Quick Facts
Format PlayedFirst StreamReview Score
PlayStation 4November 12th, 2020N/A

Streams

DeveloperPublisherRelease Date
Square Enix & JupiterSquare EnixJuly 27th, 2007

The World Ends with You (known in Japan as Subarashiki Kono Sekai, which translates as It’s a Wonderful World) is an action role-playing game with urban fantasy elements developed by Square Enix and Jupiter for the Nintendo DS. Set in the modern-day Shibuya shopping district of Tokyo, The World Ends with You features a distinctive art style inspired by Shibuya and its youth culture. Development was inspired by elements of Square Enix’s previous game, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. It was released in Japan in July 2007, and in PAL regions and North America in April 2008. Later, an enhanced port to accommodate the game for mobile devices ported by h.a.n.d. was released in 2012, while a further enhanced port for the Nintendo Switch was released worldwide in 2018 under the title The World Ends with You: Final Remix.

Set in a fictional version of Shibuya known as the UG (Underground), this plane of existence exists alongside the RG (Realground) where the residents live their every day lives. The UG is home to the Reaper’s Game, where selected individuals are placed in life threatening situations to complete 7 days’ worth of challenges to win a chance of returning to their RG lives. Neku Sakuraba, The World Ends With You’s main character, is one such person, though he has no memory of his life prior to waking up on Day 1 of the Reaper’s Game. In the original Nintendo DS version of the game, battles took place across both screens, with the player using the D-pad (or the face buttons) to control Neku’s partner, while Neku was controlled using the touch screen on the bottom screen. On the smartphone and Nintendo Switch versions, gameplay takes place entirely on a single screen with touch functionality (or Joy Con use) controlling both characters in a slightly different way.