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Rating:  -
I've played this game for a while now. And I'll say it is one of the best story driven and rpg in the game for the DS. With a manga themed way for the characters to comunicate through the story is truly a good decision. An the music is some of the best I have ever heard in any hand held. You'll probibley get at least 30 to 40+ hours. The story stars a 15 year old teenager named Neku that loses his memory. As you go through the story he understands what happend and how he end up in a game to save his life.The only gripe i have for it is the one memory block game storage.But you can replay the parts you like and skip the one's you hate. To put it all down the game is great with a colerful cast and a great stylus driven controls.
Rating: -
This game is amazing, after you finish the levels they have bonus missions and you can collect as many pins as you can buy or win. The fighting style is truly unique and trying to balance both top and bottom screen action is entertaining as well as challanging.
Rating: -
I freaked out when I first got wind about this amazing game. I told myself that when it comes out I'll buy it, but then I remembered it would take awhile to be translated from Japan to English.
It came out in Japan and I heard so many great things about it. It made me wish I knew Japanese, so I could play it. Now I don't have to worry about it. It just came out and it's everything that I wanted and more!
Amazing storyline, great graphics, and the audio is good. The character development is also top notch. The controls at first are a little tricky since you are using the D-pad and the touch screen, but you get the hang of it pretty quickly.
I don't have any bad things to say about this game. It's fun, addictive, and leaves you wanting more. If you are a gamer like me, and want to try a new RPG try this out. Even if you are not a fan of RPG you'll love this one.
This is definitely one of my favourite games this year for the DS.
Rating:  -
I'm a big fan of dungeon crawls and RPGs in general. Some of my recent favorites are Rune Factory, Shiren the Wanderer, and the Zelda series. I love games with lots of secrets and long "checklists" of difficult goals to accomplish. I review from this perspective.
TWEWY is quite different than the usual fantasy RPG dungeon crawl I enjoy. The action takes place entirely within an alternate reality version of downtown Tokyo (Shibuya). Despite that fact, I've played over 30 hours now and there are several things about the game that I like. My favorite aspect is the intriguing plot. It reminds me of The Matrix: completely arbitrary, inconsistent, and absurd, and yet somehow the story works so well that you ignore how ridiculous it is. The combat system is innovative, making excellent use of the DS hardware (touch screen, wireless features, etc.). Left-handers will appreciate that fact that TWEWY controls are (nearly) perfectly symmetrical. You are rarely forced into battle without warning -- combat is avoidable, optional, and you can see it coming in most cases. The game has a wide variety of "pins" (weapons) and monsters, both of which break up the monotony of combat somewhat. Also, there's a decent wireless minigame for 1-4 players. Some players will enjoy the "street punk anime" design ethic; I'm neutral on this particular aspect.
But on the downside, the game is highly, highly repetitive, the epitome of a "grind". In many checklist-type games where you "have to have them all", I enjoy finding all the secrets and mastering all the possibilities. Not so in TWEWY. In order to get all the secrets, you would need to grind and grind and grind the same basic combat approximately 5,000 times (no exaggeration) -- and that's if you're good at the combat and know how to maximize the experience you get from it. Yes, the weapons and enemies do change over time, but I'm well past sick of the combat system after 1,000 battles and have given up any notion of "getting them all" and am just focusing on finishing the plot. Moreover, it is simply inconceivable that anyone could find most secrets on their own. For example, "pin evolution" (e.g. creating rare and hidden weapons by evolving them from lower forms) is so convoluted you'd have to be insanely dedicated to explore the evolutionary possibilities on your own, or, do the only sane thing and "cheat" with a hint book or online guide. I looked at an online guide and was glad I did, because it completely disabused me of the notion that I'd enjoy mastering all pins. Many secrets cannot be obtained unless you play via the DS wireless system. Even more secrets cannot be obtained except by *not* playing the game for days or even months on end. (Dozens of secrets only unlock if you leave the game shut down in specific states, and you have to leave it shut down for a *long* time. See my comment on this review below for a spoiler secret which can greatly help ease this frustration.) In short, 99.99% of all gamers simply aren't hard-core enough to enjoy getting all the secrets, and I say this as someone who enjoyed spending 300+ hours unlocking all the arcane secrets from the very difficult Shiren the Wanderer.
My biggest complaint is harder to quantify, which is that I just don't enjoy TWEWY as much as other RPGs. In another RPG, I might enjoy teasing open a long chain of puzzles to unlock a final mystery; but in TWEWY, the inter-twined pins/brands/items system feels very flat and arbitrary. I imagine this is what a good RPG must seem like to someone who doesn't like RPGs. Maybe it's the weird setting, or maybe its the unabashedly massive grind, but for whatever the reason, I plan to finish this game for the plot but don't plan to recommend it to any of my friends.
Rating: -
I thought I might like the game based on all the excellent reviews, even at sites like Gamespot. I really wanted to like this as well, especially because of how unique it looked. But unique was as far as it got. There's a reason why Square's FF series was able to survive so long--the formula works. It's fun, it's an epic adventure always with an amazing soundtrack. Not so much with TWEWY. Granted, I'm still in the earlier parts of the game, which should be kept in mind for the following...but I'm not even motivated enough to continue unless I'm super bored.
Graphics
The graphics are...interesting. The character design definitely resembles Kingdom Hearts, which is one of the reasons why I thought it may be up to par. However the more I look at it, the more I don't really like the style of the drawings. Reminds me more of how people draw anime when they first start--random folds in the shirts everywhere that don't fit, Neku's turtleneck thing that covers up the mouth, etc. But that's just a personal pet peeve.
Characters and storyline
Ugh. The characters are sooo boring. I feel like I'm playing some game made for emo kids (cough Neku cough). The chars seem shallow and I don't have much desire to learn more about them. I'm really surprised at this since Square usually produces such deep characters in their traditional rpgs. And usually it's the characters and their story that make a game great for me. If you don't connect with the characters on some common human level, then any book/game/movie/etc can be boring. The exaggerated reactions were annoying too.
The storyline is at least -somewhat- unique. I liked all the real Shibuya elements that were incorporated.
Sound
Very unforgettable soundtrack. It's all random hip hop pop songs. I know it's suppose to fit the whole Shibuya thing, but it's just background noise to me, and doesn't really fit with what's going on anyway. Just turn on your mp3 and listen to that instead. I didn't like the voice acting.
Gameplay
Eh. It's ok I guess. Again, of course it's unique. But maybe it hasn't been done before for a reason. I don't know about others but although the 2 screen fight system seems cool and makes you feel like you're somehow awesome and multitasking, it is really simplistic and most of the time ends up as button mashing for me. Unfortunately it usually works better than trying to concentrate on both screens.
Overall
Definitely try before you buy. Also go on your gut feeling and not the reviews. If you don't like the art style or the whole emo bit, you probably won't like it. Some people may like the soundtrack--I didn't. It's completely different from other Square games, with only the character design slightly the same. Mostly feels like a game marketed towards the younger crowds...
Of course I had pretty high expectations of this game, so maybe not being as awesome as I'd hoped made it seem worse. Disappointed overall, but I guess I'll finish it at some point since I bought it. Hopefully my review will change as I get into it more.
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