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The World Ends with You
North American boxart. Clockwise from top: Beat, Rhyme, Shiki, Neku, and Joshua.
Developer(s)	Square Enix, Jupiter
Publisher(s)	Square Enix
Designer(s)	Hiroyuki Itō
Artist(s)	Gen Kobayashi Tetsuya Nomura
Platform(s)	Nintendo DS
Genre(s)	Action role-playing
Mode(s)	Single-player

The World Ends with You, released in Japan as It's a Wonderful World (すばらしきこのせかい, Subarashiki Kono Sekai, literally "This Wonderful World"), is an action role-playing game developed by Square Enix's Kingdom Hearts team and Jupiter for the Nintendo DS handheld console. Set in the modern-day Shibuya shopping district of Tokyo, The World Ends with You features a distinctive art style inspired by the aesthetics of Shibuya and its youth culture. Development was inspired by elements of Jupiter's previous game, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. It was released in Japan in July 2007, and in PAL regions and North America in April 2008.

In the game, Neku Sakuraba and his allies are forced to participate in a game that will determine their fate. The battle system uses many of the unique features of the Nintendo DS, including combat that takes place on both screens, and attacks performed by certain motions on the touchscreen or by shouting into the microphone. Elements of Japanese youth culture, such as fashion, food, and cell phones, are key aspects of the missions.

The World Ends with You received positive reviews, which praised the graphics, soundtrack, and integration of gameplay into the Shibuya setting. The few common complaints were related to the steep learning curve of the battle system as well as the imprecise touch-screen controls. In the week of its release, the game was the second best-selling DS title in Japan, and the top selling DS title in the US.

Plot

Setting

The game takes place in a fictional version of the Shibuya shopping district in Tokyo, Japan. While everyday life goes on in the Realground (RG), the dead are brought to a parallel dimension called the Underground (UG). The UG is also the venue for the Reapers' Game. By offering their most treasured possession to enter the Game, the dead (Players) gain the chance to contest for the prize: to be brought back to life or to transcend to a higher form of spiritual existence. Most of those who choose to transcend become Reapers, the opponents of Players in future Games. Lasting a week, each Game is a contest to judge the worth of humanity. Players set out to accomplish objectives under the rules created by the Composer, a Reaper put in charge of the Game. Another Reaper, the Conductor, tasks other Reapers to obstruct the Players' efforts. Failure to complete a mission will disperse the mind and spirit of the Player or Reaper, thus erasing his or her existence.

A Player in the UG is invisible to the living in the RG, though they can sometimes read and influence their thoughts. The UG is home to creatures called "Noise", which are created from the negative feelings of the living. To progress in the Reapers' Game, Players are often required to defeat Noise by killing or "erasing" them. However, each Noise exists in two "zones" simultaneously, and can only be defeated by two Players fighting the Noise from separate zones; Players are therefore required to form a pact with another Player to survive the Noise. Players receive assignments via e-mails sent to the their cell phones, and their right hands are imprinted with a countdown indicating the time left in the mission. After a day's mission is complete, the remaining Players find themselves at the start of the next day's mission, appearing as if they have skipped ahead in time.

Characters

The player assumes the role of Neku Sakuraba, an antisocial teenage boy more interested in listening to music than interacting with others. Computer-controlled characters make up the rest of the cast, which includes Players who are paired with Neku. In the first Game, Neku is paired with Shiki Misaki, a teenage girl who takes on the form of her best friend; her physical appearance was her price of entry for the Game. Subsequently, Neku's partner is an intelligent and sly teenage boy, Yoshiya Kiryu, who prefers to be called Joshua. Neku's final partner is Daisukenojo Bito, a Reaper who calls himself "Beat". Beat became a Reaper to find a way to bring his younger sister, Raimu Bito (nicknamed "Rhyme"), back to life. Rhyme had sacrificed herself to save her brother from a Noise attack. Hanekoma changed her soul into a pin, which Beat wears.

