(A WEAK-SAUCE HOOK)
I don't often recommend games, and I certainly don't pretend this recommendation carries any clout, but The World Ends With You (TWEWY) is so egregiously underappreciated that I'm willing to GO THAT EXTRA MILE for the first clause of this sentence, and pretend this post matters for the second.
Ok, so TWEWY is great.
Amazing.
Stellar.
Etc.
The art style is masterful, though I will gloss over this for brevity so you must take it as fact! The music is equally well done, but once more I won't be talking about the music so you're forced to believe or dismiss my opinion on the weakest of pretenses. The game tells a compelling story. Instead of serving as ho-hum filler to explain why you're doing (x) at (y), you'll actually enjoy those whacky, whacky plot developments. This is the most engrossing story I've ever seen in a game.
There's also humor! The game takes itself seriously, but also contains QUALITY COMEDY. From a cashier who thinks you're gay because you frequent his shop and is distraught because the training manual didn't tell him how to deal with such a situation to a math savant that screams the trigonometric functions in battle and uses 'zetta' every line, and a reference to Charles Barkley: Shut Up and Jam!: Gaiden! (!!!) you will be IN STITCHES. You can -read people's minds-, and if you'd like 'imprint memes' into their thinking, for example giving a chef the idea of serving 'desert ramen'. Seriously.
Gameplay! The gameplay is cool! Other adjectives meaning 'good' too! Here is a watery description of the gameplay which will suffice as to why the gameplay is a synonym for 'good'. You basically control two characters at once during a battle, one on each screen. One of the characters, Neku, has a customisable moveset with which you can do all sorts of things...like a dashing pin that effectively makes you INPINCIBLE, or running more slowly! You control the other character in such a way as to get fusion stars to use a powerful attack, and continue passing a puck which magnifies attack damage. The game is also customisable in a truly agreeable fashion; you basically make the game as hard as you want. You can set the difficulty, your level, and best of all the battles you fight. Aside from a handful of story related battles, you're in complete control of what and when you fight. I don't think I can go back to games mired in random battles after I have SEEN THE LIGHT. It's fun, and other adjectives with this meaning! Revolutionary, too!
So TWEWY is great at everything! Here are some arbitrary marks, which would be higher if Square Enix cared about public perception of this game and spent money for a higher review score instead of
wanting no such games creative.
Presentation-9/10
Graphics-9/10
Sounds-9/10
Gameplay-9/10
Replayability-9/10
Quotability-9/10
Malleability-9/10
(and 4000 other unecessary segregations of erroneously defined components)
Other people who enjoy TWEWY: Rolken, MK, RPG, possibly Stephen Colbert.
But seriously, TWEWY is the most original quality game that I've played in years. It's twofold irksome to me that Square wants nothing to do with it and that it sold so poorly. If you're considering a DS purchase, at least look into TWEWY.
(This has been my incoherent rant of the year)
