As someone who lives in Tokyo and doesn't particularly like Shibuya too much, I found the dialog in parts to be awesome and self-reflective. Such lines as "How did I end up in Shibuya?" and "Oh no, I'm trapped in Shibuya!" not only echo my sentiments, but I believe I've stated these same sentiences after too much alcohol and karaoke and not enough time to catch the last train.

On the game itself, I couldn't agree with Yahtzee more. I really enjoyed the action sequences, but I got tired of being led from one cut scene to another. I was trying to think of something cool to say, but I can't put it better than Yahtzee does.

GoKeithGo

Fact: reviewers hate JRPGs because there is no more tedious genre to finish on a deadline.

DrFresh

I'm diggin' it!

Grey Gecko

Yahtzee reviewing a JRPG? Perhaps I shall quickly look outside to make sure the sky is not falling and the sea is not running red with blood. Haw hee haw hee haw!

Zamzoph

Can someone please explain me the joke with the British (?) blonde girl? Other than that a solid review, as usual.

Al Bino

While I do like the occasional JRPG, I can completely see why he doesn't like them. He has very valid points about the real lack of control you have in the stories. Not to mention that the lead characters are annoying idiots.

DrWorm

Welp, I have this game, but have yet to sit down and play it... it seems worth my time at least since it doesn't involve Turn Based moves, and Random Battles. That is my biggest complaint about RPGs, other than that, I think they are great games. Well, once I get done with about the five other games that I need to get out of my way... I'll play this.

themadman123

I loved playing this game. Great game and worth every penny. And wow, Yahtzee was hilarious with this one, as always. It is a great game and he made fun of it in great ways.

超外人

This guy is freakin awsome. Just thought I'd get that out of the way for you guys.

DeathBeforeDishonor

I like JRPGs, but every reviewer I trust seems to hate them with raw scathing passion.

LuppyLuptonium

I'm having a love hate relationship with this game :(

Terance!

Ugh, another JRPG. Why? WHY!

nman

Yeah, I let the top screen go auto usually. Other than that, I <3 the game. I'm going to play it through to 100% completion :D

Hiro0015

You owe it to yourself to play this game. Probably the best the DS has to offer.

onidavin

@qxrt:

It's not complicated at all compared to other Rpgs even Western Rpgs. It's fairly straightforward. There are tons of little hint books you can get from shops.

Read the tutorial screens. The game introduces each of the mechanics in if this was an intelligently designed world an idiot proof manner.

Anyone who ever played any rpg from Dungeons and Dragons for five years up to the most ungodly compelx RPGs that have a 500 page manual should be able to understand TWEWY.

Yetanotheruninspiredscreename

Wait, Yahtzee made a Freduian reference. I just noticed this now. That's pretty sweet, actually.

Xeneizes

To quote something I read today: "He's apparently good at FPS's and Guitar Hero, but he can't get the hang of Brawl or TWEWY. The Gamespot reviewer for the game actually complained that the screens didn't change FAST ENOUGH between the two characters, but Yahtzee can't do it AT ALL?"

I also thought it was pretty stupid that he couldn't decide whether the game was good or not. He did say it was a matter of the game appealing to an "intended audience" and such, but a good reviewer would have still said what they personally thought of the game rather than just sit on the fence. Though I suppose this was a much better review than the one he did for Brawl after playing the game for 12 minutes.

Green-clad Gamer Dude

@MOP88:

"Sadly, this trend has been showing itself A LOT in the last batch of FPS's."

Odd I used to recall every fps was the same way.

Deus Ex wasn't a fps by any stretch of the imagination. Nor was System Shock.

Yetanotheruninspiredscreename

I never really liked RPGs, but I gave this one a try because of all of the good reviews. I thought I was playing the game wrong or something when all the reviews on gamerankings.com seemed to give it such high scores and I couldn't figure out why the game was so complicated. Good to know that there are others that are as confused with it as I am.

qxrt

@Terance!: I'm having a love hate relationship with this game :(

Right, how about it! I think mechanically it's got some very interesting aspects, but sometimes when I try to play it it just bores me to tears. And fake-Madonna on the sountrack is annoying!

VeeKaChu

@Shteve: GTA 4 has several choices that spread out different paths, including the final mission.
Deus Ex allows several ways to manipulate events that occur inside the main narrative.
Most JRPG's are simply a long, straight path that vomits cutscenes and the occasional wall of text.
Sadly, this trend has been showing itself A LOT in the last batch of FPS's.

MOP88

@PXShaman:

Compared to most rpgs The World Ends With You was a phamplet read.

Also there are a few things in the game that have a different outcome in items gotting and dialog depending upon the choice you make. The extra items in the post game for example.

Yetanotheruninspiredscreename

@超外人: ....now I'm intrigged

Grey Gecko

@Shteve: Excellent point.

Xeneizes

@Shteve:
Well Shteve no matter what you did in this game you are always pushed down the same story, it has a set path and you had to follow it.

Only day you didn't have to follow it was *SPOILERthespecialdaySPOILER* which was nice.