Besides the Composer and the Conductor, there are other high-ranking Reapers. For each day of the Game, Game Masters are assigned by the Conductor to lead the opposition to the Players. Of the Game Masters opposing Neku, Sho Minamimoto is the most dangerous. He willingly circumvents the rules in an attempt to supplant the Composer. Participating in the Games with the aim of earning promotions for their performance, the Reapers' goal is to ascend to the highest form of spiritual existence, the Angels. Angels supervise the Games and if the stakes of a Game are particularly high, they send down one of their own to serve as the Producer. For the three weeks of the game's story, Sanae Hanekoma is the Producer. Disguised as a Shibuya cafe owner, he guides new Players and narrates the "Secret Reports" that are obtained by completing additional missions after beating the game.

Story

The game's story follows Neku over the course of the three weeks that he plays the Game, paired with partners Shiki, Joshua, and Beat for each week, respectively. Neku is confused at first, lacking knowledge of how he died or how he arrived at the UG. As he develops friendships with his partners and starts to understand the rules of the Game, he recalls small details of his death; eventually, he recognizes that he was shot at by Sho Minamimoto, one of the Reapers he faced during the Game. After the first week, only Shiki is allowed to return to the living, and she promises to meet Neku at the statue of Hachiko. At the end of the second week, Joshua sacrifices himself to save Neku from a bomb created by Minamimoto.

During the final week, Neku and Beat find that the Reapers and the entire population of Shibuya are wearing special red pins that cause them to think the same harmonious thoughts. Without any missions to complete, the two venture to the fabled "Shibuya River", which Joshua was looking for during the second week. At the river, they find Megumi Kitaniji, the Game's Conductor. Kitaniji explains that he created the red pins in an attempt to remake Shibuya, which the Composer challenged him to do; if he fails, Shibuya will be erased.

At that moment, Joshua reappears and reveals himself to be the Composer. Joshua returns the missing part of Neku's memory of death: Joshua himself shot Neku, choosing him to be his proxy in his challenge with the Conductor; Minamimoto was trying to kill Joshua in his weakened state as a human. After failing to defeat Neku by using his friends against him, Joshua gives Neku one last challenge, to fire upon Joshua to determine the fate of Shibuya. Neku is too conflicted to make a choice, and is shot down by Joshua. Neku finds himself once again at the scramble crossing, confused by events.

The game's credits show scenes seven days later. Neku meets Beat, Rhyme, and Shiki (in her real body) by the statue of Hachiko. Secret reports that can be obtained by completing additional missions after beating the game reveal that Joshua, after seeing the change in personality of Neku over the weeks of playing the game, decides to spare Shibuya, now believing the city to be ideal.

Gameplay

The World Ends with You is an action role-playing game, arranged into three chapters following the three weeks that Neku is involved in the Reaper's Game, with each chapter further divided by each day of the week. The player controls Neku and his partner as they explore Shibuya to complete each day's mission. Although most missions require completion within a certain time for Neku and his partner, this timer is not correlated to the passage of time for the player.

Shibuya is divided into several districts, some of which may be inaccessible on certain days or blocked by a wall that can only be removed by satisfying the request of a nearby Reaper, such as erasing a number of Noise symbols or obtaining a certain article of clothing. Neku can scan the area by activating a special pin. This scan reveals the thoughts of the non-player characters in the Realground and memes, which may help to progress the plot. The scan also reveals random Noise symbols that drift about the area, or in some cases, float around a specific character. The player initiates a battle by touching Noise symbols; each symbol constitutes one round of battle. Selecting more than one Noise symbol at a time results in a multi-round battle that gradually increases in difficulty with each round, but conversely leads to greater rewards upon success. Altering the difficulty of the Noise and the amount of health for Neku and his partner also alter the benefits conferred.

Each district has fashion trends that affect gameplay. By wearing pins or clothing from the more popular brands in that district, the effects of the items will be improved; wearing the least fashionable items will do the opposite, while items from brands in between suffer no positive or negative effects. However, the player can increase a brand's popularity in one district by repeatedly fighting battles in that district while wearing items of that brand. The player can enter shops to buy new pins, clothes, and food items that are gradually consumed during battles to improve the characters' basic attributes.

