| 1 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/twewy_8028.jpg]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:348:Don't hate the Players; hate the Game.[[note]]From left to right: [[InsufferableGenius Joshua]], [[HeadphonesEqualIsolation Neku]], [[TheFashionista Shiki]], and [[CheerfulChild Rhyme]], with [[BruiserWithASoftCenter Beat]] behind them.[[/note]]]] |
| 3 | |
| 4 | ->''"Listen up, Phones! [[TitleDrop The world ends with you.]] If you want to enjoy life, expand your world. You gotta push your horizons out as far as they'll go."'' |
| 5 | -->-- '''Sanae Hanekoma''' |
| 6 | |
| 7 | [[CompletelyDifferentTitle Also known as]] ''It's a Wonderful World'' (Japanese: ''Subarashiki Kono Sekai''), ''The World Ends with You'' is an UrbanFantasy ActionRPG developed and published by Creator/SquareEnix and co-developed by Jupiter (the same company that made ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories''). |
| 8 | |
| 9 | It tells the story of Neku Sakuraba, an [[LonersAreFreaks asocial]] [[EmoTeen teen]] who wakes up one day on the crossroads of Shibuya, Tokyo with [[LaserGuidedAmnesia no clue how he got there]]. He soon discovers that he has been dumped into a PhantomZone version of Shibuya called the "Underground", where he will be forced to play the week-long "Reapers' Game". Victory will allow Neku to recover his lost memories and escape from the Underground, but if he loses, he'll be [[DeaderThanDead erased from existence]]. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | The rules of the Reapers' Game dictate that it must be played in teams of two, and Neku is abruptly partnered with Shiki Misaki, a [[TheFashionista fashion-conscious]] chatterbox who [[HiddenDepths becomes the first person to break into Neku's world]]. Other characters include [[{{Malaproper}} Daisukenojo "Beat" Bito]], a skater who fights before thinking and will [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu take on anyone]] to finish the game; Raimu (aka "Rhyme"), Beat's logical and adage-loving partner; and Yoshiya "Joshua" Kiryu, a [[InsufferableGenius too-clever-by-half]] teenager who shares Neku's [[DeadpanSnarker impatience when working with others]]. Armed with mysterious psychic powers linked to pin badges, the group fight to overcome the challenges set by the Reapers' Game and survive their seven days in the Underground. Opposing them are the organisers and moderators of the game, the Reapers themselves. The plot is a whirlwind of [[TheReveal reveals]] and gambits, so much so that the game encourages you to play a second time to gather secret reports that will allow you to (possibly) make sense of it. Square Enix has also released a one-shot tie-in manga. |
| 12 | |
| 13 | Battles are complex and fast-paced, with deep character customization systems and a large number of in-battle actions to choose from. These battles use all of the DS's unique features, and at [[DifficultyLevels higher difficulties]] not paying equal attention to both screens can be [[GameOver deadly]], so the game is often noted for its difficulty and complexity. The soundtrack consists of modern, local acts from in and around the real-life Shibuya, and the graphics are inspired by Shibuya's fashion and trends, with character designs by Gen Kobayashi and Creator/TetsuyaNomura. It has achieved a high level of critical acclaim, particularly for how different it is from its contemporaries. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | A mobile port of the game subtitled ''Solo Remix'' was released on August 27, 2012 for Platform/{{iOS|Games}} and June 24, 2014 for Platform/{{Android|Games}}. The mobile ports features enhanced graphics, new music including the remixes from ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'', and online Tin-Pin. While no story changes were made, iOS and Android devices could not support the two-screen combat style used in the original, creating a new combat system in which pairs fought together on screen. On October 12, 2018, a Platform/NintendoSwitch version subtitled ''Final Remix'' was released; in addition to being based on the previous ''Solo Remix'' in gameplay and design, the game [[UpdatedRerelease features]] an extra scenario that expands the game's existing story, as well as a SequelHook. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | There was also a social game subtitled ''Live Remix'', set in an alternate universe. At the beginning of the week, players were assigned into groups of 20, and need to work together to defeat Ringleader Noise. There was no English release, however, and the Japanese game shut down on February 28, 2014. |
| 18 | |
| 19 | In June 2020, thirteen years after the game originally released, [[Anime/TheWorldEndsWithYouTheAnimation an anime adaptation]] was announced at [[https://mobile.twitter.com/twewy_pr Anime Expo Lite 2020.]] Kazuya Ichikawa will direct the series at Domerica x Shin-Ei Animation, with Midori Goto serving as screenwriter. Key staff members from the original game like Tetsuya Nomura & Gen Kobayashi (character design) and Takeharu Ishimoto (music) are also returning to those roles for the anime. The series began airing on April 9, 2021, and you can watch the reveal trailer [[https://youtu.be/PyIt1obb1dE here]]. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | In November 2020, a follow-up known as ''VideoGame/NEOTheWorldEndsWithYou'' was announced for a July 2021 release on Platform/NintendoSwitch, Platform/PlayStation4 and PC. Taking place in Shibuya once more, the game follows a cast of new characters in a new version of the Reapers' Game, with appearances from classic characters like Sho Minamimoto and Koki Kariya. Graphically, the game makes the VideoGame3DLeap with {{cel shad|ing}}ed graphics vs. the original's 2D sprites. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | See also ''{{Series/Sh15uya}}'' and ''Manga/{{Gantz}}'', which have similar premises. For a game similar in visual and musical aesthetic rather than story matter, see ''VideoGame/JetSetRadio''. See also ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'', which is also set in Shibuya for seven days. Contrast ''VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors'', which deals with similar themes and carries the same JustForFun/HolyShitQuotient. |
| 24 | |
| 25 | Does not involve you [[ApocalypseHow bringing the world to some sort of "end"]]. |
| 26 | |
| 27 | '''Note:''' ''It's A Wonderful World'' [[SimilarlyNamedWorks is a dangerously similar title to that]] of a 1939 live-action ScrewballComedy, ''Film/ItsAWonderfulWorld'', starring Jimmy Stewart and Claudette Colbert. In addition, the title is also similar to the Music/LouisArmstrong song "What a Wonderful World", the resemblance being intended by the creators. |
| 28 | |
| 29 | '''Spoilers below.''' |
| 30 | %%Don't change the above. It's not a typo. We're not talking about It's A Wonderful Life, we're talking about a separate movie titled It's A Wonderful World. Leave it as is.%% |
| 31 | ---- |
| 32 | !!Provides examples of: |
| 33 | |
| 34 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 35 | |
| 36 | [[folder:# - E]] |
| 37 | * HundredPercentCompletion: There are 22 secret reports, 96 Noise reports, 472 items, and 304 pins to collect; more in the ports. Completing each set gets you a star rank for that collection and a new character on the save screen. Collecting all the secret reports also unlocks TheStinger. |
| 38 | * AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: The Shibuya River. Easily big enough for the characters to walk and fight in. TruthInTelevision, as it really does exist. According to Website/TheOtherWiki, the Shibuya River was adapted from a city street. |
| 39 | * AdaptationDeviation: The misunderstanding between Ai and Mina transpires during Day 5 of the Reaper's Game. In the anime, it happens during Day 4. |
| 40 | * AffablyEvil: Many Reapers are pretty friendly for people who regularly erase other people. |
| 41 | * AffectionateParody: Another Day often comes across as this, of ''Franchise/SuperSentai''-style shows and [=RPGs=] ("Black joined the party!") and games are SeriousBusiness type shows like ''Franchise/YuGiOh''. The Tin-Pin storyline is also a parody of the game ''you just played.'' |
| 42 | * AfterCombatRecovery: You gain full HP after finishing battles. In case of chained battles, HP recovery occurs after completing the entire chain, instead of between individual battles. |
