theworld-ends-with-me:

HOLY SHIT GUYS. I TOTALLY FORGOT THAT TODAY IS THE 4TH YEAR ANNIVERSARY OR THE North American RELEASE OF THE WORLD ENDS WITH YOU!! OHMYGOD.

So right now, I’d like to thank Square Enix for making one of, if not, the best videogame in the world. (In my opinion anyway) This game has taught me so much. From teaching me to ‘open up my senses’ as well as my heart to the world and those around me to just plain old trusting my partners, I can honestly say that this game has impacted my life so much. Because of this game, a pair of green and pink headphones have been hanging around my neck since November. And because of them, I feel just so damn epic. As well as enhancing my badass fashion level, this game seriously did save me. A long time ago I looked at life as something that I would toss away in a second. I wanted to end the pain that was thrust upon me. I thought it would be that easy. But then, I stumbled upon The World Ends With You. It gave me a whole new perspective on the world. The first week Neku was put into the game was exactly like my situation in real life. I wanted to escape. I didn’t want to change, I didn’t even want to try. But as time progressed, as I continued to play the game I came to realize that I wanted broaden my horizons and expand my world. Just as Mr. H said. At that point I didn’t want to escape anymore. I wanted to stay, and enjoy the moment. I wanted to enjoy every moment I was given. And in the end all thoughts of suicide left me. They left me because of one quote that just stuck on me. And I repeat it every time I feel like giving up;escaping.

“Give up on yourself and you give up on the world.“ 

So thank you Square Enix.

Thank you Neku, Josh, Mr. H, and everyone else in the game.

Thank you for giving me a second chance.  

I have to admit, while I’m not a big part of the fandom, I really do think that TWEWY is the best game I’ve ever played. Not my favorite game, but the best overall.

This game has amazing characters. For example, Beat… You think he’s just some punk at first, but then you learn how his sister is absolutely everything to him and he’d do anything to help her. And Shiki, who lost her identity and just wants to live again so that she can make things right with the friend she parted with on bad terms.

Then there’s the story… Oh, man, do I love a good ghost story, and this is it. A group of dead kids trying to earn the return of their lives? Um, yes. Meanwhile, the whole district of Shibuya is slowly turning into conformist zombies. It’s really eerie to see so many NPCs walking around all the time and listening to their thoughts at the beginning of the game…and then to see that number slowly dwindle down to just a few sparse people standing around and all thinking the same thing. “To right the countless wrongs of our day, we shine this light of true redemption, that this place may become as paradise. What a wonderful world such would be…” It’s just freaky.

And the development of the main character is amazing. He’s very dynamic throughout the story. He starts out as a loner who doesn’t give two shits about anyone in the world but him, and by two weeks into the game, he loves other people so much that the other players of the Game actually become the most valuable part of his life, the one thing he gives up to play his third game.

The art is amazing, as long as you aren’t against the style, and all of the characters are gorgeous in their own ways. Yeah, even Higashizawa and Kitaniji.

And then there’s just Josh. I mean. Whoa. Plot twist: Your best friend is basically GOD.

The humor in the game is fantastic. I can’t even count the number of times I had to put the game down for a minute so that I could laugh and not screw everything up. Things like the infamous “PANTS OFF NOW” scene from Shiki and the “CAN I PRESS THE BUTTON YET?!” lines during that puzzle with Beat. Even the small things, like some of the thoughts of the NPCs. I’ll never forget the guy who messed up a skateboard trick and thought “Well… You only need one to have kids, right?”

But that humor never took away from the drama… To this day, I can still play day 2 of week 3 and feel like crying because of how Neku felt after he thought that Joshua had died. And at the end, when he’s forced to duel Joshua and he just can’t pull the trigger, even though he knows this guy had killed him before and he knows he’s going to die and take all of Shibuya with him when he does. He just can’t find it in him to kill his best friend.

The story, the atmosphere, the characters, the graphics, the gameplay…

Oh, god, the gameplay. I’d never actually played a game before that made me actually want to take a break from the story to level up for a while just because the battle system was that much fun. I kept battling things when I was maxed out on levels and had eaten enough food items to keep me ridiculously strong, even when I was on the lowest possible level. It was ridiculous.

The music… Honestly, I didn’t like it at first, but the more I played it, the more it grew on me. Now I can’t wait to play KH3D and hear the remixed TWEWY tracks during that game.

The only complaint I’ve ever had about this game is that it’s too short (I’ve beaten it in one day before; I was on a ten-hour train ride and didn’t have much else to do) and that remains true to this day. Aside from the length, I do consider this game almost perfect and definitely the best stand-alone game I’ve seen emerge over the past decade. If anyone hasn’t played this game, I highly, highly recommend it.