In April ’08 The World Ends with You

One of the most anticipated, new Square Enix properties finally has a North American release date. The World Ends with You, originally released in Japan a year ago as Subarashiki Kono Sekai: It’s a Wonderful World will be in stores on April 22, 2008. If the artwork looks a bit familiar, it is probably because Tetsuya Nomura and the team behind Kingdom Hearts worked on this project. The game has already been assigned a “Teen” rating and will cost $39.99.

Many fans of the title thought a localization would never happen, due to the game’s setting and environment. The World Ends with You is set in modern day Shibuya, one of Tokyo’s trendiest and most popular shopping districts. Neku Sakuraba suddenly wakes up in the streets with an odd badge in his hand and a text message in his phone saying he has to complete missions or else he will die. In the Japanese version, it was referred to as the Shinigami’s Game, however it has not been revealed if the name will remain the same.

Since it is set in Japan, there are lots of references to local fashions, daily life, culture and music. For example, early on Neku and his first companion, Shiki, must get to the Hachiko statue. In Japan this is a major cultural icon in Shibuya where people will arrange to meet up when in Shibuya. Also the soundtrack is filled with snippets from Japanese pop, R&B and hip hop stars.

Plus there is the whole badge system. In Japan badges, which are pretty much identical to the little circle pins you find at Claires or Hot Topic, from major fashion designers can be collected. In the game, Neku uses these badges to fight. Each badge will have a certain kind of power, like pyrotechnics, telekinesis or brute force, associated with it. If he has the badge equipped, Neku can use those attacks in battle.

I have been waiting and hoping that this game would be released in the U.S. I’ve played the Japanese version and it is just fantastic, and I’m sure it will be even better once I can completely understand what the characters are saying.

Read [Joystiq] Also Read [The Girl Gamer]