| 43 | * AIBreaker: One of the things making [[spoiler:Taboo Minamimoto]] such a difficult boss is an apparent MediumAwareness, activating TeleportSpam whenever your stylus makes contact with the boss's sprite. Therefore, using pins that attack without having to touch near your target makes this boss ''much'' easier. Vortex Saber M is the usual psych suggestion, but there are many that meet that description. |
| 44 | * AlasPoorVillain: In the end, you can't help but feel bad for [[spoiler:Kitaniji]] once you realize that all he was doing was [[spoiler:trying to ensure that Joshua didn’t destroy the city he loved above all else, to the point that he was willing to put his entire existence on the line for it.]] |
| 45 | * AllThereInTheManual: |
| 46 | ** The Japanese manual includes things like the pins that your three partners use. Which explains things like how Joshua somehow uses his cell phone to drop soda machines on enemies [[spoiler:although most fans have already made a [[PhysicalGod justified assumption]]]]. |
| 47 | ** Furthermore, the manual [[spoiler:even points out all of Neku's partners, making Neku's shocking expression after finding out he has to play through another game less surprising. It even goes so far as to tell the order in which you get Shiki, Joshua, and Beat.]] |
| 48 | ** This trope is also in effect ''in the game's universe'' via the Secret Reports, which act as a combination of UnreliableNarrator and MrExposition. They do at least explain the rules of the game and its universe before one final MindScrew. |
| 49 | * AlmightyJanitor: Kariya fits the bill nicely, although he does very little work at ''all''. [[spoiler:This is mainly due to him preferring to hang out with Uzuki instead, in spite of the fact that his skills easily warrant him a promotion.]] |
| 50 | * AlreadyDoneForYou: A few missions are partially completed by other Players, but only after you've done almost all of the work. On a smaller and less plot-relevant note, the Reaper wall between Center Street Entrance and AMX during Week 2 Day 2 is up if you go from the Center Street side but down if you go from the AMX side, confusing Neku until Joshua reminds him that there are other Players clearing walls too. |
| 51 | * AlternateUniverse: |
| 52 | ** "Another Day" is an extra chapter that takes place in the dimension [[spoiler:Joshua fled to after his apparent HeroicSacrifice]]. In this reality, Neku is an optimistic {{Cloudcuckoolander}} and Tin Pin Slamming is SeriousBusiness. |
| 53 | ** "A New Day" appears to take place in one as well, as not only is the geography of Shibuya completely jumbled, some of the characters act bizarrely. Shiki and Rhyme act more like "close enough" versions of their main counterparts, Uzuki and Kariya swapped personalities, and Joshua has been turned into a meek, bumbling kid with a stutter who insists on using his real name. [[spoiler:As it turns out, Neku and Beat are inside a giant Noise that's acting as a LotusEaterMachine; once Hanekoma exposes Coco and the Dissonance Tapir is defeated, they are returned to the real world.]] |
| 54 | * AmericanKirbyIsHardcore: While the title change was due to legal issues, thus providing a reason for the use of the trope, ''The World Ends With You'' is quite a bit more "hardcore" than ''It's a Wonderful World.'' |
| 55 | * AnachronicOrder: Completing the post-game sidequests for the first 20 days awards you with Secret Reports 1-20 in that order. However, completing Beat Day 7's quests gives you Secret Report 22, and completing Another Day's quests (one of which is obtaining Beat Day 7's Report) gives you Secret Report 21. |
| 56 | * AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: Neku switching partners at the start of each week. [[LateArrivalSpoiler You thought you were done so soon?]] |
| 57 | * AndThenJohnWasAZombie: After several days of battling Noise, [[spoiler:Rhyme]] undergoes an EmergencyTransformation and eventually manifests as one. {{Downplayed}} in that the transformation only serves to introduce her as a LivingMacGuffin, rather than invoking any InternalConflictTropes on her part. |
| 58 | * AntiFrustrationFeatures: |
| 59 | ** Getting to change the game's difficulty at any time and offering the chance to try a fight again on easy as part of the game over screen. ''Final Remix'' also offers another one in getting to change your pins after a game-over without having to go through the title screen first in case you were caught off-guard by a boss battle when training weaker pins. |
| 60 | ** The alien encounters are completely random, but can show up anytime to prevent player from being completely locked from MPP evolution (including on devices that aren't actually DS, like an emulator) if they have no one to connect with. On top of that, ''Solo Remix'' made it possible to earn Mingle PP by playing single-player Tin Pin with the AI. ''Final Remix'' axed the concept of Mingle PP entirely and changed all Pins that required it to Evolve to use either Battle or Shutdown PP instead. Since there are now only two PP types, the evolution rules were also tweaked slightly to ensure it's still possible to master the handful of pins with branched evolutions; instead of evolving based on which type of PP is dominant to ''any'' degree, pins now only evolve if the required PP type is ''very'' dominant. |
| 61 | * AntiPoopSocking: Of the three kinds of experience that your pins can get, one can only be gained by leaving your DS off for a significant period of time (or by changing the date on your system, but that's ''cheating!'') Other than experience for your pins, stat boosting food can only be consumed at a rate of 24 "bytes" per day (you can eat items worth six bytes or less at any time, but they rarely give significant statistic boosts). This can be circumvented by purchasing a specific item or by adjusting the internal clock of your DS. |
| 62 | * ApocalypseHow: In ''A New Day'', [[spoiler:the ending reveals that Shinjuku has been not just erased, but subjected to something called an Inversion, the mechanics of which aren't detailed other than that they involve Noise manifesting in the RG. The "how" part of the trope is the looming question]]. |
| 63 | * ArbitraryMissionRestriction: Some special Pig Noise enemies must be defeated in very idiosyncratic ways. Some require a specific pin to be erased, some must be beaten in under ten seconds, some must be beaten in a particular order, and one actually requires you to ''close your DS'' in order to be erased. |
| 64 | * ArcWords: Week 3 has a ''very'' creepy recurring line, spoken by [[spoiler:those who have been brainwashed by the Red Skull pins]]: |
| 65 | --> [[spoiler:"To right the countless wrongs of our day, we shine this light of true redemption, that this place may become as paradise. What a wonderful world such would be..."]] |
| 66 | * ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Reaper Sport 1 is RussianRoulette. Reaper Sport 2 is ''Hide-and-Seek''. Reaper Sport 3 is a Player Hunt, while Reaper Sport 4 is ''Tag''. |
| 67 | * AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: [[spoiler:Technically, this is what happens to all the Players upon entering the game. The Secret Reports reveal that the Underground is on a slightly higher plane then the real world, meaning Players ascend to a higher plane upon death. Also, Players who do exceptionally well are offered the chance to become Reapers, and Reapers who do exceptionally well can be promoted to Officers, giving them a chance to become Composer and/or even ''Angels.'']] |
| 68 | * AscendedExtra: Coco Atarashi, who originally hosted the microtransaction shop in ''Solo Remix'' and was featured in the mobile spinoff ''Live Remix'', is officially added to canon in ''Final Remix''[='=]s extra story. |
| 69 | * AssimilationPlot: Kitaniji's plan to [[spoiler:prove that humanity can be redeemed is to brainwash all of Shibuya's inhabitants, erasing their sense of individuality and personal flaws]]. |
| 70 | %%* AssistCharacter: Your partners in the [=iOS=] version. %%Zero-context, please elaborate |
| 71 | * AutoSave: ''Solo'' and ''Final Remix'' save at every screen transition. Accordingly, the "Save" menu is renamed to the "Deeds" menu, because now all it's good for is looking at your stats. |
