Say What?

These days I've been playing a new game for the DS called The World Ends with You. It's a roll playing game (RPG) by Square Enix, the folks who have given us such titles as Kingdom Hearts and the Final Fantasy series. Don't get me wrong, I think this game is great, but (and this is a problem I have with a lot of the games from this studio) there is a lot of time spent waiting for people to stop talking. And a most of that time they're saying absolutely nothing.

I don't know how much time I've spent waiting for the dialog to end (when they're saying anything at all, as opposed to a collection of punctuation symbols) so I can get back to the game. Can this game decide if it wants to be a game or a book?

But once you do get into the game, it really has a lot to offer. To put it simply, it's a game about people playing a game. The catch is that the stakes are much higher in this game - litterally life or death. The game in this world lasts exactly 7 days and if the players do not succeed with the days' mission, they get erased - and you can guess what that means.

The chief things doing the erasure are creatures called "noise." Fortunately, you are not without resources when the noise attack. Your character has a great variety of counter moves. These moves are associated with pins (the same kind of pins that all the hip and trendy kids are carrying). You choose which pins you want to use before battle. Some work better in some situations than others. It won't be long before you've got a lot more pins than you know what to do with. Of course there's more than just pins. What you eat and what you accessorize with also determines your success in battle. And just to make things more confusing, your pins and accessories can bring you bonuses or penalties in battle, depending on what district of the game world you're in.

Okay, so while you have to endure the endless dialog, it's still quite an addictive game. If you're a fan of the other offerings from Square Enix, you'll want to pick this game up. Additionally, if you're looking for a fully develpoed RPG on the DS with a lot of variety, this should also be on your list. Game on!