Really that is the only thing I didn't like about the game, plus their was too much damn text.

PXShaman

Also you don't really have to use the clothes at all. Fashion goes more into pin strength then anything at all. Certain quests do require you to wear a set of certain clothes though but those are pretty infrequent.

Also the ability to select chapters at the end of the game and having the chapters be broke up into parts allowing you to get things you missed is a huge plus in getting 100% compleation. Also after a few days in the first chapter you get the ability to restart a fight if you get defeated. So if you lose to a boss you can refight without loading a save. Same goes for the regular mobs. Also you can escapae from most fights if you lose with the exception of a few foe types. You can also go to easy mode if you want to finish the fight off. Adjustable on the fly difficulty without restarting the game.

Also being able to see mob drop rates and being able to change them with the level adjuster. So a rare drop can go from 5% of getting to 90% for example.

Yetanotheruninspiredscreename

The wrought-iron fence made of tigers bit had me laughing quite hard.

Zero_Beat

@2NinjasTapedTogether: To warn you, the clothes don't show up on the in-game sprites.

超外人

His review was funny but I don't understand his complain about how the player has no influence on the story in JRPG's. I'm trying real hard to find games where the story can be greatly influenced by the player and don't really find one. Shooters ? No. Action/Adventure games ? No. Platformers ? No. Puzzle games ... Even Sandbox games à la GTA have a well fixed story.

There's games like Chrono Trigger that has different endings, but wait, that's an JRPG ...

Shteve

I don't like any RPGs (J or otherwise), but the reviews made me interested. Whether I'll be interested enough to actually buy this... remains to be seen. I've a feeling the answer lies somewhere between "No" and "Not a chance in hell" because I "can't afford it" or some other such nonsense...

Still, fashion makes it interesting to me. Very interesting indeed... My inner metro is showing, methinks.

2NinjasTapedTogether

Ah, JRPG's. The far east's FPS.

MOP88

I just beat the game a little more than an hour ago. I really don't have anything bad to say about it right now. I just found the game to be great fun with the dual-screen combat, and I enjoyed the plot and characters a lot. I'd say it ranks with my favorite DS games, up there with the Ouendan/EBA series and Hotel Dusk.

Sorry, Yahtzee. You and I just don't see eye-to-eye this week.

Lezard

@Al Bino: oops, see above comment.

terminaljeremy

@DrWorm: Challenge Anneka was a crappy UK game show in which retarded folks in boiler suits would play a virtual treasure hunt finding clues in the studio, whereupon 'Anneka' (weathergirl-turned-celebrity-of-sorts) would (in her own boilersuit) hop into a helicopter on their directions and run around the countryside looking for the next clue. The contestants' taks was certainly not helped by the fact that she was a ditzy blonde whose main purpose on the show seemed to be wearing a slightly tight boilersuit and allowing the cameraman to follow her at close range focusing primarily on her arse, thus explaining why we can all remember it so clearly, if not fondly. Hope this helps. Yours, etc.

terminaljeremy

As somebody who absolutely loves the game (I'm currently in the post game and keep playing and mastering pins, etc), I can totally understand where he is coming from. Most everything he said I agree with (I DID play through the game with pretty much the same set of pins...because they simply worked well together). And as always, hilarious.

AwShucks

@Grey Gecko: Hahaha, I thought the same thing at first. I was like "WOAH! Only in Japan!"

Touy

@Yetanotheruninspiredscreename: Granted, the shooting sucked but it still had a first person perspective.
Or call it a FPSRPG, if you want to nitpick.
Even most of them are stright paths some events happen through you, like the rocket launch in Episode 2. A mere detail but very captivating at the same time.

MOP88

@DrFresh: Then obviously you've never heard of 4x games.

nman

1. HATED the dual screen controls. Blah blah blah you think its innovative and great. Thats good for you. Me? Could not get the hang of it.

2. LOVED the gameplay and most of all, STORY.

I wont spoil it for anyone who hasnt played and beaten it, but its fucking GOOD. It all makes sense why all these kids are trying to move from section of the city to section of the city, and why nobody but the other 'players' can see them.

A. Would have been A+, except I couldnt get into the controls.

Komrade_Kayce

"Yahtzee claims you can get the same result from letting the AI use her it's not quite true. "

Still for those who feel are eyes are immitiating a chameleon the AI does the job. It's actually a fairly competetant AI. Does a better job then most friendly game AIs that are meant to be a teammate.

Yetanotheruninspiredscreename

I can't help it, I love the game. It's really addicting with the music and customizations on leveling. I'm probably the intended audience though.

Puchi

Should be for five year olds. Not playing Dungeons and Dragons for five years.

Also to be fixed is "in if this was an intelligently designed world would be the perfect idiot proof manner."

Yetanotheruninspiredscreename

@Shteve:
Well there's several FPSRPG's where you can influence the story noteably, Deus Ex has a number of different endings. There's a good few other examples that I can't be fussed picking up on but the evidence for his point is there.