| 72 | * AwesomeButImpractical: A lot of the ''Final Remix''-exclusive pins are altered versions of common psychs whose use is highly unorthodox (a [[PainfullySlowProjectile Painfully Slow]] Force Rounds pin being the simplest example). |
| 73 | * BadassAdorable: |
| 74 | ** [[DefrostingIceQueen Neku Sakuraba.]] Multiple shopkeepers will gush over how cute he looks as their FSG meter increases and his multiple WhenHeSmiles moments and development into a genuinely good person firmly cements him as one. As for the badass part, he's able to use a SuperpowerLottery worth of pins, takes on multiple Reapers and Noises as the story progresses, takes on three Game Masters throughout the game and win, and survives the Reaper's Game [[spoiler:multiple times]]. |
| 75 | ** [[GirlyBruiser Shiki Misaki]] is no slouch in this apartment as well, being adorable young lady with a love for [[TheFashionista fashion]] and [[GirlsLoveStuffedAnimals her stuffed cat]]...who also has no problem tearing apart multiple [[TheHeartless Noise]] with [[MarionetteMaster said stuffed cat.]] On top of that, her stuffed cat can also [[MesACrowd clone itself]], and [[MegaNeko grow into a giant version of itself]] that’s even able to shoot EyeBeams. |
| 76 | ** Once you get past the already-thin tough-guy exterior, [[IdiotHero Beat]] is a warm, honest, kindhearted sweetheart who is fiercely devoted to the people he loves and will take on what is essentially the afterlife in order to protect them. He also has some of the fastest DPS combos in the game and his DifficultButAwesome Fusion system can help make for some potent damaging attacks provided you set it up right. |
| 77 | * TheBadGuyWins: |
| 78 | ** [[spoiler:Joshua, the Composer of Shibuya, had decided that the city had become corrupt, and was planning to destroy it before it infected other regions. Kitaniji's entire plot throughout the game was a challenge for the right to stop him. Thanks to Neku, Joshua beats Kitaniji and has free reign. But also thanks to Neku, Joshua changes his mind about Shibuya needing to be destroyed in the first place. So even though the bad guy won, the good guys didn't lose.]] |
| 79 | ** "A New Day" ''also'' ends this way, this time as a SequelHook. [[spoiler:Neku is dead at Coco's hands, and after attempting and failing to prevent his murder, Joshua callously decides to leave Neku to his fate, declaring Josh doesn't need him anymore. All this is part of Coco's plan to get Neku back into the UG, the first step of a scheme that threatens far more than just Shibuya. The second step? ''Resurrect Sho Minamimoto.'' Apparently to act as ''Neku's partner''.]] |
| 80 | * BalanceBuff: ''Solo Remix'' changed the generic stat medication from Shibu-Q to go down in 6 bytes rather than 8 (HP) or 16 (ATK/DEF), bringing them from "basically worthless" to "{{Infinity Minus One|Sword}} stat boosters". The "best" foods in terms of byte/stat ratio remain the same, but the medication is much easier to acquire, and can be used repeatedly without the Hollow Leg. |
| 81 | %%* TheBaroness: Mitsuki Konishi. %%Zero-context, please elaborate |
| 82 | * BaitAndSwitch: This line said by Neku in ''Another Day'': |
| 83 | -->'''Neku''': Wow, you guys. I always scrap [the Pinhead Weekly Magazine]...[[spoiler:in an acid-proof scrapbook binder.]] |
| 84 | * BaitAndSwitchBoss: [[spoiler:Taboo Minamimoto]] gets crunched before you can actually fight to the death. He comes back as Blue Noise during the postgame. |
| 85 | * BaitAndSwitchGunshot: |
| 86 | ** Neku remembers Joshua pointing at him with a literal smoking gun, just before his death. [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Actually]], Joshua had just shot Minamimoto, who had for some reason chosen that moment to try killing Joshua for a KlingonPromotion. [[DoubleSubversion And then Joshua shoots Neku for real]].]] |
| 87 | ** In ''A New Day'', Neku sees a vision of ''almost'' the same scene, after he knows what happened the first time. [[spoiler:Again, Joshua actually shot a Reaper behind Neku -- Coco, this time. And Neku dies ''again'', because this time the assassin was after him, and Joshua failed to stop her.]] |
| 88 | * BattleCouple: Sota and Nao. They're already established as a couple during the first week, and when Neku and Joshua encounter them in the second week, they're partners in the Reaper's Game. |
| 89 | * TheBattleDidntCount: [[spoiler:Reaper Beat]] and [[spoiler:Taboo Minamimoto]]. Even if you land a significant number of hits (or manage to defeat them in New Game+), Neku will be gasping and mocked for being too weak to be worth fighting. |
| 90 | * BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame: This is the goal of all Players and even [[spoiler:Kitaniji, Minamimoto and Konishi]], who are all plotting against the Composer for one reason or another. However, only [[spoiler:Kitaniji]] is formally held to this rule the way the Players are. |
| 91 | * BeehiveBarrier: The Reaper walls take the form of transparent hexagons. |
| 92 | * BerserkButton: Beat is enraged and embarrassed whenever someone calls him by his [[EmbarrassingFirstName real name]]. |
| 93 | * BigBadEnsemble: [[spoiler:Kitaniji and Joshua]]. The latter is a god-like figure who wanted to destroy Shibuya because of its dire problems, and the other was trying to start an AssimilationPlot to convince him otherwise. |
| 94 | * BigOMG: Another Day Shiki, upon seeing her idol the Prince: "Omi- omi- omi- oho ho ho ho ohh! emm! gee!" Joshua thinks she's having a stroke. |
| 95 | * BigNo: |
| 96 | ** Neku, when he is told that [[spoiler:Shiki is his new entry fee]]. |
| 97 | ** [[BigBad Kitaniji]] after being defeated. |
| 98 | * BilingualBonus: One NPC's thoughts are completely in Japanese. It's something along the lines of his American friends wanting him to smuggle a samurai sword back with him--except he can't be understood because he speaks English and he has no idea where the hell to buy one. (In the Japanese version, his text was in English instead of Japanese, so it made more sense there.) |
| 99 | * BishonenLine: [[spoiler:Taboo Minamimoto. He was already attractive before he started screwing around with Taboo Noise, but upon becoming a Taboo Noise himself, his cap is gone and his jacket is completely torn apart, exposing his bare chest for all to see.]] |
| 100 | * BittersweetEnding: It's pointed out in the Secret Reports that [[spoiler:even though Rhyme came back to life, life would be difficult for her without her entry fee. This is mitigated, slightly, by the fact that her entry fee can be rebuilt, unlike others: with the help of her brother and friends, she can possibly discover new hopes and dreams, which were heavily implied to be her original entry fee.]] |
| 101 | * BizarroUniverse: |
| 102 | ** Another Day. Neku apparently sleeps in the Scramble Crossing ''on purpose'', and begins each day with a heartfelt prayer to God for the next day to be "even sweeter than yesterday" -- quite the contrast to mister "Outta my face! You're blocking my view! Shut up!" from the main game's intro. And the whole place is [[SeriousBusiness positively obsessed with Tin Pin]]. |
| 103 | ** A New Day shuffles locations and inverts most major characters' personalities -- Joshua, notably, is a stammering nerd. [[spoiler:This turns out to be a LotusEaterMachine of Coco's design.]] |
| 104 | * BonusDungeon: The entirety of Another Day has more powerful Noise than the ones found in the endgame, but its Pork City consists of 13 floors of extremely hard Noise, a different brand requirement on each floor, annoying Pig Noise to kill, and a SuperBoss at the top. |
| 105 | * BookEnds: |
| 106 | ** The game begins and ends with Neku [[spoiler: given the choice to kill a partner. In the beginning, his partner is said to be duplicitous and he tries to go through with it. In the end, his partner was actually duplicitous and he stops himself from going through with it.]] The game also begins with Neku [[spoiler: putting on his headphones and ends with him taking them off.]] |
| 107 | ** At the start of the game (and a few times later on), Neku wakes up in the middle of the Scramble, with everyone around him walking past as they are unable to see him. [[spoiler:When he wakes up in Scramble for the fourth time, ''everyone'' sees him.]] |
| 108 | * BoringButPractical: The basic Shockwave pin is basically just a fast melee attack. It's also great for racking up long combos, and stunlocks enemies so you can down them fast enough to get the star rating for battles (and the subsequent EXP boost). |
