Sometimes, sequels can be a bad thing. The game industry is rife with unwanted, licensed junk, soulless, yearly cash-ins, and unnecessary extensions to narratives that really have nothing more to say. But every once in a while, though not nearly often enough, someone mentions a sequel that would truly be worth playing, and the collective gamer heart skips a beat for joy.
As a matter of fact, such an occurrence took place just last week when it was discovered that character designer and sometime director Tetsuya Nomura said the following in an interview with Nintendo Power:
“I’m really happy that the game was so well received in North America. I definitely want to make a sequel. I’m very busy working on other titles right now, but when the time is right, I would love to make another installment of The World Ends with You.”
While it's undoubtedly true that The World Ends With You was something of a critical darling, the reported 140,000+ units sold is hardly what most devs would consider highly profitable. Nevertheless, if that kind of reception gets Nomura excited about making a sequel, this particular gamer sure as hell wouldn't want to burst his bubble.
For those that haven't had a chance to play it yet, The World Ends With You is one of the freshest, funnest and most innovative RPGs in years. The combat system is fast and frenetic, requiring the player to use both the touchscreen and the d-pad simultaneously to control characters on the bottom and top screens, respectively. The resulting setup takes a while to get used to, but is extremely satisfying once mastered.
On top of the exciting gameplay innovations, The World Ends With You also packs a unique, modern day story that takes place in Tokyo's Shibuya shopping district, so style and fashion sense play an important part in character customization. Throw in an insanely addictive collecting sub-game and a wide-variety of weapons and special moves, and The World Ends With You is just the breath of fresh air that bored JRPG fans have been waiting for.
Of course, the main character does happen to be a spiky-haired amnesiac but, hey, how else would you know that it's a JRPG?
Unfortunately, while whispers of a sequel are certainly heartening, let's take a deep breath and recall that before he can get to something that people actually want to play, Nomura still has to knock out Final Fantasy Versus 13 and Final Fantasy Agito 13. But maybe that will give Nomura time to get something up and running on the 3DS. Well, we can hope so, at any rate.
What did you think of The World Ends With You? Are you excited at the prospect of a sequel?
Source: Nintendo Everything