Thing is it's this reason why I often like JRPG's, a compelling story is for me what turns a good game into a great game. However I couldn't care less how much choice I got to influence the story. Writers have a much easier time telling a story if they don't have to pander to the needs of whoever's reading it.

The more you let the player mess around the looser and looser the plot becomes. I could never get into Oblivion properly because I just wasn't interested in the main storyline at all. Since you create your character and have full control over their personality and actions you just don't seem like a part of the story. Just a crook that caught a lucky break when the Emperor passed through your cell on his way to his assasination.

Either way I digress, in my opinion it's fine to keep story and game seperate. The story is there to compel me to continue playing and the gameplay is there to entertain me inbetween.

As for the dual screen combat, it's really tricky at first but you soon develop a knack for it. While Yahtzee claims you can get the same result from letting the AI use her it's not quite true. Doing both makes it a lot easier to get the higher ranks and it also means you can build your special a lot quicker.

Odin

There's a lot of good stuff in there, good combat, good gameplay mechanics, even the core plot is really good, with some nice twists and things in there.

My only problem with the game suffers from the Mega Man Battle Network syndrome: the majority of your "questing" feels like you're doing a bunch of unimportant chores, and you're only doing them because you want to get to the next battle or the next core plot point.

Welcome to the Reaper's Game. You have 7 days to live. Now go feed the dog, do your homework, and mow the lawn. When you're done, you can fight a Reaper and move on to the next day.

Suzaku

@onidavin: @

But calling this the best on the DS when there is Contra 4, like 50 Castlevania games (including the GBA ones) and Phoenix Wright you're a moron.

Legba33

Hmmm...reviewing JRPGs, check. Playing Stan Freberg version of Heartbreak Hotel, check. On Vinyl, check. Going to look to the east now.

relic1980

Yahtzee's comments are all true, even the story comment. But on the other hand, how much real influence do we have on the story in video games? Most of the time it boils down to simply changing the dialogue you get. You have to go to the same places to get the same key items and or cinematics...in the end it's merely an illusion of freedom versus a restricted and pre-scripted dialogue.

hikaizer

@Legba33: Everyone has their own tastes. Some may seem more out there than others, but if someone thinks that TWEWY is one of the best games on the DS (a sentiment that I happen to share), that does not make them a moron.

Lezard

TWEWY is a decent game. The combat is fun, but yeah the dialogue is ridiculously cliche and boring. If I wasn't a fast reader I'd probably never play this game again.

argh

what the hell it ate part of my post...still new to this quote thing :)

anyhow, what got cut was "if you mean 'slightly less boring than most snoozer jRPGs' " then you're right...

Legba33

@Suzaku:

Wow, you just blew my mind. It is almost TOO much like Mega Man Battle Network. o.o

Terance!

He doesn't mean DIRECT control over the story, he means the illusion of control. Bioshock and Half-Life, themselves intensely linear experiences, use clever story telling techniques and reactionary psychology to make the player feel like they are constantly a part of the tale and that to a degree their actions have a real effect on the world. JRPGs don't even attempts to create that illusion, by having the story and gameplay very separate. They're both valid techniques, but I do feel a game can't achieve true story-telling genius through the JRPG method, as it is essentially trying to shoe-horn the novel or film style of storytelling into a medium that has its own rules and requirements.

Spoiler Duck

Too bad half of his review is "I don't like jRPGs".

Nirual

@Komrade_Kayce: Yes.

One of the things that has impressed me most, working through the postgame, is how well the story was written to be played through twice. Certain bits of dialogue are so loaded with meaning, the second play through - I haven't read the reports yet and I still think it's brilliant.

I know what Yahtzee means about the dual-screen combat - while in battles where it was necessary, I could handle it, otherwise I just let the top character do her own thing.

Also - the on-the-fly level and difficulty adjusting is beautiful, especially the effect it has on drops. I am up to the point at which it's going to become grind-tastic, though, which is less impressive. :)

Achenar

totally agree, way too much dialoge... but the game did offer some unique game play.

nuance

ahh, so I'm not the only raving-mad JRPG hater on this planet :)
And there are RPG I actually like, but those are the exceptional ones. like Oblivion, or KotOR (and hopefully Mass Effect when it drops in my mailbox) and oh, Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon on the N64 :P

liked the hate, and I'll never play a JRPG. just like most MMORPG's... they seem like the most tedious and boring games on this planet (maybe most mmorpg's are an (d)evolution of JRPG's ??)

zyberteq

@AwShucks: Agreed, I love the game. I did find the "puzzle solving" to be ridiculous.

However, his complaint about the dual screen being "too difficult" for him was lame. Yes, it's difficult to master, but that's part of the game (plus the light puck makes it so you can choose to focus more on one screen than the other).

For the record - dual screen = too hard for yahtzee, painkiller = easy and fun to kill things. That saddens me a bit. Oh well, I still respect him for calling out Super Smash Bros Brawl as an overrated button-masher.

Klaymen

Fact: Most JRPGs are more derivative than alternative-metal/post-grunge music (See: Nickelback, Creed, Staind, etc).