| 109 | * BossBanter: In addition to Neku and his partner having lots of voice clips during battle, the [[ClimaxBoss Game Masters]] all have voice clips as well, usually to indicate they're about to use a certain attack. They'll also make a snarky comment if you die. Kariya is the master of this in pre-battle scenes. |
| 110 | * BossRemix: |
| 111 | ** The final boss theme [[spoiler:Twister-Remix is not only [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a remix of Twister]] but incorporates riffs from various other tracks including Calling and Ooparts.]] |
| 112 | ** ''Solo Remix'' repurposes several remixes from the bonus soundtrack to serve as themes for specific battles. "Long Dream -1980s-" is used for the Uzuki & Kariya DualBoss fights, for example, while "Transformation -Transformed-" is exclusive to [[spoiler:Taboo Minamimoto]]. |
| 113 | %%* BossInMookClothing: Woolly and Drake Noise, in spades. %%Zero-context, please elaborate |
| 114 | * BossRush: Hidden in Another Day. Played straight on subsequent playthroughs, if you choose -- ultimate difficulty and a raised battle-chain cap allow you to fight sixteen battles featuring high-level noise. You can have even more fun by combining the smaller battles with a boss fight. |
| 115 | * {{Bowdlerization}}: There are a few inverted crosses in CAT's graffiti; these were edited for the international release. |
| 116 | * BraggingRightsReward: |
| 117 | ** Downplayed in the original and ''Solo Remix'' versions. Though a lot of threads and pins require a good amount of hunting that will probably take you well into the post-game, the vast majority can be acquired on lower difficulties, allowing them to be put to use on higher difficulties - in particular, no thread item is difficulty-locked. The straightest example would be the Gatito pin sets, which (aside from a random pin from each set being buyable) are acquired by fighting bosses on Ultimate difficulty; the Darklit Planets, in particular, have two of them dropped by the FinalBoss and SuperBoss, so unless one of them is your random, you're unlike to have a clear target to use them on. |
| 118 | ** Fully averted in ''Final Remix'' with the addition of A New Day. Even on Normal, the sequence is hard enough to merit the best equipment the main game has to offer; furthermore, everything exclusive to A New Day can be obtained on Hard difficulty, leaving Ultimate as an opportunity to put it to use (if the individual player deems it useful). |
| 119 | * BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler: As part of the AssimilationPlot during the third week, all of the Reapers are brainwashed and will attack Neku and Beat on sight. Uzuki and Kariya are fought in this state, resulting in a NotSoHarmlessVillain battle.]] |
| 120 | * BreakingTheFourthWall: |
| 121 | ** Kariya in the second manga chapter. "Since we showed up in silhouette last time, you probably thought we were up to something dastardly. We're totally not." |
| 122 | ** Joshua in Another Day breaks the fourth wall to protest that his opponent in a Tin Pin match is a random reaper. |
| 123 | ---> '''Joshua:''' "...Excuse me? I'm up against an unnamed character? What a waste." |
| 124 | * BrokenBridge: Done so blatantly, via literal ''invisible walls'' that the Reapers set up and refuse to let the Players pass until they do the task of their choosing. Not only is this a straight use of the trope, it loops back around to brilliant. |
| 125 | * BrutalBonusLevel: |
| 126 | ** Another Day Pork City. Thirteen floors, all Noise mandatory, pins restricted by brand. At the top? Nothing but simple closure [[spoiler:assuming you survive [[SuperBoss Panthera Cantus]]]]. |
| 127 | ** In ''Final Remix'', A New Day has shades of this; every battle after the first few screens is given highly unusual fighting rules to deal with. The Dissonance Shark can eat you alive even on Easy. The game gives you fair warning in its own way: in order to unlock A New Day, you have to defeat three boss encounters provided by a Reaper in purple, the last of which is an counter with ''four bat Noise, two drake Noise, and a woolly Noise'', all at once (drakes and woollies are typically encountered individually or flanked by [[TheGoomba frog Noise]]). |
| 128 | * BulletHell: Later bosses will create ridiculous amounts of projectiles for you to dodge. For one boss, understanding how to fight the noise created is central to advancing to the next stage of the fight. |
| 129 | * BunnyEarsLawyer: Sho Minamimoto is a math [[MadMathematician fetishist]] who spends much of his time either lazying around or building piles of junk, and during his time as GM, he doesn't even issue missions some days. Despite this, his player erasure rate is impeccable and he's a high-ranking Reaper and GM. [[spoiler:He betrays just about ''everybody'' in the end, but damn, does he excel at it. He didn't even need to bother coming up with a cover for his plans -- as one of the Secret Reports points out, he's ''always'' up to something, so "out of the ordinary" behavior is actually completely ordinary for him.]] |
| 130 | * ButThouMust: At one point Neku encounters three event battles. Two of them can be skipped, but the third one is mandatory -- if you try to skip it, Neku will change his mind and rush in [[spoiler:to save Sota]] anyway. Also, [[spoiler:when Kitaniji asks Neku to [[WeCanRuleTogether help him build a new Shibuya]], even if you remember the earlier ChekhovsGun and decide to play along, all it does is yield ''two'' lines of extra dialogue before Neku refuses]]. |
| 131 | * ButtonMashing: There are certain commands that are routine for pin types (same attack, different brand), so if you're up to six slots and have forgotten what to do while your first pins reboot... well, you'll probably figure it out just by frantically trying everything. Some fights come down to how quickly you can spam your opponent with attacks before they're able to start damaging ''you''. |
| 132 | * CallARabbitASmeerp: The penguin and hedgehog noise are called popguins and corehogs, respectively. |
| 133 | * CannotSpitItOut: When Neku finds out that Joshua [[spoiler:killed him, it takes an entire day before he confronts Joshua about it]]. Joshua himself seems to fall into this trope when he doesn't tell Neku that [[spoiler:he didn't kill him]] until much later, when you find [[spoiler:he actually ''did'' kill Neku]]. [[JustifiedTrope Justified in canon]], however, as Neku is not entirely certain of his claim, Joshua is his partner, and Neku needs him to win the game and save Shiki. Neku waits until Joshua is at a psychological disadvantage and he has more evidence. |
| 134 | * CanOnlyMoveTheEyes: |
| 135 | ** During cutscenes, when the characters are paralyzed, they usually scream something about how they can't move. |
| 136 | ** The cutscene sprites used for minor characters (like Shooter) vary only by their facial expressions. |
| 137 | * CantKillYouStillNeedYou: In the latter half of Week 2, Neku's figured out that [[spoiler:Joshua is his murderer]] and wants to abandon him, but per the rules of the Game they're stuck with each other in order to survive. |
| 138 | * CaptainObvious: Neku outright calls Joshua this at one point. Any time a character notes the obvious, he's thinking something similar. |
| 139 | * CatchPhrase: Sho's "So zetta slow!" along with his other math-related tics. Neku's "Oh snap!" upon receiving a quest item. |
| 140 | * CatsAreMean: Minamimoto's and Konishi's and [[spoiler:Hanekoma]]'s Noise forms are wicked-looking cats; respectively, a lion, a tiger and both. |
| 141 | * CellphonesAreUseless: During the Reaper’s Game, the characters note that their cell phones have no reception. [[spoiler:The dead can't talk to the living, after all.]] They can receive messages from the Reapers, and your in-game menu is supposedly the cellphone menu, but other than that they're powerless. When Joshua actually ''talks'' to someone on his, Neku instantly turns suspicious ([[spoiler:Joshua's talking to Hanekoma]]). |
| 142 | * ChargedAttack: Any of the pins with "press" touch commands, though especially the Massive Hit psychs. |
| 143 | * ChekhovsGun: |
