I'm not digging it. Dumbass. Bling bling? What year is this?
I'm not digging it. Dumbass. Bling bling? What year is this?
Hmmm...
-10 points
Looks neat... latest gaming magazine I browsed at a Borders for free (mwahahaha) had 3 pages about it. I might get it
Me and my kids have dragon eggs:
I may have to mute it at certain times, though xD
this game looks cool...i heard they try to make it look complicated but its really supposed to be simple...cant wait for it
:shoot:yo im new to this sig thing so id appreciate comments and suggestions to my pm box k thanx
Did you see anything in that gaming magazine article that looked noteworthy?Originally Posted by Renmiri
I believe in the power of humanity.
Oh, look, the website's updated :</>D!
...where'd the neat background music go?
OH MY GOD IT COMES OUT THIS WEEK WHAT?
Last edited by Jessweeee♪; 04-17-2008 at 04:30 AM.
GameVideos.com - World Ends With You '1UP Review'
IGN: The World Ends With You Review
The World Ends With You Nintendo DS Review Index, The World Ends With You Reviews
They seem to like it.
Edit: Another positive review.
Edit2: A formal review from one of the same guys from the first link
Last edited by JKTrix; 04-18-2008 at 07:42 PM.
That clears up a couple of concerns I had about the game xD
idk
it still seems... idk way over the top?
It's a DS game. I enjoy RPGs and such, and having plenty to do. But I also prefer most DS games to be, pick up and play. I don't want to have to stare at my DS for hours on end.
It also seems overly complex. As in, much unneeded, and most of which I won't even bother with. The biggest problem with games like this that have so many different things, and rare items, is you need none of them to complete the game. So you spend way more time just trying to get 1 item, when you could easily beat it. I'm interested, but I'd really have to see it being played, and even get my hands on it before I would buy it.
THE JACKEL
add me, PSN: ljkkjlcm9
Well, I've had my hands on it. I've had my hands all over it. This game has strong potential to be in my personal pantheon of DS games.
It's really something you need to take the risk of just getting it and digging into it, because you won't 'get it' from just a short demo. Even just watching someone play it, unless you are mildly intimate with the game system, you won't get it. It's something you have to learn progressively, because there's more depth in just the core battle system alone than what you would be able to gather from a video or short hands-on demo. Even after however long I've been playing (no time counter, but I'm on Chapter 4), they're still introducing new gameplay elements. I just got the sticker to chain up to 4 battles together this morning (stickers are the game's unlockables, giving you new gameplay elements or stat boosts or other things) and there are still 3 items on the game's main menu that I don't have yet.
Once you get past the Square-Enix hour-long intro sequence(tm) and get the Save sticker, it is definitely a 'pick up and play' game. Even at the beginners level, without even using the top screen at all, a single battle in the beginning chapters should take less than a minute. Everything happens at a brisk pace, and you're never really doing one thing for too long (unless you choose to). And the game actually rewards you for taking breaks. Once you get the appropriate sticker, you earn PP for the amount of time you've been away from the game. For the first 24 hours, it's at a rate of about 1 PP for every 10 minutes. The rate apparently steadily goes down every 24 hours the game is off before bottoming out after 7 days.
The meat of the game, and what probably has most people worried is the combat. I would imagine you could go through the entire game without bothering with the top screen, so if you really don't dig it you can just set it to 'full auto' and be done with it. If you do that however, I feel you'd really be missing out on 1/2 of the game. Let's see if I can explain it.
click for a larger image
Focusing on the top screen. Note that on the top screen, there's a yellow box that says 'Auto-Play'. This person currently is not controlling the character on top, and it's attacking on its own. Each arrow in each path represents a single attack and the direction you press to initiate that attack. More hits make more damage. The symbols at the end of the path mean nothing at the very beginning, but I'll get into that later. The bar at the top of the screen that says '*04/08 lv.1' is also related to these symbols--and again is not something you need to worry about at the very beginning.