More: As much as butthurt FF7 fans hate to admit, that game started most of the shitty cliches seen in JRPGs today. My respect for that game is so tragically distorted by my utter hatred for the modern JRPG.

Also: I've heard this game is becoming rare or some shit. Better pick it up. I'm impressed by SE putting faith into an IP that isn't related to Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest/Warrior.

RSGun

@Klaymen:
difficult to master? how about both impossible and unnecessary?

the top character served no purpose whatsoever other than to suck my damn health away. slow and weak attacks plus the requisite amount of attention made them useless. i always perform better by simply choosing rapid-fire pins and concentrating on the bottom screen.

willyolio

I just got my cousin' to play as the character on the top screen while i controled the bottom touch screen character. haha instant 2 player action.

King Seafoam

@Al Bino:

The blonde girl is Anneka Rice. She became popular in the 80s on "Treasure Hunt", where she played proxy to teams of contestants who had to solve clues in a given area in the countryside (which basically involved her flying around in a helicopter then running to wherever the next clue was).

In the early 90s, she moved onto another show called "Challenge Anneka", where she and a team had 2-3 days to do things like renovate a church, create a medical center in Malawi or move a war memorial in time for a VE parade. It got ported to other countries (e.g. Challenge America), but Yahtzee's basically taking the piss out of the running around and doing a load of tasks against the clock.

Jonax

I have nothing to contribute, but hot damn, I love me some Yahtzee in the middle of the night.

thesuperiormurray

The top screen can really help if you know what you are doing. You're not supposed to play both screens at the same time, the idea is to bounce the green light puck between you, which amplifies your damage.
You can also pick the correct symbols to create fusion, which is REALLY powerful, as it attacks all enemies and heals you up a little.

Sure, its confusing as hell to start with, but just think of it like a game of ping ping - up, down up, down, once you get in the zone, its freaken amazing to play, almost trance like.

Geez, at the minimum, just make your top guy attack left or right, its SO much faster than the computer AI...

It works, both screens really work, just give it go!

ren666

@terminaljeremy: Sorry - but you just described Treasure Hunt - not Challenge Anneka. Treasure Hunt pre-dated CA by a few years.
Challenge Anneka was the one where she was given a ridiculous task to accomplish in a set period of time (build a nursery school and what not) and was completely dependant on the goodwill of the various companies she'd call up and try and score free stuff off.
There was still gratuitous arse shots and helicopter japery though.
And she's still pretty damn hot as well...

Meldy

@Jonax: Do not forget she won Rear of the year!

Colibri

It's IMO the best Squenix title this generation and the first DS RPG I complete. Battle system is quite fun and deep, customization is insane, music is good and the story is entertaining. There are annoyances which are recurrent to the genre and the characters are a bunch of anorexic emos but the positives really outshined issues for me. Gameplay wise i thought it was pretty spot on.

Also, isn't Yahtzee left handed ? i couldn't get my circles to register until i started drawing them backwards.

Fabrice

I wonder what Yahtzee considers Mother 3. It's an RPG, it's made in Japan, and the man has a raging boner for it. Hmmm...

That aside, I normally find Yahtzee entertaining (and sometimes hilarious), but this episode just feels lacking. That's made all the more so compared to "...the gun shoots shurikens and lightning" from last time. I spent less time chuckleling and more time sighing and shaking my head as he goes on a spiel involving the "faults" of a genre that aren't faults at all and are just things that the man doesn't seem to get (ie: JRPG lovers rather like the narrative format of the genre where you watch a story unfold instead of participating fully in it). It felt like his Brawl review all over again where he makes some points that are worth pondering but spends more time just denouncing a genre in general, and rather irrationally at that.

TurinTurambar

Was curious about the game because it appeared on shops over here. Thansk to Yahtzee, now I know better: Its different, but its not Classic Squaresoft / Enix. Since my life doesn't really allow time for RPGs anymore, I think ill give it a pass.

Shiryu

I'm digging the split screen game play. Once you learn to just follow the "light puck" and how to activate fusions (this skill takes about two fights to really wrap your brain around), it's a pretty fun little action game.

Also, I fell into the rut of using the same set of pins all the time, then I started to experiment with different pins and realized that it was worthwhile to trade out pins every so often and keep bringing fresh stuff in.

BrianReed

the duel screen controls aren't that hard, just takes a little bit of practice

coconutdelight

AS much as I hated the standard cliches of the game, this is without a doubt the best JRPG I've played in about 3-4 years.

nikolaj

@Yetanotheruninspiredscreename:

I have to disagree with Yahtzee and Ash on the dual-screen combat. It doesn't work exactly the same, even if the AI is decent. There's a satisfaction in taking the time to learn the battle system so you can fight on level 1 all of the time in order to collect tons of items...while playing on Hard mode for more experience to avoid grinding. I couldn't do that until I turned off the auto mode and went straight manual to pass the puck more effectively, but it didn't take forever to figure out. All of my "star" grades came from battles I fought without the AI.

mjn328

This guy's musical knowledge is pretty fascinating. I mean...he always has the perfect songs leading in and out.

