The World Ends With You was a Nintendo DS game from way back during the Bush administration. It’s gotten a couple ports, and today we’re talking about the ultimate version of the game, the Switch release. Was The World Ends With You Final Remix Worth It?
Table of Contents
Background
This game has a special place in my heart. I originally played it on my Nintendo DS while stuck at the on-site dorms at work. Immediately, I was struck by the aesthetic, the music, and the narrative. Over a decade later, I remember some of the story beats hitting me like a freight train and leaving me desperate for more.
The game got a second life as a mobile port, but I missed the boat on that one because my iPhone was too old at the time. By the time I upgraded, it had been delisted due to compatibility issues. This is apparently a consistent issue with the mobile version, as the Google Play Store has recently stated that the game will no longer be available on 64-bit devices as of July 2021.
TWEWY did eventually get fixed and reappeared on the app store, but I always balked at the price – 17.99 is nuts for a mobile game, especially one with pay2win microtransactions.
Why am I talking about this game?
NEO The World Ends With You just dropped, and you’re going to be totally lost if you don’t know what happened in this game.
What does The World Ends With You Final Remix do well?
This is the “definitive” version of the game. It’s all here.
What could The World Ends With You Final Remix do better?
The controls suck. I ended up playing this game in handheld mode, and had to buy a stylus for the pin commands. It’s a nightmare. It’s mindboggling that this game was released for the Switch instead of for the 3DS.
There’s also the critical issue of everything being on a single screen. The DS version had Neku and his partners on separate screens, with the light puck bouncing back and forth. This was obviously possible thanks to the unique design of the Nintendo DS, and having everything happening on the same “field” takes away one of the critical mechanics of the original game. I’m not ashamed to say that TWEWY taught me how to focus on two things independently as I got better at the game.
Was The World Ends With You Final Remix Worth It?
If you want the definitive TWEWY experience, I would suggest the original DS version. Final Remix does add some additional content, but you will likely find that the controls sour the experience.
The World Ends With You is a story worth experiencing, but in its original form on the DS. The fact that they charged full price for this port on the Switch is pretty disgusting. Luckily, you can find it pretty cheaply now. For what it’s worth, the Switch version is cheaper than the original DS version. Ironic.
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