| 144 | ** Near the very beginning of the game, Neku and Shiki have a conversation and [[spoiler:Shiki notices that Neku has two Player Pins]]. Then, at the ''very end'' of the game, just before the FinalBoss, Neku [[spoiler:manages to avoid being sucked into Megumi's mind control scheme because he has a second one]]. In the same vein, the Red Skull pin is eventually revealed to [[spoiler:trigger the AssimilationPlot]]. |
| 145 | ** The secret items you have to get on your second playthrough to complete the Secret Reports are all mentioned in stray thoughts by passerby even during your first playthrough. Now you understand why that guy was rambling about a samurai wig... |
| 146 | ** There's even a callback to Neku's dash maneuver. It's the first thing you learn, and you are immune to damage at the start of the attack. Then, Neku uses it at the very end of the game, in a cutscene, to [[spoiler:get the Red Skull pin off of Shiki]]. |
| 147 | * ChainedHeat: Players in the game have to make a pact to fight Noise in two different zones or they are unable to attack it, leading to quick erasure. Also, if one member of the pair dies, the remaining one has 7 minutes to make a pact with another player or die. Neku has [[RunningGag an unfortunate tendency]] to make a pact with someone he can't stand. |
| 148 | * CharacterDevelopment: Neku starts as a mopey, emo teenager who only has people around him because of the much more outgoing Shiki, who is tied to him by the game's rules. By the end, he learns to grow out of his emo ways, and that the world is bigger than himself. |
| 149 | * ChekhovsGunman: |
| 150 | ** Remember that Reaper with the black hoodie who gave you instructions for Tin Pin Slammer? [[spoiler:That's [[CreatorCameo Shinji Hashimoto]], the Wizard of Slam and your final opponent in the Another Day chapter.]] |
| 151 | ** Right before Shiki forms a pact with Neku, look at the crowd in front of the dog statue, Hachiko. Joshua is ''standing right next to Neku.'' He's [[StealthHiBye no longer there after Shiki and Neku form a pact and fight]]. In ''Solo Remix'' and ''Final Remix'' it's pretty much a blink-and-you'll-miss-it though, as cutscenes and overworld are now on the same screen. |
| 152 | ** Neku actually runs past all three of his future partners during his initial panicked dash set to the SurrealThemeTune. |
| 153 | ** And during one early mission, you see Sota and Nao a few days before they enter the next Game. Mina and Ai appear in the street one day before a mission is centered around them, as does Makoto. The Tin Pin tournament is randomly mentioned by Makoto and Shooter and Yammer a week before it becomes relevant to Neku. |
| 154 | * TheChessmaster: [[spoiler: There's around three - Joshua, who initiated the whole thing and kept it moving whilst on the sidelines for a good portion of the game; Megumi Kitaniji, who carefully made sure that everyone was kept in the dark about his game with Joshua whilst slowly infiltrating Shibuya with the Red Skull pins; and finally, (possibly) Sanae Hanekoma, who popped up here and there, never letting on too much, and in the end turned out to be an Angel. This is hardly surprising, coming from a game with a Gambit Pileup.]] |
| 155 | * ClimaxBoss: Each week ends with a battle against the Game Master, whom Neku must defeat to win the Reaper's Game. |
| 156 | * CloseOnTitle: The numbered day of the week is specified at the beginning of each chapter, but a second splash page with the actual chapter title is shown at each chapter's end. The titles are ''painful''. The overall game also ends by displaying the title once more, [[spoiler:now altered to read ''The World Begins With You'']]. |
| 157 | * CoOpMultiplayer: ''Final Remix'' has an exclusive "Co-Op" feature only available with Joy-Con controls that allows a second player to play as the AssistCharacter. The second player can use all of the Partner's moves and is completely invulnerable, and playing this way also awards a 10% EXP bonus at the end of each fight. |
| 158 | * ColbertBump: InUniverse examples. |
| 159 | ** Joshua claims that this happens whenever The Prince mentions something on his blog. This is most likely why Shadow Ramen is so popular the day it takes central stage. |
| 160 | ** This is a gameplay mechanic. Fighting battles with branded pins equipped makes those respective brands more popular in your given area. If a given brand makes the popularity chart's Top 3, all of that brand's pins are given a boost in power in that area. |
| 161 | * ColorCodedForYourConvenience: |
| 162 | ** The Reapers, who are either wearing a bright red jacket or a black sweatshirt. Those in red jackets are easier to please but the walls they're guarding are the ones you ''have'' to clear to advance; those in black sweatshirts tend to guard walls that aren't required for the main storyline (although you may need to move past them to complete the secret missions) and issue [[PopQuiz the Reaper Review]]. The latter group ''appears'' to be slightly stronger than the first and will attack you during the third week. |
| 163 | ** All items in your inventory -- food, clothes, etc. -- will be bordered with a color related to the brand (Lapin Angelique items have a purple border, Mus Rattus a light brown one, etc.). This is immensely useful when you're required to make a certain brand popular. |
| 164 | ** The QUEST items come with a blue (you can make as many of them as you want, given you can find the required materials) or red (you can only get one) border. |
| 165 | ** Pins dropped by enemies are color-coded by which difficulty slot they are in: brown for Easy, blue for Normal, yellow for Hard, and red for Ultimate. Pigs always drop green pins, and one late-game boss also has a scripted grey pin drop as part of the fight. |
| 166 | ** Noise are color-coded, which is taught to you in-game. Red Noise are Chump Noise, which are the most common and act as "regular" Noise. Yellow are Negative Noise that have to be cleared from a person. Gray Noise are Taboo, capable of forcing the player into battle while scanning and highly resistant to damage without proper coordination between partners. Blue are Boss Noise, which act as optional bosses (usually postgame rematches with story bosses). Green are Pig Noise, rare optional enemies that can flee from battle. ''Final Remix'' adds purple Dissonance Noise, exclusive to A New Day; fights against them involve bonus conditions. Shapes generally indicate what you'll be expected to battle, but it varies based on which day of the game you're playing and difficulty level -- so the same symbol can represent the jellyfish sequence and kangaroos. |
| 167 | * CombatStilettos: Enamel Pumps, a piece of equipment that when equipped will help you resist knock-back. |
| 168 | * CombatTentacles: One of the Jellyfish Noise actually uses this as an attack. |
| 169 | --> "If you're not careful, that [[NaughtyTentacles obscene tentacle]] will start [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything violating]] your HP!" |
| 170 | * CombinationAttack: If you earn enough stars during battle, Neku and his partner can perform different types of Fusion Attacks. Uzuki and Kariya also have one when you fight them. |
| 171 | * CombinedEnergyAttack: [[spoiler:The fusion between Neku and all three of his partners at the end of the final battle.]] |
| 172 | * ComingOfAgeStory: The entirety of the game is this for [[DefrostingIceQueen Neku]], detailing him growing out of his {{Jerkass}} personality and childish preconceptions of others into becoming a much more mature person who learns to let other people into his life and to embrace the individual values of them. This also extends to his partners as well, who each learn to accept their flaws and make better strides towards becoming better people. |
| 173 | * CompressedAdaptation: The first episode in the anime features the first three days of the game, mainly omitting minor details relating to the objectives in each mission. For instance, rather than scanning a civilian near a statue to obtain a clue about their objective for the second day, the Noise possessing the Hachiko statue shows up almost immediately. |
| 174 | * TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: NPC pin decks for Tin Pin Slammer are unrestricted by class limitations like the player's. During Another Day, you'll find several opponents whose decks contain multiple Angel- and Reaper-class pins or multiple copies of the same A-class pin. |