TRT-X

@Ashurahori: It's not a matter of evolution, turn based and real time gameplay offer 2 entirely different experience. Turn based allows you to manage your entire team and feel like your controlling the game. If you believe in good gameplay mechanics rather than an over concentrated attempt to become realistic then turn based is better in my opinion. When you go to a more real time style it often changes the gameplay alot to accommadate. I dislike the idea of playing a game where (FFXII for example) you can have party members doing stuff that are not what you want like using potions and doing spells that aren't as effective as another they could use.

Llost

That's exactly why I don't own a DS. I already have a hard time concentrating on one screen, but two is just goddamn ridiculous.

Klappstuhl

@Llost: I don't like turn-based combat either. Western RPGs have evolved from it, because turn-based combat was just a way to simulate combat with statistics dispite hardware limitations.

Ashurahori

Oh, and one more thing - yes, it is cliche. It is just cliche done 'right'. Anyone who likes GTAIV but then busts on games for being cliche, well, go-get-the-shiny-i-have-the-shiny-shoot-that-car-drive-home-push-A-or-B-to-determine-morality has been done a million times (see: GTA1-25 or whatever), but GTAIV does it very very very well, hence the awesome.

It's the same thing here, minus Rockstar, plus Japan. :)

RedThree

@RSGun: Square-Enix didn't put faith on it. Just because it wasn't a FF/DQ title, they even paid Famitsu to not review the game. And the S-E boss has already said that this sort of originality will not repeat itself, with the money S-E lost this last year. They're mgonna go all-out with remakes and spinoffs, it seems.

Ashurahori

when i get star grades it´s because i usually kill all in a flash with neku. If the top character has bad def and attack. it can take maybe 3 seconds and you´re dead. whem theres lots of bird and such. It ends. it´s kind of possible to control the top screen. but i usually just press lots to the left or right and make a quick check. forget about stuff like avoiding damage on the top screen. i think it´s kind of stupid way too control the game it should only have been neku. good thats ai in it othervise i would probably burned it down to a crisp or something. it´s a okay game, would be better if i could skip sequenses when i don´t want to care or see them.

basseman

I wasn't really bothered with that review, despite saying the game followed the cliche of all jrpg he was the opossite cliche of the guy who just wants to play FPS and talks about his dick going away and moaning about the spiky hair etc.

It's hair, unless he a pretencious hair stylist the point of giving every character on a game hair tips is a little sad. I don't like crew cut or shaved hair but I don't bitch when I'm playing mass effect or any FPS.

I can't believe he doesn't like Turn based combat too, it's been the center point of almost every good RPG from the past.

Llost

@Legba33: 'moron' is pretty harsh. To wit:

1. Contra 4 is great.
2. Castlevania D(witty name 1) of S(witty name 2, you know how it works) is also great.
3. Phoenix Wright, while I too think is great, actually isn't. You can't speed up the dialogue the first time through, and there is far too much HOW DO I SHOT WEB IS THIS WEB YES WRIGHT IT IS WEB GAH *47 reaction shots* in every piece of dialogue. This isn't true in the first one as much, but hoo boy, Visual Novel.

But, who cares. More than one thing is allowed to be great. Contra is the best action game on it, Castlevania is the best adventure game on it, Phoenix Wright is the best Visual-Novel-if-she's-possessed-by-a-hot-girl-it-doesn't-count-as-pedo / lol-I-can't-wait-to-go-'objection'-on-teh-internets-finally-I'm-popular -4chan-bullcrap, and TWEWY is the best RPG.

Honestly, TWEWY is quite possibly one of the best games I've ever played.

- The story is balls-on compelling (honestly, it is Chrono / FF4 good - I'd never have guessed it was the same studio as KH2), sort of a cross between Jet Set and Gantz, without all the gratuitous nudity and stupid 3D platform bull.

- The music is both great and a great cross-section of the area the game covers.

- They touch on a number of central Japanese cultural things (from Hachiko to the idol-worship so negatively prevalent amongst friend groups in Japan - one person is the 'leader', the rest are just fanboys, or more gender-specifically 'fangirls', of them, with little personality of their own. It is sad, really, but that's a topic for another time, I guess).

- It has one of those think-about-it-oh-hey-awesome Nomura endings (and not one of those what-the-crap-KH2 Nomura endings)

- The combat is very rewarding once you get really good at it (the game itself is super-easy once you find a tolerable pin set, but the diff really ramps up in the extra combat - the game is all 'oh, so you beat me, now that I don't have to walk Squeenix's demographic through the game, here's some real action). The ability to ramp up the difficulty on the fly makes the game pleasantly challenging, and the rewards you get for it are awesome - if you are any sort of gamer, you can play it through almost all the way on Level 1, and get more out of one match than you need for the entire chapter.