After completing the game, the player can return to any day in the story and play through those events again, keeping the characters' current statistics and inventory. "Secret Reports", written segments that reveal background elements of the story, can be unlocked through this mode by completing specific missions during each day. Completing the game allows the player to access "Another Day" through the game's menus, an additional day of missions that explains certain events related to the main storyline. The World Ends with You has one minigame called Tin Pin Slammer that can be played against computer opponents or with up to 3 others via a wireless connection. Tin Pin Slammer is similar to the marble game ringer, with each player attempting to use their pins one at a time to knock the other players' pins off the gameboard.

Pins

The World Ends with You features "psych pins", decorative pins that possess certain powers that only Neku can activate while wearing them. Psych pins are used for combat, for "Tin Pin Slammer", or as trade value for money or equipment. Most pins, particularly those used in combat, can become more powerful as the player accumulates "Pin Points" (PP).. Pin Points are commonly earned through battle, but can also be earned through a period of inactivity with the game, or by interacting with other DS players or random wireless sources. Each of these methods influences the growth of pins within the game.

Combat

The game's combat system is called the Stride Cross Battle System. The combat takes place across both screens on the DS, with Neku on the touchscreen and his partner on the top screen, representing the different "zones" of the same local area; the two characters battle the same enemies that exist in both "zones" simultaneously. Neku and his partner are in synchronization during battle; they share the same health bar so that even if one character does not take any damage, the pair can fail in battle if the other takes too much. A green "light puck" will pass between the characters during battle; when the character has this puck, their damage is increased. The movement of the light puck is determined by the "sync ratio" between Neku and his partner, with the puck staying longer with the character with higher ratios. The player can equip Neku and his partner with clothing that can alter the speed of travel of the light puck.

The player controls Neku by performing touchscreen actions based on the currently equipped pins. These actions may include slashing across an enemy, tapping the screen rapidly to fire bullets, or holding down on an enemy to inflict damage. Other pins need to be touched to activate them, such as for health restoration. Each pin has a limited number of uses before it must recharge for a certain time. Other pins may only be used a fixed number of times during a series of battles, and do not recharge until the battle sequence is over. Neku can only be equipped with a maximum of two pins at the game's start; this can eventually be upgraded to a maximum of six.

Neku's partner on the top screen can be controlled by the player or the game itself. Each of Neku's partners has a card game-based mechanic; for example, Shiki's card game requires the player to match face-down Zener cards. The partner can make a basic attack after the player navigates through a pathway of arrows to select one of several shown cards using the directional pad or face buttons. However, by navigating to a card that fits within the card game rules, the player earns a star. Once enough stars are collected, the player can launch a powerful "Fusion" attack using both Neku and his partner through the "Harmonizer Pin" that appears on the upper right of the touchscreen. The player can also help the partner character dodge attacks.

Development

The World Ends with You was developed by the same team that created the Kingdom Hearts series, with input from Jupiter, the company that developed Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. The development of the game started two and a half years before its Japanese release, during the development of Kingdom Hearts II and the end of development of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. At that time, Nintendo had announced the DS, but it was not yet on the market; Square Enix asked the team to make a game specifically for the handheld system. The creative team—consisting of Tatsuya Kando (director), Tomohiro Hasegawa (co-director), Takeshi Arakawa (planning director), and Tetsuya Nomura (character design)—was able to experience the DS during the "Touch DS" event in November 2004. From this demonstration, they had envisioned a version of Chain of Memories in which the card game aspects would be present on the bottom screen and an action role-playing game on the top. As they continued to work on the game, the developers realized that they wanted to use the touchscreen more, to make "a game that can only be played on the DS". However, they also encountered the problem that by focusing heavily on the touchscreen, the top screen would be ignored. From this, the idea of the dual screen battle system arose.

In addition to creating unique gameplay, the designers wanted to build the game around a real location. Initially, they had planned to use a large number of locations across the entire world as the setting. They narrowed down the settings to specific cities due to practicality issues. Ultimately, Kando selected Shibuya as the main setting within the first year of development. The team wanted to make sure the city was represented accurately within the game, and went on "location hunts" onto building rooftops without permission to get photographs. The layout of Shibuya was duplicated for the game, retaining the real-world landmarks while rebranding the names of stores and buildings for copyright reasons; for example, the 109 Building was renamed to be the "104 Building", while one of the busiest Starbucks, adjacent to the scramble crossing, was renamed "Outback Cafe". The selection of Shibuya led to the incorporation of much of the game's other features, including food, clothing, and cell phone usage. The team initially thought of the idea of using graffiti around Shibuya as the source of the player's power in the game but had difficulty representing it; this led to the creation of the psych pins used in the game.

