"This world won't end until you turn off the DS... Tough luck."

Square Enix has this ability to surprise every person who buys their games, even if it's a crappy Final Fantasy spin-off, and nowhere is this fact more prominent than in The World Ends With You, or as it's called in Japan, "It's a Wonderful World".

The story revolves around a 15-year old boy named Neku Sakuraba, a person who is rejecting society because he hates opening up to people, whom one day finds himself lying on the streets of Shibuya, the trendiest city in Japan. Shortly after, he discovers a weird pin and a SMS message on his phone: "Reach 104. You have 60 minutes. Fail, and face erasure. Signed, The Reapers." Since the story is so deep and shocking at turns, I'll leave you to simply buy the game or read a spoiler-ridden review elsewhere, as not to get spoiled. The story is simply THAT good.

Anyways, onto gameplay. This is where it all begins to look even better. To engage your enemies (called Noise), you touch the peculiar pin you got at the start of the game to scan the area you're in. You'll surely find red symbols, these representing Noise. Later on, you can find green, black and even blue symbols of these kinds, each representing a different kind of Noise.

In battle, you use several other kinds of pins which require the useage of the touch screen, the stylus, and even the microphone! For example, drag the stylus over the screen, and your enemies will have to face a wall of fire! Touch empty space to shoot lightning! Blow into the microphone to create shockwaves! Draw a circle to summon a meteor! Press empty space to create a black hole! Since there are so many pins in this game, all with their own abilities and activation methods, you can easily customize your own fighting style against the Noise.

The characters made for the game have all been designed by Tetsuya Nomura (with a few handful of NPC's designed by users on DeviantArt!), and each character have their own distinct personality which makes them more varied, which doesn't make them feel so cliche.

However, if one looks closely, one can find traits of certain characters from Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories in the characters of this game, this being most prominent with the main antagonists, The Reapers: Uzuki Yashiro, a Larxene with a strong wish of becoming promoted, Koki Kariya, an extremely lazy Axel with an affinity for lolipops, Yodai Higashizawa, a Lexaeus with dreadlocks and an affinity for cooking terms, Sho Minamimoto, a lively Zexion who loves doing math, Mitsuki Konishi, a female Vexen with a more cruel personality and glasses, and Megumi Kitaniji, who is basically Marluxia with sunglasses and no pink hair... Alright, maybe they're not as alike as I thought.

So, should you buy this or rent this? Well, buy it! Like, right now! Do as the game proclaims: Unless you want to live alone for the rest of your life, broaden your horizons and buy the game, while at the same time you strike a conversation with the store clerk! For you see: The World Ends and Begins with You.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 05/19/08

Game Release: The World Ends With You (EU, 04/18/08)