- Etc etc, more fanboy praise from me here. Seriously, I recommended this game to everyone I know who had a DS, and they all loved it. If you hate it, you hate it, but at least for me, the game is truly awesome. I'm looking forward to them putting out a sequel - which they will probably butcher (but hey, welcome to the industry) -_-

RedThree

@Fwiffo: i dunno... that just sounds like a simple case of fanboyism.

i still can't grasp why people have to insist that a is better than b and c console (unless they were paid to do it i suppose).

but perhaps part of not being able to grasp or understand might have something to do with not being in that audience (i.e. not understanding teens today because we're not teens ourselves or because one owns none or all 3 consoles).

phrequency

@phrequency: I agree it has some cliches but is that cliche not just style or culture? They believe spiky and long hair is stylish in Japan so you will see a lot of spiky haired kids. I agree it was cliche'd but my point is just that that's not so bad. The dialogue can be daunting but it's just an emphasis on character driven story rather than personal adventure in my opinion.

Llost

@Fwiffo: Your clearly too old or vested in British boringness, people like style nowadays and Japan just does stuff more stylish. Japanese games focus alot on the aesthetics and the anime industry does so too, there is a ton of great stories and fantasy etc. from them (Wolf's rain, Fullmetal alchemist, etc.). it's mostly for people who enjoy good fantasy (rather than just elves and orcs) and like aesthetic beauty in my opinion.

Llost

@Fwiffo: Agreed - that's why this is such a good game. It specifically busts on the LOL JAPAN crowd - it is filled with hateful little bastards, just like us. :)

RedThree

@Llost: i dunno... the game does have some jrpg cliches... and perhaps that was his intent to imply that opposite cliche at the end, for comedic effect. even if it wasn't meant to be comedic, he's still right on that the game is packed with jrpg cliches.

the game is pretty fun overall (as a jrpg fan). the dual screen combat was daunting at first but after an hour or so, it's pretty easy managing both screens (including doing quick fusions, dodging, flipping enemies, passing the puck, etc.)

i also really like the fact you can alter the difficulty by adjusting your level and doing chained combat. one time though, i accidentally ran into a cut-scene/boss once while just running around killing for loot at my lowest level. of course, being stubborn, i refused to reset the game and proceeded to defeat the boss several attempts later. it was hard, but it was fun.

phrequency

Me and Yahtzee have one thing in common (beside both being british) - we both just reached our mid twenties. Seems like we're both having a hard time grasping what the teens of today are into. All this 'OMG JAPAN KAWAII KAWAII JAPAN IS SO COOL EVERYTHING THAT COMES FROM JAPAN IS AWESOME' is flying right over my head.

Fwiffo

I really hate it when Yahtzee reads my mind. Then calls me a smarmy c*** while stabbing me between the eyes.

I was expecting to hate him for this, but I laughed my butt off. Maybe because he was a lot more self-deprecating than usual.

I mean, I expect the posers to follow up with "JRPGS ARE SUX YAHTZEE SEZ", but they're morons that can't think for themselves.

Rebochan

w, I'm a huge fan of JRPGs in general but nevertheless I find Yahtzee ragging on the genre funny as hell mostly because I tend to use cheat devices whenever the game sends me in to grind fest at the end of the game.

Yet the thing I like about JRPGs is the story. Sure, he rags on about the CS and such but after a long day at work sometimes all i like to do is press a few buttons in lathergic fashion and have neat things happen.

So yes, unlike the Ninty fanboys, I accept his criticism of the genre and my taste in games.

RPGr

I'm surprised Kotaku decided not to skip Yahtzee this week, considering their complete obstinance to report on TWEWY at all.

Yahtzee was surprisingly kind to the game. Although I loved the story, I do agree with his assertion that Japanese developers seem to like to segregate the story and gameplay.

I'm also a bit disappointed he didn't mention the music. The soundtrack was one of the biggest features about the game. He also failed to mention Sho Minamimoto, this game's equivalent of "a gun that shoots shurikens and lightning."

JAcK0R

@AgainstOne:

You know what's really stupid? Coming to that kind of conclusion about the entire combat system and story based on ten minutes. :/

helyxzero

i played the game for all of about 10 mins before deciding it would be a cold day in hell before i put another second into it. the combat was stupid, the premise of the story even stupider.

AgainstOne

I personally really likes Yahtzee's reveiws, whether he pans a game I like, pans me or pans anyone else for that matter. His reviews are sometimes insightful and sometimes completely off the mark, but they're always funny. I think Zero Punctuation has to be viewed with both a grain of salt and a sense of humour about yourself and this hobby in general.

That said, I really liked TWEWY. I haven't been this taken with a DS game in a while. Everything from the customization options, the story, the battle system and the gradual difficulty ramping works for me. Personally, it's one of my favorite games in a long time.

rentson

@DrFresh:

Actually I hate them for the same reasons, and I'm not on any deadline.

J449

@MOP88: Dude, thats hilarious. I can't believe no one hase ever made that comparison.

Gray665

I like leveling up my badges when I am not playing. Reminds me, I need to go swap out the ones that have completely leveled up for ones that haven't.

