Ah yes, been waiting quite a while for this game ever since it launched in Japan under the name "It's a Wonderful World."  Aside from the fact it's something interesting and fresh out of Square Enix (along swith Sigma Harmonics, though that will come in due time) the game itself just seems... "out there."  From the story to the gameplay (namely the battle system) quite a bit about the game just seems different from your average JRPG.  Storywise, you play the part of Neku, a 15 year old kid who finds himself waking up in a busy shopping district.  Two interesting objects however help set the game into motion; a black pin, that allows him to read the minds of others, and a cellphone.  The cellphone in particular is the key item here as the instructions given to Neku by whomever calls him early on in the game will determine whether or not he lives or is erased from the existence; the primary conflict in what will be known as the "Reapers' Game."  Obviously, he won't be alone in this adventure as he'll meet up with others facing a similar dilemma... among other things.

The battle system is called the "Stride Cross Battle System" and will use both screens of the DS and involve both current party members in play during battles.  Neku will always inhabit the bottom screen and his attacks will be coordinated with the touchscreen in various ways in accordance with that; the top screen will allow you to use button controls to control that particular party member.  Stat boosts, special items, special skills and magic are all contained within special items (like more pins) that apparently allow you to do a load of crap:

"Battling [...] becomes a fast-paced, stylus-guided dance around the screen. The battle areas are littered with objects like vending machines, cars and lane dividers that, with the right pin, can be hurtled around with a flick of the stylus. You can drive pillars of ice upwards through enemies, summon protective barriers, draw a trail of flames, unleash a torrent of slashes and upper-cuts, rapid-fire blasts and modify your damage, health, countering, finishers and on and on it goes."  - DS.IGN Review

The game is also heavily tied to the culture created in Square Enix's virtual world here.  Wearing the best stuff and being aligned with "key" accessories for each area will offer up greater prizes and incentives.  Overall, the game is built quite a bit on choice as you do have the option to choose whether or not to battle (as there is a certain process to simply engaging enemies to begin with) as well as experiencing the depths of the available in game options.  If anything, with the fact that the game is tied very much to music one of the things I'm most looking forward to is the game's soundtrack.  It comes out April 22nd across North America (which may already be here for some of you :P) and I plan on picking up my copy right as walk into work.

Anyway, there is a crapload more to the game, obviously you can check up on it for any further info; I just halted myself here to avoid spoiling anything for myself as well as anyone else.



   

This game is quite astounding. I really believe this is the best thing Square-Enix have made in many years. Story-wise so far (I'm in day 3) it's a huge fail, but gameplay-wise, the game is better than any other Japanese RPG I've played. Performing Neku's attacks in the lower screen is awesome. For example, he can use telekinesis, where you simple slide the stylus across an object towards an enemy, and the object flies in that direction. Every attack in the game is stylus controlled like that. There are no "select Fire3 from the menu and watch as things happen". You do everything yourself. And there's no Donald Duck.

And the music is great too, if you like J-pop that is. All the tunes in the game are actual J-pop songs, not just midi versions of such. It really sets the mood.

And I don't think I've ever experienced a 2D DS game, where you move with the stylus, that works so well. Flawlessly.

Unfortunately, none of the stores I checked had this game, today wasn't the shipping date was it?  Oh well, the hunt begins anew tomorrow...

Anyway, didn't know the hate for this game was so strong; I can't exactly call it the best RPG ever as I haven't played it myself but everything I've seen from it seems mostly positive.  My interest in it being something "new" and "fresh" is more than just the style of the game but pretty much everything about it from the story to the battle system.  If anything, it comes off as something that would be right up my alley, I'll see in due time whether or not the purchase was worth it seeing as S-E games tend to run at a premium compare to the cost of most DS software.

When I first heard about this game I hated the very idea of it. But after hearing more about it and watching some trailers it looks pretty good, guess I'll pick it up whenever I finish Tales of Innocence (I like to only play one console, one PC and one handhelded RPG at a time).