Modern art style created by a team of artists led by Tetsuya Nomura, world-renowned character designer of the upcoming Fabula Nova Crystallis project
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Innovative Stride-Cross Battle System allows players to control two characters simultaneously, unleashing special attacks with the stylus
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Collect a vast array of custom-designed pins, each with a powerful psychic ability that can be activated with the right touch or sound command
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Customize characters with Shibuya's coolest fashions and exchange items with other players via Mingle Mode while experiencing an amazing soundtrack combining a fusion of musical influences from hip-hop to rock and electronica
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Battle with up to three friends in Tin Pin Slammer, an exciting and fast-paced mini-game, via local wireless connection
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Awesome rpg!Aug 18, 2010 Everyone i know was pressuring me to buy this game so i did lol its actually as good as they say it is and worth the money but it isnt very fun to play after you beat it...
Hack and slash to the JPop/Rock/RapAug 17, 2010 The first thing you should know is that the music makes this game. Don't forget your ear buds, folks, because you don't want to have to go without the sound on this one. Suffice it to say, there are lots of great tracks.
Gameplay is pleasantly versatile. The main character, Neku, has powers that change based on what pins he's wearing: A system that allows for nearly limitless combinations. Think Materia, except you deploy the different powers with active gestures instead of menu options. You can slash thing to pieces, shoot at them, set them on fire, drop small meteors on them... you get the idea.
The difficulty is also quite versatile. Like a challenge? Play on hard, and control both your partner and yourself at all times. That means you have to look at both screens, controlling one with your main hand and a stylus and the other with your off hand and some buttons. A little tired? Scale back the difficulty, put your partner on full auto, and just focus on your main hand and Neku.
There's a bit too much talk in the early part of the game, but other than that, it's great.
Finally, there's a lot you can do after beating the game, so the play time vs price is extra impressive!
1 of 2 found the following review helpful:
A disappointmentAug 12, 2010 First off, I didn't play this game for an hour or two and decide I didn't like it. I really put in some good time on this. Spent a lot of time just wandering around, and fighting around (once the character was free to do so of course...). Learned the battle system well and how to manipulate the difficulty levels to gain more pins and items and so forth. Beat several bosses, and played pretty close to the end.
I'm making that clear, so that no one can accuse me of not giving this game a chance.
I gave it more than a fair chance. And I went into it REALLY really wanting to like it. It was actually given to me as a gift by my brother, who had gone on the many glowing reviews the game had received. He and I both are major gamers, especially RPG gamers, stretching back to the old days of getting our free copy of Dragon Warrior from our subscription to Nintendo Power. And both of us have always been very open minded to the change in trends to games, especially the RPG/Adventure genre.
Which is why this game hits as such a disappointment...
I admit that for a little while, some of the game play elements are kind of fun... But what little there was there, is fleeting at best, and the annoyances of this game kind of crush the extremely limited fun value.
I'm really surprised that there are so many positive reviews for this game. But glad that some people have enjoyed it at least. I really wish I could have counted myself as one of them.
SPOILER ALERT!!!!
Just getting through the first week, I found myself really hoping that would just be the end of the game... And was just annoyed that it kept on going.
I definitely agree with a lot of the 1 star ratings in the things they disliked about the game.
The music is definitely some of the most terrible music to be in any game. And I do tend to like music that is in games, so that's a big deal.
The game play, it takes getting used to... and when you do, there's a brief moment where it's slightly fun, then it's just annoying and ridiculous.
The characters are all annoying and worthless... The story, while it has a couple of moments of being mildly interesting, gets lost in the inane babble of the stupid characters..
And one of the most ridiculous elements of the game, is the 'armor' accessory aspect. Based on fashion trends?! And to get the most out of your clothes and gear, you have to dress in different fashions in each area you go to.... And I thought the Dress Sphere debacle of Final Fantasy X-2 was bad...
The game obviously appeals to a lot of people, which surprises me, but hey, that's cool... I just felt I should write my own review of it, for the minority out there that are like me and just wont like this game.
I could say I hate the game... but I logged enough time on it to say I could go with a simply 'don't like this game'... Which is why I give it two stars instead of one.
And to any who would feel the need to comment on this message in order to 'convince' me of why I'm wrong about my opinion of this game, don't bother. I'm not commenting on your posts, and I made it more than clear in here that I have nothing at all against any one who enjoyed this game. And that I'm glad you enjoyed it. You're entitled to your opinion, and so am I, and that's all this is here.