| 175 | * TheComputerIsALyingBastard: Subverted. [[spoiler: At the start of Another Day, it's stated that the events therein take place in a world completely separate from the main story. It neglects to mention that separate worlds are an in-universe thing, and acts as though the ''events'' of this world are unrelated to those of the main story. In fact, several characters (namely Hanekoma and Joshua) are capable of traveling between such worlds, and have shown up in Another Day from the main story. That being said, that they are in this particular world is largely for RuleOfFun, as the gameplay options they offer (the Panthera Cantus SuperBoss and the Time Attack BossRush) don't make a whole lot of sense from an in-universe perspective.]] |
| 176 | * CooldownManipulation: Turbo Reboot and Over the Top, exclusive to Speed Factor and the Over the Top set, decrease reboot time of all pins by 25% and 40%, respectively, and stack additively. |
| 177 | * CoolShades: Hanekoma and Kitaniji both have them. You can later buy "Funky Shades", then turn them in as a quest item. |
| 178 | * CosmeticAward: Beating Final Time Attack will show your record time on your Mingle data. |
| 179 | * CouncilOfAngels: [[spoiler:The Angels/Producers are the ones who run the Reapers' Game from behind the scenes. They rank even higher than the ''Composer'', who is portrayed in-game as an allegory for God/Christ Himself.]] |
| 180 | * CoupDeGraceCutscene: |
| 181 | ** The final boss battle ends when the player touches a black skull pin in the bottom screen, triggering a cutscene in which Neku unleashes a final fusion attack. |
| 182 | ** The battle against Minamimoto ends with [[spoiler:him using a Level ''i'' Flare attack against Joshua]]. |
| 183 | * CrackFic: Another Day may be actually written on crack due to how dramatically different it is from ''everything else'', being a bizarre universe where everything revolves around Tin Pin and everything is considerably sillier. |
| 184 | * CreatorCameo: Producer Shinji Hashimoto and artists Tetsuya Nomura and Gen Kobayashi all make appearances as optional Tin Slammer Opponents. |
| 185 | * CreativeClosingCredits: They're similar to the ones used in ''VideoGame/GhostTrick'' and ''VisualNovel/AceAttorney'', showing where the characters are now. |
| 186 | * CreditsRunningSequence: The opening cinematic plays while Neku is dashing through Shibuya. |
| 187 | * CreepyCrosses: CAT's graffiti in the Japanese version incorporate lots of inverted crosses. Appropriate, since [[spoiler:CAT]] is a FallenAngel. |
| 188 | * CriticalEncumbranceFailure: You can have hundreds of shirts, hats, accessories, and more, but try get 10 or more copies of the same item, and you'll supposedly "collapse in swag". |
| 189 | * {{Crossdresser}}: |
| 190 | ** You can, if dedicated enough, increase the male Player's Bravery stat so that they'll be enabled to wear women's clothing. Reading minds will also occasionally turn up a man disguised as a woman -- and totally pulling it off. |
| 191 | ** There are some articles of clothing that have extra benefits when worn by certain characters. Each character has at least a few items that provide a significant bonus when worn by their designated user (and no bonus when worn by someone else). They all tend to be things that the characters would be interested in wearing, or that they ''do'' wear -- and then there's [[TakeAThirdOption the incredibly useful gothic Lolita attire by Princess K of the bunny realm]]. Both Neku and Joshua (but not Beat) receive huge bonuses from certain dresses, skirts, and heels. One of the first unlockable items at Lapin Angelique is the "Frilly Parasol", which only benefits Joshua. |
| 192 | * CriticalStatusBuff: Various clothing items (primarily from the "Lapin Angelique" brand) provide status buffs when the wearer is low on HP. Combine these with pins that place Neku in critical HP at the start of battle and you have the "Lapin Angelique Suicidal Special" and can strike for massive damage. |
| 193 | * CrosshairAware: The Kangaroo Noise leaps into the air as one of its main attacks, and a crosshair shows where it will come down. %% along with the shark and the elephant. %%Zero-context, please elaborate |
| 194 | * CruelToBeKind: The Reaper's Game offers players a chance to return to life, but with a catch- [[EquivalentExchange they must give up what they value most as their "entry fee", and will only get it back if they win the Game.]] In the case of [[spoiler:Rhyme,]] it's stated that since the person in question failed to complete the game [[spoiler:(Rhyme was devoured by a shark Noise on Day 4, but later returned to life) her]] entry fee will never be returned. The Secret Reports suggest that this is the Composer's way of testing Players' ability to get through life without what they value most, and forcing them to re-evaluate how important said thing is. |
| 195 | * CrutchCharacter: Since female clothing has high bravery requirements, Shiki begins with a high bravery stat, making her easier to equip than Neku, Joshua, and Beat. Her attack chain also has frames of invincibility at the end, making ButtonMashing for the top screen a more viable strategy. However, her base damage output pales in comparison with Joshua and Beat. |
| 196 | * CultSoundtrack: The music is easily one of the most memorable parts of the game, featuring an eclectic mix of J-pop, hip-hop, rock, rap, and various amounts of funky tracks, which could easily be mistaken for actual licensed songs by the unfamiliar. |
| 197 | * CurseCutShort: |
| 198 | ** (Neku, thinking) "Maybe if just for one minute you could stop your bi--" Unlike the usual use of this trope, this isn't an attempt to get around censors (Beat calls plenty of things "bitch"es later in the game) so much as to indicate the derailing of his train of thought. |
| 199 | ** And in the manga: "Look, enough of this sh--''OW!!!''" |
| 200 | * CutsceneIncompetence: In Week 2, Day 2, during the Tin Pin Slammer Tournament. You can know how to play Tin Pin and cruise through the tutorial and the first round with Yammer, but in the second round Shooter whips out his "Inn-PINCIBLE" ultimate pin Red Kaiser, and Neku loses instantly. The player has no say in this. |
| 201 | * CutscenePowerToTheMax: |
| 202 | ** Neku force-chokes Shiki using Psychokinesis early on, but you cannot invoke this power in battle later, even against Reapers. You ''can'' get Psychokinesis pins that let you grab enemies as well as obstacles, but the first Psychokinesis pin is ''not'' one of them, and none of them damage the enemy just by lifting them. Lifting an enemy and shaking it violently, however, is both cathartic and a form of attack. |
| 203 | ** In Week 2, Joshua single-handedly erases a Taboo rhino. Even after you acquire the psych he used during the cutscene, erasing the same Noise with a single Jesus Beam during a conventional battle is impossible. This is a rare {{justified|Trope}} example -- Kariya sees the original feat, and warns the pair that such power implies the user is [[spoiler:actually alive]] and that he won't [[IllPretendIDidntHearThat turn a blind eye]] a second time. From then on, Joshua has to hold back to prevent getting caught. |
| 204 | ** On the final day, Mr. Mew duplicates himself outside of battle during a cutscene, when he has only otherwise been able to do so during Shiki's fusion attack. |
| 205 | * DamageSpongeBoss: Pig Butoh, a unique pig that does not run away and can headbutt Players for a sizable amount of damage, although it only has that one attack and no special tricks besides that. |
| 206 | * DeadEndRoom: The game drops you in one after you beat the FinalBoss for the first time, as a weird ForcedTutorial on how to use the ReplayMode you just unlocked -- as the tutorial box happily tells you, the only way out is to warp to another chapter. If you check the save/deeds menu at this point, you'll find that you're technically in Another Day, despite this room having nothing whatsoever to do with that story. |
| 207 | * DeaderThanDead: Anyone who gets "erased." The FirstLawOfResurrection is in use, though: if the author wants anyone to come back, it's possible. The secret reports detail the nature and rules of the game. |