Turael

Sohcahtoa! :)

Regardless, totally agreed on the fashion thing. I mean, there's only two haircuts in Western games - the buzz-cut and the American Idol (the 'bedhead-meets-the-cast-of-Friends' one).

And, instead of emaciated characters of both genders, we get the Tom Cruise (or Bourne? whatever has all the soccer-moms a-quivering) and the Stripperella. Whereas Japan's 'counterpoint' to the regular styles is the Tough Guy (the 'alternate character has a different style lol' thing), the West's 'alternate' is Gothy McGothpants. You know, the brooding, hooded stabbity-dark flames guy, ot the equally broody, leathered, checkerboard-colored (red hair or black hair, red lipstick or black lipstick, red leather or black leather), cloaked 'Wytch', so they can say they are targetting girls too, but are really targetting guys that can't even get the 'regular hot girl' in their dreams.

Oh, apologies for the out-of-the-blue ranting - I actually run a video game store, and for all the people exaggerate the stereotypes of the western gamer, they are absolutely true. Out of any ten people who make you feel embarassed to be a gamer, you get 3 madden 20XX rebuyer, 3 DBZs, 3 Xbox/PS3 fanboys (generally trying as hard as they can to break the Guitar Hero display or calling the Wii 'gay'), and 1 Nintendo fanboy.

Gah, gamers. I hate gamers. You guys and myself included. :)

RedThree

Look out! Text glacier!

I kind of agree... while I've only played one or two JRPGs that kept my interest through most of them I don't really hate the tropes, it's just how that genre works and I don't expect it to undergo a paradigm shift to pander to me.

Separating story and gameplay works IMO - in a game like this it's kind of "*clunk* Here's some plot. Read, look at characters. *clunk* Now you're fighting stuff!" That's way better for me than something like Bioshock, CoD4 or HL2 where it pretends to let you keep controlling but locks you in a box and talks at you until you give up - err, get to play again. Though there are also a couple like GTA4 where they actually blend - if you're not skilled enough to make that work, blatantly switching between game and story is better (though I prefer starting at game and staying there the whole time. Games I play for more than a month do this.)

This is one of those games that will teach you how to do something, then disable it until the long tutorial is over, so I ended up misunderstanding the gestures for a while. It would teach me a technique, then I'd try to use it in the next fight but it was disabled, and the badge management wasn't online yet. Then at the end, all of a sudden I got to practice a dozen things it taught me before because it was real combat and the first time everything worked properly.

The dialog is... about on par with a game like Izuna, or Pokemon as far as I've played. Explain to the player explicitly what they must do, then banter back and forth and repeat it several times in different ways in case you weren't paying attention the first few. Frequently refer to things you learned five minutes ago in case you've had a seizure and forgotten since then. Ok, that's unfair to Izuna and Pokemon, they still give the player more credit than that. It's often funny too.

And the combat is pretty much why I was skeptical of the DS and still haven't really come to like it much. It would work if I could independently rotate my eyes and concentrate on two things at once (I've still never seen this "puck" yet - maybe I'm too busy running around the map and trying desparately to make my character walk/run while fighting to notice.) Sadly the best use for the other screen in general is to fill it with occasionally checked gauges or to just ignore it altogether. Ideally it should work like EBA where it shows you funny stuff repeatedly because you usually can't look at it, and it makes no difference to the gameplay. Luckily the top screen in this will autopilot which is good because the AI just rips through the menu commands faster than I could decipher them if I was singly concentrating on it. Actually I don't think they were explained yet, so scratch that - the AI can actually decypher them so why should I try and vastly reduce my combat ability?

And the stylus gestures - I didn't find it mistakes them as much as it ignores them. To dash, you have to (while fighting a handful of "noise") hit a target that must be about 5 pixels wide otherwise you just won't move. Sprites are small and move a lot, and if you're not 100% precise be prepared for frustration as things just don't work. Telekinesis is the worst offender - there will be things that could only be for throwing, and if you drag them with the stylus 40 or 50 times in a row, eventually they may budge and miss the target, then become untouchable again. (No, it's not cooldown, it's not-working.)

That said, I have it now and plan to go back to it, but... it's not really FUN in either mode so it could really take a while to give it another chance. It sounds totally like something I could get into and I really like the idea of a voluntary difficulty slider for better drops and exp - that's pretty much how you play a dungeon crawler and I'm certainly susceptible to those.

@JAcK0R: Sho Minamimoto huh? The music did routinely get stuck in my head. A lot of times I'd switch to another scene and it would change and I'd think "aww I was listening to that!" I'll have to seek moar

fuchikoma

@fuchikoma: "and if you drag them with the stylus 40 or 50 times in a row, eventually they may budge and miss the target, then become untouchable again."

Your problem is dead spots on your DS screen. Go into your cal, and test-test-test - you almost definitely have small areas on your screen that all register as the same point, so the TK movement doesn't work as the game things that you have stopped for a bit.

Seriously. TWEYWEY (whatever)'s drag command finds dead spots on a DS screen faster than the in-system cal can. :)

RedThree

Indeed, what's up with Kotaku not reporting on anything TWEWY?