When first approached with the task of creating the art for the game, background art director Takayuki Ohdachi thought the modern-day setting would be too boring, and opted to use highly skewed and angular images of Shibuya to avoid this; the rest of the creative team found this approach to fit the game quite well. For combat, the background of the top screen was selected for visual interest, while the bottom touchscreen background was designed to emphasize the gameplay. Ohdachi was also responsible for the artwork for the psych pins, and used a mix of pop art and tribal designs for the various graphics. Character designs were handled by Tetsuya Nomura and Gen Kobayashi. Character designs were made to match with the real-world Tokyo setting, after which their outfits were designed based on the character's personality. Kobayashi was also in charge of designing the game's non-player characters and noted how most designs made it to the final product. Hasegawa was responsible for creating the designs for the Noise creatures, and wanted to have them recognizable as creatures before they decay into skeletons. In keeping with the theme of human emotion in the game, Hasegawa selected creatures that conveyed such feelings, such as wolves and crows. Representation of the Noise in the game required drawing the 2D sprites from several angles to match the action on screen.

The developers knew that for the story, they wanted to "throw the player right in the action, with things he had to do without explanation", in addition to creating a sense of urgency and mystery for the player. They developed an initial draft of the game's plot and gave it to script writer Sachie Hirano and scenario event Planer Yukari Ishida to expand on. The returned version was very close to the initial vision for the game's story. The Square Enix localization team, while translating most of the dialog and interface items into English and other European languages, preserved many Japanese elements to avoid losing the culture of the game. The team was also limited by the size of the dialog balloons used within game, and took several steps to avoid losing the meaning of the story within the game.

The Japanese title, literally translated as It's a Wonderful World, was not used internationally due to copyright issues. Instead, the game was released in North America and Europe under the name The World Ends with You. The game was officially announced on September 13, 2006 by Square Enix, and premiered at the 2006 Tokyo Game Show two weeks later. On December 5, 2007, Square Enix announced that the game would be released for Europe and Australia in April 2008, while a similar announcement was made for a North American release on December 17, 2007.

A special "Wonderful World" edition of the "Gloss Silver" Nintendo DS Lite was created and sold as a bundle with the game as part of its Japanese release. The game's early plot was adapted into a two-chapter one-shot manga by Shiro Amano, published over two issues of Monthly Shōnen Gangan. In North America, the manga has been released online via the Square Enix Members website.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack to The World Ends with You was composed and produced by Takeharu Ishimoto. The game's music encompasses many genres, combining rock, hip hop, and electronica. The main theme of the game is "Lullaby for You" by Japanese pop artist, Jyongri. Vocal artists featured in the game include Sawa, Makiko Noda, Leah, Ayuko Tanaka, Mai Matsuda, Wakako, Hanaeryca, Cameron Strother, Andy Kinlay, Nulie Nurly, and Londeil "Taz" Hicks.

The official soundtrack of the game, The World Ends with You Original Soundtrack (すばらしきこのせかい ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK, Subarashiki Kono Sekai Original Soundtrack, meaning "It's a Wonderful World Original Soundtrack") was released in Japan on August 22, 2007 and is on sale in the English-language iTunes Store. This release, however, does not include the four tracks unique to localizations outside Japan and is simply a digital version of the Japanese soundtrack.

Square Enix, however, released the digital 6-track EP Subarashiki Konosekai + The World Ends with You (すばらしきこのせかい + The World Ends with You, Subarashiki Kono Sekai + The World Ends with You, meaning "It's a Wonderful World + The World Ends with You") on June 25, 2008 through the Japanese iTunes Store. This release contains the four songs unique to the international version of the game, along with the English version of "Owari-Hajimari" and a remix of "Twister". A 19-track version of the album was given a physical CD and iTunes release on July 30, 2008.