| 208 | * DeadlyEuphemism: Everyone is "erased" by the Noise. [[spoiler:However, this becomes a SubvertedTrope when you learn that you're DeadToBeginWith, and that Erasure ''[[CessationOfExistence erases you out of existence]]'', rather than being a euphemism for death.]] According to the Secret Reports, [[spoiler:erasure is only erasure from ''physical existence''. The Soul is separated from its mind and body and becomes a part of the UG. By organizing it according to a certain code it can take on any imaginable form, but only the Composer has enough Imagination to rearrange it as a human being]]. This explains [[spoiler:Rhyme]]'s erasure: [[spoiler:her Soul was dispersed and her body vanished. Mr. Hanekoma coded it into the form of a pin, which Beat and Neku both used to code her Soul into Noise form. Eventually, the Composer returned her Soul to its original human code, as we see in the ending.]] |
| 209 | * DeadToBeginWith: [[spoiler:The players are dead and playing for a second chance at life. Neku is unaware of this though, due to his amnesia]]. |
| 210 | * DeathByIrony: |
| 211 | ** The last time we see Sho Minamimoto, [[spoiler:he has been "crunched" by some unknown attacker and made a part of one of his signature garbage heap "sculptures".]] |
| 212 | ** A {{subver|tedTrope}}sion would be [[spoiler:Shiki. She gets her right to come back to life, only to become Neku's second entry fee. You only see her again at the end of Week 3, the game's GrandFinale.]] |
| 213 | * DeathsHourglass: A timer appears in the players' hands at the start of each day. Failure to accomplish the designated objective before it reaches zero can potentially result in the team being erased, though their fate is decided based on how close the participants were to completing the mission. |
| 214 | * DebugRoom: There is a debug menu in the DS version accessible by using a cheat device that lets you change the location, partner, top brand, and do other things like show cutscenes. |
| 215 | * DefrostingIceQueen: ''Every'' shopkeeper you meet is a StepfordSmiler at best and a Jerkass at worst when you first encounter them (with one or two exceptions). As you build up a rapport with each one, however, they give you increasingly better service, including access to stuff in the stock room and tips about your current gear. Several even start to become attracted to Neku. The inverse of this is [[spoiler:Makoto when he re-opens Shadow Ramen. When the player reaches 100%, Makoto starts becoming worried that Neku only visits Shadow Ramen because the teenager has a crush on him.]] |
| 216 | * DegradedBoss: The first Grizzly, Shark, Corehog and Rhino Noises appear as end-of-the-day bosses before becoming regular enemies a few days later. |
| 217 | * DemonicDummy: Shiki just levitates Mr. Mew; she ''does not'' control the thing. According to the Japanese manual, her pin is the Groove Pawn, which grants her Psychokinesis to animate Mr. Mew. |
| 218 | * DenserAndWackier: The manga is more of a parody than an actual adaptation of the game. |
| 219 | * DePower: [[spoiler:Joshua is omnipotent, but voluntarily limits his own powers]] to make the "game" he's playing fair. |
| 220 | * DevelopersForesight: Right after you learn about the imprinting mechanic, you'll be given a tutorial where you're prompted to use the first keyword you learned on a nearby businessman, after which he'll leave and you can continue on with the story. However, he also has a unique line for every other keyword available that day, on the off-chance you left without completing the tutorial and came back after you learned them. |
| 221 | * DevilInDisguise: The Hidden Secret Reports reveal that [[spoiler:Sanae Hanekoma is a fallen angel that gave the taboo powers to Sho Minamimoto. But then, considering Sho was opposed to the Composer's whole "wipe Shibuya" plan...]] |
| 222 | * DifficultyByRegion: [[ZigzaggedTrope Zigzagged]]. On one hand, many Pins are stronger in the international versions, either directly or because the efficiency of its Psych was increased. Mingle PP was received in smaller quantities (though that was likely done to account for the fact it would be much harder to actually find people due to differences in culture). Some items are stronger, most notably Angel Feather going from -24 ATK and +600 HP for mere 75 Bravery to +30ATK/DEF and ''+2000 HP'' for at '''999 Bravery'''. A notorious difference was Eden's Door originally evolving into ''1 Yen'', instead of looping back to the first one in the set. However, certain pins are weaker - such as Time Bomb Psych or ''the entire Black Planet set'' (which is still very strong even after the nerf), and most of the threads that are made available in postgame had their Bravery requirements inflated, with only minor changes in stats[[labelnote:Note]]The most demanding thread in the original Japanese version was the Maid Costume, requiring 260 Bravery - a value that is perfectly reachable during postgame; in the localized version many of the postgame threads require values far higher than that, culminating in the aforemention Angel Feather requiring 999, a value so ridiculous you're unlikely to reach it outside of intentional grind[[/labelnote]], with some of the items actually ending up ''worse''. |
| 223 | |
| 224 | * DifficultyLevels: You can earn Easy Mode rather quickly, Hard a bit later, and [[HarderThanHard Ultimate]] upon completing the game. You can change the difficulty at any point in the game (being defeated in battle even gives the option of redoing it on Easy), the difference being [[RandomDrops item drops]]. In addition, you can choose to lower your own CharacterLevel to make item drops more likely, as well as brag on the Bestiary. |
| 225 | %%* DirtyMindReading: You can do this to the surrounding [=NPCs=]. %%Zero-context, please elaborate -- yes, you can read thoughts, but what's specifically "dirty"? |
| 226 | * DiscOneFinalBoss: Everything in the game seems to build up to it being done when you defeat [[spoiler:Higashizawa]]. After all, it's [[spoiler:the 7th day, when the Reaper's Game is supposed to be done]]. However, after defeating him, [[spoiler:Neku wakes up on the first day... of a ''new'' Reaper's Game]]. Finished? [[YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle Not at all]]. [[spoiler: Yet ironically enough, he IS the Final Boss of Another Day, not including the two True Final Bosses.]] |
| 227 | * DiscOneNuke: Eight total ranks of Faster Puck (easily achieved by equipping every character with Citrus Shorts and Purple Sneaks) makes the puck pass ''instantly''. Give Neku one-hit-combo pins and the partner some Combo Panel -1 threads, and ''every'' attack passes the puck, building up its power at lightning speed. |
| 228 | * {{Dismotivation}}: Kariya intentionally avoids a promotion so he can relax and hang out with Yashiro. Which does NOT mean that he isn't any good at his job. Holy hell, that guy's tough. |
| 229 | * TheDogWasTheMastermind: |
| 230 | ** [[spoiler:It may have been noticed Joshua was fishy, but it was not expected for him to be ''the Composer''.]] |
| 231 | ** [[spoiler:In Another Day, the ''Tutorial Guy'' implies that he manipulated everything to get the Omega Slammer created. Then he reveals he's Shinji Hashimoto himself.]] |
| 232 | ** DoubleSubverted; [[spoiler:Neku thinks Joshua kills him at first, discovers he didn't and regrets accusing Joshua after his HeroicSacrifice, and then he discovers on the final day that he really ''did'' kill him.]] |
| 233 | * DoomyDoomsOfDoom: Higashizawa's constant food metaphors lead to him talking about "The proof is in the pudding. The pudding... of their doom." |
| 234 | * DoubleEntendre: Many of Joshua's dialogue includes innuendo that annoys Neku. |
| 235 | -->"You watch my behind, I'll watch yours." |
| 236 | * TheDragon: Subverted with Megumi Kitaniji: at first, the Game Masters seem to be TheDragon to his BigBad, but as you progress through the storyline, it seems that he himself is TheDragon to the Composer. At the end of the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon, you fight Kitaniji, enter a suitably ominous room for the final boss fight, and do battle with [[spoiler:Kitaniji's OneWingedAngel form]]. [[spoiler:Once he's gone, the Composer turns out to be TheUnfought.]] |
| 237 | * DroppedABridgeOnHim: During TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon, you find BigBadWannabe [[spoiler:Minamimoto]]'s broken body unceremoniously thrown into a trash heap. |
| 238 | * DualBoss: |