I thought the originality was pretty good and the title is fun to play.
It took some time to get used to dual-screened combat but with a little practise and some thought, you can rip through battles WAY faster.

At the abre minimum, just keep your partner attacking left or right. Also pay attention to the puck.

Iceman B.

@RedThree:
Calibration test only has 4 points. Still, in apps like the kanji dictionary where you can draw freely, games that depend on following certain paths without lifting like EBA/Ouendan, and games that use the whole touchscreen like Geometry Wars and FPSes it works flawlessly and is even quite sensitive.

The screen is quite fresh, accurate and responsive in anything but this game - I think the "handles" for anything are just the size of the stylus tip itself. Though I did just pull it out and test to be sure before replying.

fuchikoma

One of the best games on the DS.

M

Just the kind of vindication the FPS/WRPG uber alis crowd needed to spew even more bullshit whenever Japan has the gall to release another game.

I'd love someone to touch upon the joys of creating a faceless character, being given a vague idea of plot at the very beginning of the game, and then mindlessly grinding until you randomly stumble onto the next task, all set against a Tolkien-esque world thats about as original as Fighter's History. There it is...your typical WRPG in a nutshell.

And what suddenly became so bad about separating story and gameplay? Just because games like Half-Life and Assassin's Creed will yammer at you from in-game (while still preventing you from taking any other action within that time) doesn't suddenly mean that a more "cinematic" approach is bad. I'd still rather watch a choreographed cut-scene than a couple of schmucks standing at arms length moving and acting exactly as they would in-game (which always makes for some very stilted and dull movement by comparison).

I wouldn't get so frustrated if I felt like Western developers had really pushed the envelope forward that much, but they just haven't. People are simply using the West's new industry leader position as way to bash any and all conventions found in Japanese games while either celebrating or ignoring those found in Western ones. Nothing has changed...the space marines just have more detailed bulges now.

This generation more than any other has really proven to me what a sad bunch of fair weather friends most gamers are.

Nightshift Nurse: Mile High Colonic

I love how many critics of this game had problems relating to Neku's character, but Yahtzee found him instantly relatable. Hilarious as always.

Squamden

@Legba33: Ouch! I like side scrollers too, I just happen to think this makes the best use of the DS's unique features in a great game.

onidavin

@Gray665: You reek of sarcasm, sir. I suggest you take a bath.

MOP88

twas a good game. Where's the Sho love? I can just imagine the pain of people on their first time through as they laboriously fight off the waves of Taboo while chipping at his lifebar until it reaches green, only to hear GYEAAAAAHHHHHHH as he throws out like 18 Taboos and absorbs them for super transformation fun...
also, why are there so many people who apparently can't figure out how to work two hands indepedently? The two screen combat is really easy, people, and the AI is actually quite terrible at it.

ZinkO: zetta fast

I wouldn't be able to play this game because of my overpowering hatred for Tetsuya Nomura and all of the vile things that spawn from his deranged mind (mainly his disgusting, soulless, zipper covered art style). Plus I'd probably lose interest halfway through anyways, like with every Square-Enix game these days. It does sound like it has a few good ideas though.

Placentasaurus

@Llost:

Unless, of course, you're playing the Tales Of series, in which you can do both.

Mact

JRPG hate is nothing but gamer's elitism. don't you love it when nerds feel superior to other nerds?

StratfordX

@fuchikoma:

I suspect your DS is the culprit, not the game.

I have yet to have a problem with any of the touch commands.
I tap an object, it picks up. As for moving Neku himself, the only problem I ever have is accidently moving while trying to activate a psych.

Mact

I love JRPGs simply for the stories. I guess I do like reading in some ways :P
Remember the days when we just called them regular ole RPGs? yeah, awesome.

Good review too. He's right about a bunch of stuff, but I still loved the game.

MetaKz

good RPG

not great

then again, I hate 95% of all RPGs made, especially JRPGs

so I'd say that constitutes as something worthwhile to most non-RPG players and perhaps more to fans of the genre

roker

@Mact:
Fair enough.
I just installed Colors and tested my entire digitizer. Every last pixel of area on it responds fully to a wide range of different pressures.

Like I had said I'm not implying the game is broken per se, just that I think the spots you have to grab to make anything work must be nearly microscopic. Maybe you just have sniperlike control of your stylus. Personally this is the only game I have any problem with and I listed a few that don't accept any flakiness from the digitizer that work 100% for me.

The only real defect my DS had was once it got stuck in headphone mode until I stuck the stylus into the headphone jack and worked the contacts free again. Since then they've loosened up and worked fine.

The screen is fine in everything else under the sun, now including a program that gives instant feedback on the exact touch being used anywhere it can be touched, so I think hardware is completely ruled out now.

I hope you're still reading this page - you said you tap to pick something up? In the game and in faqs it told me to drag, could that be messing it up, or did you mean drag?

fuchikoma

I think that was a fair review, if you like rpgs you will like this game ^^ so I love it <3333

hrabbit