Game Journal: The World Ends With You (Preconceptions)

The Worlds Ends With You (2008, Square) is already on many people's short list for game of the year. It's pretty surprising considering it's a DS game. I figured I'd pick it up, ostensibly for PAX. Writing impressions of Grimm as I played it felt good. Games are a dialog between players and creators, and simply writing a one page review at the end of the process kind of feels wrong now.

The dialog with a game (for me anyway) starts long before I ever get my hands on it. I'm not going to put down money on a game that isn't well regarded by someone who's opinion I respect. As part of tracking those opinions I hear a fair amount about the game and develop an idea of the experience it provides. These are the preconceptions I had about The World Ends With You.

• It's an action RPG.


• You fight on both the bottom and top screens of the DS.


• Trying to manage both screens is a huge pain.


• You have pins that give you powers in battle.


• You level up your pins to make them more effective.


• Your pins can even gain XP (experience points) while the DS is off.


• They can also gain XP while other DSes are nearby.


• The game is set in Tokyo's Shibuya district, known for its fashion obsessed youth culture.


• Wearing stylish clothes improves combat abilities.


• Your character must have a certain amount of bravery points to wear certain clothes.


• At some level the game is a critique of shallow youth culture. There will be a moral.