Back in 2008, video games could be more than a little bit weird. Nintendo's DS had hit its stride, and before the iOS goldrush truly began, there was a brief window where, it seemed, anything went. It was a wildlands full of outlandish, often brilliant games - none more so, I think, than Square Enix's The World Ends With You.
It's an eccentric, messy and often difficult-to-fathom modern-day RPG from some of the team behind the Kingdom Hearts series - and yet it's also innovative, smart and heartfelt. Set against the backdrop of Shibuya, Tokyo's crowded core, it's an artful reflection of the place itself as much as it is an expression of RPG mechanics; across the district's famous scramble and the areas beyond you're given a bustle of systems that somehow conspire to make something beautiful. Playing The World Ends With You can lead to that same heady euphoria you get when, stepping out of Shibuya station, you're faced with a crowded Hachiko crossing; this is a game that soars with humanity.
Part of that's down to the exquisite cast, and the twisting path they're taken on through their adventure. You're Neku, a recently deceased teen who's spent his waking life shut off from everyone, a pair of oversized headphones the barrier between himself and the outside world. That barrier's broken down, of course, as you enlist the help of others to partake in a game that might bring you back to the world of the living... but how? You'll find traces of its set-up in games such as Zero Escape, but there's a sweet, unassuming positivity that remains The World Ends With You's own.
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