so very anti-people, and she's the one who keeps them rolling a lot of the time, and she's nice but not too nice to not yell at Neku when he needs to be yelled at. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to think she's stupid or that Neku is just that much smarter than everyone else, but either way her flailing when she says something inane or when he puts together pieces she didn't know they had is cute.
Not-Namine/"Rhythm" and Not-Seifer/"Beat": These two are another partnered pair playing the Reaper's Game. They go by aliases (his name, for example, is Daisukenojo Bito, and why would you do that to someone?) because they are that fucking trendy. Tragically, Beat has some verbal quirk that causes them to translate him like a stereotype. "WHATCHOO TALKIN BOUT, PHONES?!" See, he calls Neku "Phones" because he wears headphones... Okay. Beat seems to be aggressive and a little dumb, and Rhythm seems to be mild and pleasant and smiley, and there's definitely something there. ("She's my... ...partner." Shiki didn't pause like that when describing Neku as her partner, and that kid is a fucking alien. And Beat got really angry when Neku made Rhythm feel bad.) Rhythm is the only person with an alias who doesn't have a "real name" revealed, which makes me think she has plot. Anyway these two totally make me feel vindicated for my Seifer/Namine crackship.
Sanae Hanekawa something, I only remember his given name because it's girly: This guy is really cool. He's very Paul Wan or Urahara or something. Just your local friendly barista who knows everything for some reason. Neku feels oddly compelled to "want to talk to him again". I snicker.
"Joshua": I haven't met whoever this guy is yet, but the game manual makes a big fucking deal about his connection or lack thereof to Neku. I assume I'm probably meant to pair them.
Overall: The battle system is slightly aggravating, and the music is mind-blowingly bad, but the game is really fun and really cool so far. I'm going to tentatively recommend it until I've had a chance to play further.
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For the record, Neku and Sora are also the same age. Keep your prejudices in your pocket, cowboy.