Reception

The World Ends with You received positive reviews and has been commercially successful. Game Informer named the game its Handheld Game of the Month award for May 2008. IGN gave The World Ends with You its Editors' Choice Award, and named it the DS Game of the Month for April. In Japan, the game premiered as the second-best selling DS title during the week of July 27, 2007. Nearly 193,000 units were sold in Japan by the end of 2007. The World Ends with You sold 43,000 copies during April 2008 in North America. These sales were better than expected; the first shipment of the game sold out mid-May and a second shipping was made in mid-June 2008. The game was the top selling DS title the week of its release and again two weeks later.

Many critics praised the departure from other popular titles such as Square Enix's Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts series. Both the graphical presentation and the soundtrack were very well received. The Cross Stride Battle System received some complaints, with reviewers stating that the system is too complex for new players. On the other hand, the system was praised for its unique approach, and for the ability to alter the difficulty of the system within the game. Despite this, Eurogamer's review felt the "sink or swim" reliance on learning the complex battle system to be a significant stumbling block for the game. Reviews also commented that, initially, the character designs were too similar to previous Square Enix titles and may be off-putting to some though in the Shibuya setting they were "absolutely in their element". GamePro noted that the stylus input was imprecise, often mistaking movement and attack actions. 1UP.com's review summarized that the game is much more than the sum of its parts: "By all rights, The World Ends With You should be an annoying disaster, a bundle of tired gimmicks and trite clichés. Yet somehow all the things that should be unbearable fall into place and create a game that's far more unique, interesting, and addictive than it has any right to be."

