(Spoilers for The
World Ends With You)
In the New Year,
people are wondering what kinds of fresh, interesting games will be
released. Therefore, the absolute best way for me to start 2016 is to
completely disregard the desire to do new things. Instead, I went
back to 2007 to play a game that I missed out on: The World Ends
With You (TWEWY). Back when this game first came out, I made the
decision to get a PSP instead of a Nintendo DS. That meant that up
until I purchased a 3DS, I wasn't able to give it a chance.
Aside from the fact
that it was a highly acclaimed RPG on the DS, I honestly didn't know
too much about TWEWY going in. I'm glad that I didn't, because it
gave me a chance to get to know the cast of characters on my own
terms. Of particular note is the protagonist of TWEWY: Neku Sakuraba.
Though not a particularly unique character on his own right, Neku
serves as a great example of someone with a fully fleshed out
character arc.
At the beginning of
the game, Neku can best be described as an asshole. He often finds
himself disgusted with other residents of Shibuya, making no effort
to understand them. If you knew someone in high school that thought
they was better than everyone else, and therefore no one was worth
their time, then you've basically met Neku in real life. One of the
first things that he notices is that no one else seems to be able to
see him. Initially enjoying this turn of events, things change once
he learns the reason for his newfound invisibility.
This is when he
discovers that he's a player in the mysterious Reapers' Game. When
somebody dies, they may give up the thing most precious to them as an
entry fee to enter the game. If they win, they come back to life and
reclaim their entry fee. Lose, and they surrender any claim they may
have to life. As a player, he is forced to complete a mission each
day for seven days. Unless at least one team completes a day's
mission in the allotted time, all players will be “erased” (read:
killed). As he starts to complete his first mission, he is attacked
by monsters spawning out of nowhere. By partnering with another
nearby player named Shiki, he is able to both fight off the monsters
and prevent further attacks.
And that setup is
very important for Neku's development. Until he realizes that the
current circumstances make it practically impossible to avoid
cooperating with others, Neku will do anything he can to avoid others
entirely. He is naturally required to get over himself in order to
survive, which sets him up on the path to greater character
development.
Through his
partnership with Shiki, Neku gradually starts to open up, eventually
revealing that he can't remember anything about his life before
entering the Reapers' Game. Eventually, this leads to him befriending
other players aside from his chosen partner, like the pair Beat and
Rhyme. Initially hostile to the two for “dragging him down with
their problems”, the two partnerships grow into a strong team for
completing missions. When a trap set by the Reapers, who control the
game and attempt to halt all players' attempts to come back to life,
kills Rhyme. Rather than leave Beat to fend for himself, as he likely
would have prior to the start of game, Neku is the first to step up
and hold off the enemy long enough for Beat to make an escape.
On the seventh day,
once Neku and Shiki beat the Game Master, the Reaper directing the
game and the missions therein, they are told that only one person is
allowed to return to life. Specifically, since she performed the
best, Shiki is the chosen “winner”. However, since she, Neku, and
Beat survived the game, their entry fees were returned. In Neku's
case, his memories were the entry fee. In order to get a chance to
talk to Shiki in the real world, and spend time with his newfound
friend, Neku agrees to once more participate in the Reapers' Game.
Unfortunately for him, this requires a new entry fee.
This new entry fee
is one of the biggest signifiers of how much Neku has changed over
the course of this single week. His first fee was his memory, the
thing that he valued most. As the one in charge of the game explains,
Neku valued himself over anyone else. Since one is most defined by
their memories and experiences, taking it away is the closest thing
one can get to truly destroying someone without killing them
outright. Thinking that his would just lose his memories again, Neku
agree to another round. To his misfortune, after his experiences with
Shiki and the others, his self and his memories are no longer than
which he most values. The most valuable thing to him is the life of
his partner, which is why she becomes the new entry fee.
Entering the second
Reapers' Game with his memories intact and a firm goal in mind, Neku
still needs a partner to fight and protect himself from monster
attacks. This is when he forms a pact with the enigmatic Joshua. As a
character, Joshua is a lot like Neku used to be. Often he will talk
about how pointless it is for people to try to know and understand
one another. Rarely does he ever talk about himself, choosing to hide
his motives and agenda from everyone, including his own partner.
However, he lacks the disdain Neku once had, instead demonstrating
smug, self-righteous narcissism. In this way, the game highlights the
change Neku has made by teaming him up with the logical extreme of
his own previous personality traits.
This contrast even
extends to their philosophies when playing the Reapers' Game. Neku is
anxious to complete every mission given as soon as he possibly can,
because he understands that both his and Shiki's lives are on the
line. Meanwhile, Joshua doesn't really care about anything other than
himself and his own goals. He is more than willing to let other teams
get their hands dirty in order to spare himself from putting in a
modicum of effort.
At least, that's
how it first appears. As the week goes on, their relationship appears
to change. Joshua begins to question Neku about his life and beliefs.
However, this questioning isn't to prove how much better he is
compared to Neku. It instead leaves an impression that Joshua is
genuinely curious about the person Neku was and is. In response to
the answers, Joshua pontificates about the nature of people and their
relationships with others. This paves the way for his heroic
sacrifice against the new Game Master for this round.
Unfortunately,
despite being the only surviving contestant, Neku does not return to
life on the basis that he was aiding Joshua in matters that exist
outside of the Reapers' Game while playing the game. Since he still
technically survived until the end, like last time, Shiki's life is
returned. However, Neku must play a third, final time to be afforded
a chance to return to life. As he is once again playing the game,
another entry fee is extracted.
As the game starts,
Neku realizes that he can't see any other players. After playing
twice, he has begun to prize the partnerships and teams that have
been keeping him alive. So much so, that this cooperation with other
players has become the thing he values most, and the entry fee for
this round. This is the same person who began the story as a
misanthrope who couldn't even begin to care if the people around him
lived or died. By developing friendships and working with others in a
situation where he had no other choice, he has significantly changed
his outlook. Watching his entry fee change over the course of 3 runs
means we are able to visibly see his character progression.
This leaves him
alone in a world where those without partners can be easily picked
off. Fortunately for him, the gameplay and story both demand that
someone comes to his aid. Through circumstances outside the scope of
this discussion, Beat steps in as his companion for the third
Reapers' Game. If the change in entry fees doesn't highlight how Neku
evolved through the story, then the change in his relationship with
Beat certainly does. The arrogant, selfish Neku from before hated
Beat after just 5 minutes of conversation. This Neku, who desires a
team to work with, is different. He gladly accepts the company
presented to him.
It’s natural for
characters to evolve as they go through whatever journey or adventure
that is thrust upon them. We are far from the days where video game
protagonists were little more than cyphers for the player to impact
their feeling onto. However, it’s difficult sometimes to find good
examples of character development with a very clearly defined through
line. That’s why I want to bring attention to Neku and The World
Ends With You as a whole. In growing from a misanthropic teen to
someone who respects and values others, he can show how characters
can slowly, gradually, and plausibly change as they react to stimuli.
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