OR: Final Fantasy DJ

The World Ends With You proves yet another great game from monolithical Square Enix, who bring us the Final Fantasy games, quintessential playing for role-playing games (RPG). TWE brings a hip-hop attitude to a group of dead kids who need to pass a series of trials in some alternate universe in order to achieve Reincarnation, or something similar. Square always brings some pretty heady world-blowing content to their games, which I like very much. You know, in the belief that games can be a powerful storytelling medium same as graphic novels, books, and movies. CAN be, I said, and this has a lot going for it. The plot, character development (both in game play and in the story aspect) and dialog are all very satisfying. The game utilizes the DS’s dual-screen setup to divide gameplay into two frantic simultaneous battles, a touchscreen-based hack & slash against a button-press puzzle, and the more you can synchronize the two, the better off you are. That on top of staying in fashion by staying on top of the brand trends, leveling up a disgusting amount of materia pin powers, eating the right things… well its a pretty involved thing, as Square games tend to be. Freakin’ Awesome. If you’ve a DS, definite recommendation.