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The World Ends with You Review: Is It Worth It?

The world ends with you cover

The World Ends with You Review: Is It Worth It?

An action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix. The World Ends with You was released in 2007 for Nintendo DS, iOS, Android, and Nintendo Switch. The premise of the game is rather straightforward but at the same time pretty crazy and morbid: you take control of a boy named Neck who finds out that he has only seven days to live. And with that basis, Neck sets out on a crazy, existential journey to save himself from the God of Death, along with the help of a companion named Tsuki.

Interesting Gameplay Mechanics

the world ends with you screenshot
The World Ends with You gameplay.

The World Ends with You employs an interesting role-playing/action hybrid gameplay mechanic. It has a heavy emphasis on real time action, but which also features some prominent role-playing elements. Control of Neck is done via the bottom screen; tap the screen and on the top screen. Neck moves to the place corresponding with the one the player tapped. 

When fighting a battle, the action aspect of this game rears its head. Actions such as tapping, swiping, and holding the stylus on the enemies activates attacks, which in turn depletes some of the power from the attack used. Players are encouraged to keep combos going by employing various different attacks until the enemy is felled. Additionally, the L and R buttons are used to slightly change the effect of the different actions that are performed.

Features of The World Ends with You

the world ends with you
Visually appealing graphics.

The battles may have a stronger emphasis on action, there’s a clear RPG presence in The World Ends with You. Stats in the game are dependent entirely upon the clothes the character is wearing. So, they can occasionally go to shops and purchase equipment to upgrade the character’s abilities. 

In addition to that, however, there are tons of metals scattered throughout the game for the player to collect — each medal has different uses and values. Some are simply sold, while others give new moves during battles. However, players can’t just use every badge that they run across — the game employs a badge point system. With each level up, Neck gains more badge points, which are necessary to equip badges, and naturally more powerful and useful badges will require more of these points.

Dual Combat Opportunities 

screenshot of combat in the world ends with you
Dual combat in The World Ends with You.

Once Tsuki joins up with Meck, there’s also the ability to unleash some pretty devastating dual attacks. Which have both Neck and Tsuki attacking a foe for far more damage than would be dealt if they attacked individually. Players can choose to control Tsuki directly or have her controlled automatically. Regardless, though, players will see an icon appear prompting a dual attack once Tsuki manages to pull off specific combos in battle. Needless to say, these attacks are pretty useful and can help out with even the game’s toughest bosses. As players progress further and further into the game, combinations and dual attacks become very important.

Final Words

One of the most well-known and most interesting aspects of The World Ends with You is the fantastic art style. The game is full of animated cutscenes. But in addition to that, the in-game visuals themselves are really neat. The World Ends with You really does prove that it’s style, not polygon count, that ultimately decides how good a game looks. Keep an eye out for The World Ends with You, because this is one player are not going to want to miss.

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