Movin' on down to the touch screen. But before we get there, you can see the HP bar on the right hand side of both screens, as you share HP between the two characters. At the top of the touch screen, you see your equipped pins, which are the abilities you can use in battle. You only start with 2 slots for pins, and the 2 pins you start with are Slash (the rightmost of the 4) and Fire (not pictured). On the far right is another, larger pin, but this is also related to the top screen's Symbols and not something you have to worry about at the beginning. The thing on the bottom right (not the logo) is not a part of the interface, rather a part of the scenery that you can use for attacks with the right pin.
See the main character on the screen, how he has some green aura around him? That's the 'puck' that is passed between the top and bottom screen between the characters. This is the primary device that allows you to attack effectively between the two screens, so you're not trying to control both at once. When you perform a combo 'finisher' (whether it be at the end of a combo or just one particularly strong attack), the puck will pass to the other screen. Then when that character ends a combo, the puck gets sent back. Besides aiding you in directing your attention, the puck grants you certain bonuses during and after the battle. In battle, I believe the more times it is passed back and forward your attack power steadily increases and the combo count continues to go up. After the battles, your performance is graded. The 'puck' aspect comes in depending on how many times you've passed it back and forward and also how high of a combo you've gotten and it adds multipliers to the score. I've only managed to get a 'passed the puck 10 times' and I think a '20 hit combo' so far, but I imagine there would be more. The points you earn after the battle go towards gaining Pin Points (PP) for levelling up your pins.
Now I'm gonna talk a little more about the symbols on the top screen, or the Fusion system, which in the game is something you don't learn about until the 3rd chapter I believe.
First thing briefly, you can see the green puck being passed from the top screen to the bottom screen here. It even says '2x attack', I never noticed that while I was playing :P
Anyhow, see at the top of the screen there are 3 cards, with one of them turned over. Initially, all 3 of them are face-down. In order to earn fusion points, you have to turn them over in order (denoted by a blue arrow beneath the next card in sequence). Refer to the first image again, showing the paths with the 3 symbols on them. Each symbol corresponds to one of the face-down cards. What takes place here is a little game of memory. You choose what symbol you want to select from the arrow path while you're attacking. Once selected, you will see which card it represents on the top. If it is the one you need to turn over (with the blue arrow), then you get points for it. If it is not the one you need, you will see where that card is located out of the 3 before it gets turned back over. If you manage to guess the correct symbol for the card the first time, you will get a star put on that card and be rewarded 2 points towards Fusion.
The above image shows that. this person correctly guessed that the circle was the first card needed, and got a star and 2 fusion points. The points are shown at the top there, where it says '02/04 lv.0'. If he guesses the next one correctly again, he will gain another 2 points and have enough points available to perform the Fusion. If he guesses incorrectly the first time and gets it the 2nd time, he'll earn one point and will have to turn over the last card before gaining enough points to do it.
Once you have the required fusion points, a pin will appear on the bottom screen (seen in the first image, the large pin on the right hand side) which you can then touch to unleash the Fusion attack which hits everything on the screen. It also heals you a bit.
I haven't gotten too deep into the fusion system yet, but there are apparently different levels you can obtain in just the fusion system, no doubt leading to more powerful attacks.
So, this thing with the puck and the fusion system are the incentives to mastering the top screen. These can still be performed with the top screen computer set to auto, but you can do them much quicker and more consistently if you take control yourself. I found it really fun and addictive. I'd probably be much farther in the game if I didn't spend so much time just fighting everything.
And this is just the core of combat. I didn't go into pins very much at all, didn't even touch food and fashion or the adjustable level system that all modify the combat in various ways. There's a lot of stuff in there to customize, and that's another thing I'm really liking about the game. I get vibes from Diablo, FFTactics, fighting games, Animal Crossing and other random things when I play it. I'm really liking this a lot. The team at Square Enix had been working on this game since "long before the DS was even available on the market", and it really shows with how much stuff they've put in here and how competently it is executed.
Thank you for the hands-on impression, JKTrix. Can you explain what is happening in those battle screenshots? It looks like each character is in a different location.
I believe in the power of humanity.
Wow, JKTrix has me convinced. I'll give this game a shot when I get a chance. It certainly looks good.
Woooooooooooooooooow, thanks!
GWAR, I bet by the time I make it into the game store, it'll be gone ;_;
OH OH I have a question!
How often do you have to use the stylus when working with the touch screen?
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