Innovative, wonderful game from Square EnixAug 09, 2010 Or maybe they should consider changing the name of this game to "You Will Die in Seven Days....Maybe."
In this innovative DS title from Square Enix, players meet young Neku, a somewhat angst and unlikable boy who wakes up in a strange city called Shibuya without any memory of who he is or how he came to be in the city. He teams up with a young girl named Shiki, who helps Neku understand the strange new world he now finds himself in. Neku is now a "player" in a game run by gamemasters known as "reapers." The game lasts seven days, and each day the players are given a mission to complete. If players are able to battle their way through powerful monsters or "noise" and complete the missions on time, they won't be "erased."
Of course, it's not that simple for Neku. Not only do the reapers actively come after him and his partner, but Neku discovers unexpected revelations about the world he's in and the dangerous game he's playing. Though the world may end for many of the players after seven days, Neku finds a way to continue after the short time and play the game three times, each time with a different partner with unique abilities and personalities.
Neku's world is different than just about anything else I've seen on the DS. Not only is the gameplay different, but the game is built on unique, punky visuals that create a feel that's rare in modern video games -something well, innovative and different, almost gutsy.
The gameplay is also a little gutsy. Instead of having magic or weapons, players collect "pins" throughout the game, each with a different kind of power that can be activated via the touch screen in battle while their partner uses their abilities on the top screen. It may sound a little odd, but it's the touch screen part that really makes this come to life. Nearly in battle is utilized via the touchpad and, outside of battle, the touch screen is used for everything from moving your character to shopping.
While the battles can seem a little repetitive and grind-like, the overall gameplay is fun and innovative and the plot is unpredictable. Though I admit that the main character annoys me like crazy, it's easy to ignore when everything else just works so well in this game. This is a wonderful title from Square Enix that stands apart from other DS games.
A realistic reviewAug 09, 2010 Okay so I want to write a review that is not by a crazy fanboy/girl, or a person who picked it up, tried it for a few hours, and shot it down with 1 star here. There are too many harsh complaints. I played this game all the way through, and it took me about a year because I went back and forth to it. If you dont get into it right away, I recommend you go back and forth, because it can be tedious at first, or strange.
Some things that people are being too harsh about.
Combat:
-The pin system is interesting, you get different abilities based on 3-5 set pins you pick. Ex: You pick a pin that lets you tap on the screen to shoot a bullet, a pin that you tap to heal you, a pin that lets you drag across the floor to create flames, a pin that requires you to draw a circle which shoots a homing lightning ball, etc.
-Yes two screens is confusing, but you can pick the settings so it is easier, and not even play the top screen most of the game if you want. The top screen is just hitting left or right on the d-pad to make the person hit, you follow a pattern to do different moves. Ex: Shiki has three patterns to match at the top of the screen. If you tap left on the d-pad it will show you a direction to tap for each pattern. Tap left-left-left for the star, left-up-up for the square, and left-down-down for the triangle (not sure of the exact symbols), if you get the matches in the right order you do a special move. Either way just hitting left-left-left will hit the monsters, even if you dont get matches. Its not that complicated and if you dont use it the ai does it for you.
-Each individual pin gains experience and can evolve into a new pin. Just by not playing for a day a pin gains experience on its own, so thats a plus to developing your pins. There are tons and tons of pins and it allows gameplay to be new throughout the game.
The story:
-It can be a little confusing at first, but just stick with it for a while and it will start to make sense. I played half the game over like six months, not really keeping up with the story, but then when I got halfway through I started playing a few times a week for a half hour and the story finally started to get going and things were more intriguing. It all adds up in a nice way in the end.
Honestly the game is pretty logical, it may require a little effort learn the system, but its really not that complicated, and you can adjust the system to make it easy either way. It has some fun RPG elements, and equipment doesnt require much learning, you just wear clothes and it adds to stats.
One last thing I liked about the game, is it is entirely based on Shibuya, one of 23 areas (sort of like a county) of the city Tokyo, its cool to look at pictures of real life areas and see how it is entirely based on it.
I gave the game 4 stars because the gameplay gets pretty fun, and finding new pins keeps things fresh. The story was kinda boring at first, and I almost border on 3 stars, but because it picked up towards the end, and I felt the characters became likable the more you play, the story kinda grew on me. I could not play the game straight through in a month, I think it needs to be back and forth or it will get frustrating. The animation is good, and the music is pretty catchy if you like sort of an electro pop sound (I kept the sound off for some of it though). I'd give it a 3.75.
based on 127 reviews
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