After all the hype and buzz about Square Enix releasing Final Fantasy XIII it might be an easy thing to forget recent Square Enix releases that should be on your active gaming radar, game in point (The World Ends With You for the Nintendo DS) being one of those games in point.

You play as a headphone wearing punk dude with a major turn off to the world at large. Apparently people in general are not your best topic, and you would rather if the whole world would just go away… so then you wake up in the middle of Shibuya district and suddenly the world just isn’t paying attention to you anymore (probably due to some Ghost Whisperer kind of thing happening to you, or is that too obvious a hint).

It seems you have suddenly found yourself in a vicious cycle game called the Reaper Games, where strange humans called “Reapers” are making you and your new cute female companion (with her own backstory and troubles she’s not too willing to share so quickly) have got to complete a daily task or be erased.

You have seven days to play… then the game goes on and on and on (I heard someone say once they’ve went a few weeks worth of gameplay on this one though I have to admit I am still on the first seven days as I write this), a physical RPG (using the stylus to hand out attacks and move yourself through the world)

that is innovative in so many ways you can’t believe how much this game brings you! It makes all past RPGs on the DS pale in comparison!

At first it seems like a typical hack and slash RPG set in the modern world, but once you start pounding down days you begin to open greater and greater depths of innovation that this game delivers (forget the fact the story is fresh and new, the writing is well done, the game is beautiful and the gameplay is solid). First off powers is handled not through magic but psyches unleashed through use of strange little pins of many variations and powers. As you build power through use of your pins you can either max them out or cause them to evolve into new more powerful pins… and evolution doesn’t always have to take place via gameplay (once you play enough of the game you gain an ability to gain PP in the pins your presently using through the amount of time you DON’T play this game! The longer you are not playing the more PP you earn (so if you are planning to not play for a long time put in all the pins that need to be upgraded and you’ll get them all upgraded when you go back to playing however long later you go back to it).

The whole setting (this busy district in Japan I take it) offers a ton of innovation!
Creatures are no longer random encounters,

the monsters (nicknamed “Noise”) most of the time has to be sought out by you (though some staged fights do happen from time to time) using your first pin to seek them out (which also allows you to tap the thoughts of people around you that you can no longer interact with except sometimes through a specific power of suggestion which you learn during gameplay). This means you can pick fights for yourself and not have it thrust on you anymore.

Upgrades are no longer simple armor and weapons.
Pins of varying types have a great deal of offensive/defensive/healing or restorative powers (and sometimes pins serve a dual offensive/defensive ability, like this shield pin which inflicts damage on enemies trying to physically attack you, or a pin that allows you to manipulate physical objects as weapons against the Noise).
Food can be “eaten” or “drunk” to upgrade you, but you can only consume so much nutrition (or junk food in many cases) to upgrade, so you have to play abit of mix and match on that and try to get the most use out of your food intake a day.
Style is important. Certain upgrade clothes (several types) have advantages in certain areas while others have disadvantages, this is all through a “brand” system where such and such brands of clothes are in style and others are not (which dictate the advantages and disadvantages said clothes imbues in you).

Then there’s pin slammer, the multiplayer game that should bring back fond (or not so fond in some cases) memories of that Anime where everyone used spinning discs to battle… whatever that show was called. This is actually fun, though I have only played practice with an AI opponent as I haven’t found real people playing this game to play against.. Yet.

Add a shop you can open up to service other players, the game itself (and it’s involving intense story with shocking twists and turns that‘ll keep you riveted throughout the game) and all the bells and whistles of fresh new original gameplay that is something you’ve never seen before (either on the DS or other handhelds like the PSP) and you got yourself Square Enix’ best handheld game to date (and I‘m still in week 1! Imagine what else I‘ll uncover about this addictive game as I continue to play it further and further!)

Sure, sure, Final Fantasy IV just came out but I still am mighty fond of this game over any other RPG I’ve seen in handheld to date (though a few other handhelds do have my fondness and loyalty all the same).

Going on a long trip? Here’s a game that will be a great constant companion with you for the long haul. Something you’ll find yourself going back to again and again throughout your trip, and well worth a spot in your traveling case when you take your next trip (and take your DS with you).

5 RPG fashion statements out of 5.