References

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2. ^ Square Enix, Jupiter (2008-04-22). The World Ends with You. Square Enix. Level/area: Secret Report 4 — Erased. The UG exists as a separate plane where the Composer can judge the worth of men. Within it are Reapers and human Players. It is infeasible for the Composer to judge all of humanity by himself, so a filtering system utilizing the Reapers was created: the Reapers' Game. Reapers act as a test, weeding out unfit Players.
3. Square Enix, Jupiter (2008-04-22). The World Ends with You. Square Enix. Level/area: Secret Report 7 — Wakeless Dream. So, what happens to those who survive the week? Those whose Imagination is less than outstanding are broken down into Soul, while those with excellent Imagination become Reapers. The most talented of these may travel to the next plane, inhabited by Us Angels.
4. Square Enix, Jupiter (2008-04-22). The World Ends with You. Square Enix. Level/area: Secret Report 4 — Erased. Reaper or player, those erased within the Game disperse the mind and spirit housed within their flesh in the form of Soul. Thus, they are erased only from visible existence: their Soul persists in the UG until gathered and tied together according to a new code.
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6. ^ Jupiter (2008). The World Ends with You (Nintendo DS). Square Enix. Shiki: I heard you can only beat the Noise in pairs. But I fought them alone. / Neku: Umm, me too… / Shiki: I couldn't see you while I was fighting. / Reaper: That's because he was in the other zone. / Shiki: Huh? / Reaper: The Noise exist simultaneously in two zones. And the only way to defeat them is by purging them from both.
7. Jupiter (2008). The World Ends with You (Nintendo DS). Square Enix. Shiki: Because this is what I always dreamed of—a new me. I hated who I was. All I wanted was to like myself. To be cute, and smart, and perfect…like Eri. / Neku: …… Then why would the Reapers take your appearance? Your entry fee is supposed to be what you value most. But you just said you hate yourself. / Shiki: At first…I didn't get it either. I was so excited to be Eri that I even acted like her—all bubbly and cute. But it was just an act. Inside, nothing changed. I'm still the same person I've always been. Then I realized. I'll never be Eri. Deep down, I never wanted to be. I was just jealous. The Reaper was right. What I value most is ME!
8. Square Enix, Jupiter (2008-04-22). The World Ends with You. Square Enix. Level/area: Secret Report 15 — Sensible, Senseless. He's partnered to Beat, now a reaper, who is himself fixated on reaching the river.
9. Square Enix, Jupiter (2008-04-22). The World Ends with You. Square Enix. Level/area: Secret Report 17 — The Composer. She has issued a single six-day mission-one that exploits Beat's greatest weakness: Rhyme. Beat's greatest desire is to bring her back to life. Even if revived, though, Rhyme still lost the Game.
10. Square Enix, Jupiter (2008-04-22). The World Ends with You. Square Enix. Level/area: Secret Report 7 — Wakeless Dream. As Reapers execute the Game, they undergo a process of evolution, from grunts to officers to the Composer.
11. Square Enix, Jupiter (2008-04-22). The World Ends with You. Square Enix. Level/area: Secret Report 11 — Pinned. As I've stated, Minamimoto is suspected of a liaison with a Fallen Angel. The Fallen Angel may have chosen Minamimoto for a few reasons. First, none desired of the Composer's office more. Minamimoto's obsession was great enough to compel him to pursue the Composer into the Realground. The question now is, why has Minamimoto abandoned the Game, and what is he doing?
12. Square Enix, Jupiter (2008-04-22). The World Ends with You. Square Enix. Level/area: Secret Report 7 — Wakeless Dream. Diligent Reapers, too, may pass through the office of Composer to ascend to the plane of Angels.
13. Square Enix, Jupiter (2008-04-22). The World Ends with You. Square Enix. Level/area: Secret Report 5 — Empty Urban Legends. Conversely, there exists an even higher plane than the RG and UG. That is where I am from, the plane of the Angels. As in the RG and UG, Angels have created a web of social schema to guide their activities. Their role of Producer is just one cog in the Angel machine. Angel vibes are extremely high-frequency; not even the Composer can catch them all. In actuality, he can pick up only that of the Producer.
14. Jupiter (2008). The World Ends with You (Nintendo DS). Square Enix. Shiki: You know it. Hey, if we make it through this…let's meet up in the RG. You, me, and Beat. You might not recognize me, so…I know! I'll bring Mr. Mew with me. We can be a team again!
15. Jupiter (2008). The World Ends with You (Nintendo DS). Square Enix. Shiki: Neku? See you on the other side. You know the meeting place. Hachiko! / Neku: Heh. It's a date.
16. Jupiter (2008). The World Ends with You (Nintendo DS). Square Enix. Kitaniji: End…Shibuya? But Composer…Sir! Why!? / Joshua: I've decided to wash my hands of it. It has no future value to me or anyone else. So, I'm shutting it down.
17. Jupiter (2008). The World Ends with You (Nintendo DS). Square Enix. Kitaniji: By tearing down the differences between us, I can make the world a paradise! / Neku: By making everybody think alike? That's not even pos— / Kitaniji: It IS possible! With these pins. / Neku: The Red Skull pins. You're behind that, too!?
18. Jupiter (2008). The World Ends with You (Nintendo DS). Square Enix. Neku: Huff…huff… It was you! …… I thought… I thought I finally found a friend I could relate to… But it was YOU! You killed me! / Joshua: Hee hee. Now, Neku, why don't we play one last Game? / Neku: You tricked me… / Joshua: The winner gets to be the Composer, and do whatever he likes with Shibuya. If you win, you decide. If I win, I'll decide. …Of course, I've already decided.
19. Jupiter (2008). The World Ends with You (Nintendo DS). Square Enix. Neku: I can't forgive you, but I trust you. You took care of things, right? Otherwise, Shibuya would be gone and my world with it. Hey, did I mention I've got friends now? We're meeting for the first time in a week. See you there?
20. Jupiter (2008). The World Ends with You (Nintendo DS). Square Enix. However, has stayed his decision to destroy Shibuya. It seems the course of the Game has brought about a change of heart in the Composer. Yes, Shibuya persists—but it is no longer the same city it was a month ago. Today, Shibuya has shifted into what We Angels believe to be the optimal parallel world.
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External links

• Official Japanese website
• Official North American website
• Official European website
• Official DeviantArt account - Concept Art Slides
• Square Enix Members Site coverage
• The World Ends with You, an external wiki

• 2007 video games
• Jupiter Co. games
• Manga published by Gangan Comics
• Nintendo DS games
• Nintendo DS-only games
• Role-playing video games
• Square Enix games
• Shibuya, Tokyo