| 239 | ** Since bosses are generally the only monster you ever don't have to fight two of (sometimes, you have to fight two of them as well), you get thrown by the Grindcore Minks and Kariya and Yashiro. Especially the Minks, as you are fighting four at once. ''They have combo moves, too.'' [[spoiler:Mr. Hanekoma's Noise form also qualifies, since you fight a different boss on each screen.]] |
| 240 | ** Kariya and Yashiro in their berserk form are one of the hardest fights in the game due to them being a DualBoss... they even have their own light puck. Yashiro deals an insane amount of damage with her gun and frequently teleports before your partner can hit her, Kariya ''levitates'', and then, just when you think you've won, Yashiro enters stage left and begins attacking again. |
| 241 | * DungeonTown: More of a dungeon city by virtue of the game taking place in different parts of the city and never leaving. |
| 242 | * EasilyForgiven: |
| 243 | ** Subverted to a degree. [[spoiler:Neku's ending monologue is addressed to Joshua, accusing him of not understanding how painful those three weeks were for him emotionally, forcing him to trust people through life-or-death situations, and how he basically used him. However, Neku still trusts him and considers him a friend, but he can't forgive him for all that he's done.]] |
| 244 | ** Shiki forgives Neku quite quickly for [[spoiler:trying to kill her]] on Day 2, even shifting blame to ''herself''. She later apologizes to him for being "too harsh" when scolding him for seeming uncaring about [[spoiler:Rhyme being erased]] on Day 4. Granted, the fact that they have to cooperate to get through the missions means that they can't afford to hold grudges. |
| 245 | ** Neku and Beat don't bring up the fact that Kariya and Uzuki [[spoiler:were responsible for Rhyme's erasure]]. When Beat has a [[spoiler: HeelFaceTurn and talks to them more often]], he doesn't really mention it to them either. |
| 246 | * ElegantGothicLolita: Princess K, and most of the Lapin Angelique threads she sells. Lapin Angelique's tagline is even "Gothic and Lolita". |
| 247 | * EmbarrassingFirstName: Beat's real name is Daisukenojo Bito, but he'll try to mess you up if you call him "Daisukenojo". |
| 248 | * EmbarrassingRescue: Late into Joshua's week, you'll come across Kariya and Uzuki struggling against some Taboo Noise. You're given the option to help them out, infuriating Uzuki who insists they could have handled things on their own and [[DontYouDarePityMe don't need any Players' pity]]. Not that Neku's surprised, considering he admits beforehand that [[InvokedTrope he's doing it because he knows it'll piss them off]]. |
| 249 | * EmergencyTransformation: Half-way through Shiki's week, [[spoiler:Rhyme is erased while saving Beat from a Noise trap set by Uzuki and Kariya]]. [[spoiler:In order to save both Rhyme and Beat, Mr. Hanekoma reorganizes Rhyme's Soul into the form of a Noise pin and convinces Beat to make a pact with the pin to stay alive.]] She's human again by the time the credits roll. |
| 250 | * EmpathyPet: The Noise that sits on Beat's shoulder during Week 2 mimics his behaviour and emotions exactly. |
| 251 | * TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: Subverted when Neku learns that [[spoiler:[[NiceJobBreakingItHero his winning the Game was all part of the Composer's plan to destroy Shibuya]]. Doubly Subverted when the Joshua decides to spare Shibuya after all.]] |
| 252 | * TheEndingChangesEverything: |
| 253 | ** The ending reveals (nearly) everything about the enigmatic [[spoiler: Joshua]] and explains that the plot of the game was [[spoiler: a "game" over whether or not Shibuya should be Erased. And you just won for the side that was "for" Erasing Shibuya. It's only because Joshua had a last minute change of heart that he didn't go through with it.]] |
| 254 | ** The Secret Report for Another Day, the last one that you unlock, reveals [[spoiler: that the FallenAngel was Hanekoma, who helped Minamimoto as part of a larger plan to stop Joshua from Erasing Shibuya.]] |
| 255 | * EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Futoshi, 777's concert technician. Throughout the main story, he's referred to as "the tech", but you learn his name in the bonus chapter. |
| 256 | * [[invoked]] EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory: It's the game's premise, although the trope itself is relentlessly mocked -- for every instance of obvious allegory, there's plenty of wall-leaning and player-directed snark. |
| 257 | * EvilTastesGood: GM Higashizawa loves making food-based puns. "The pudding of their doom", huh? That's just [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga fawful]], dude. "I'll char your bones black!" "Now we're ''boiling!''" |
| 258 | * TheEvilsOfFreeWill: [[spoiler:Kitaniji's motivation on his AssimilationPlot is to elminiate individuality from Shibuya, because the conflict free will causes is leading the Composer to eliminate ''Shibuya''.]] |
| 259 | * EvilVersusOblivion: [[spoiler:Kitaniji wants to save Shibuya by way of an AssimilationPlot, while Joshua believes that ItIsBeyondSaving, and wants to destroy it.]] |
| 260 | * EyeBeams: For Shiki's max fusion level, Mr. Mew becomes a giant and shoots eye beams from above. |
| 261 | * ExactWords: On Day 5 of Week 2, a Support Reaper gives Neku the condition "Play me at Tin Pin" to clear the wall he's manning. [[spoiler:The keyword being 'play', not 'beat'. Victory or defeat only changes the reward[[note]]Winning gets a Tin Pin Thrift pin; losing after unlocking Secret Report conditions earns you the bonus swag for that day, or a Yen pin if you have it already[[/note]]; accepting the slam in the first place means Neku gets through.]] |
| 262 | * ExecutiveMeddling: In-universe. [[spoiler:Mick gets The Prince to sign a contract with him to let him rig The Prince's blog to draw people to Shadow Ramen.]] |
| 263 | * ExtradimensionalEmergencyExit: At the end of Week 2, Minamimoto tries to erase Neku with a powerful attack, but Joshua pushes his partner out of harm's way and apparently dies in the blast. It's later revealed that Joshua was able to survive by teleporting to an alternate universe right before the attack could connect. |
| 264 | [[/folder]] |
| 265 | |
| 266 | [[folder:F - O]] |
| 267 | * FacelessMasses: They're not faceless, but compared to Neku and his partner, the random pedestrians of Shibuya have washed out colors and simpler animation. The effect is amplified in the ported versions, where the main characters have crisp, redrawn sprites while the [=NPCs=] only have a smoothing algorithm applied to the original DS sprites. |
| 268 | %%* FailureKnight: [[spoiler:Beat.]] %%Zero-context, please elaborate |
| 269 | * FakeDifficulty: Justified, as the Reapers actually love throwing arbitrary restrictions your way. |
| 270 | * FallenAngel: In the Secret Reports, there are mentions of a Fallen Angel who [[spoiler:gave info to Minamimoto regarding Taboo Noise, and helped revive him during the third week. The final Secret Report reveals that Hanekoma is the fallen angel, who helped Minamimoto in an effort to save Shibuya.]] |
| 271 | * {{Fangirl}}: Singer and fashion idol Eiji Oji's fan squad. There's actually [[SeriousBusiness opposing factions]] of his fans in [[AlternateUniverse Another Day]]. These factions then switch to worshipping indie rockstar 777, with one vowing [[ItsPopularNowItSucks "And then...when they go major...I'll be there to complain about how they sold out!"]]. |
| 272 | * FantasyMetals: You can get {{Orichalcum}}, Adamantite, and [[{{Hihiirokane}} Scarletite]] Pins. Given the low levels of fantasy, it can be safely assumed that the Pins are simply named after said fantasy metals and are not actually composed of them, although the Pins are said to be embedded with gemstones. As in standard fantasy settings, however, you can use them as trade materials to acquire rare goodies from shops. |
| 273 | * FatAndProud: A series of random NPC thoughts tell the story of a girl whose boyfriend told her "don't get any thinner" -- so she starts gaining weight on purpose. Not only does the boyfriend not mind, he decides to gain weight too. In the end, they're both pretty fat and pretty happy. [[InformedAttribute Not that her sprites reflect this at all.]] |
| 274 | * FightWoosh: Of all the tropes to be {{justified|Trope}}, you would probably not expect this one. But it is. [[spoiler:As the Secret Reports reveal, battles take place in an alternate dimension.]] |
| 275 | * FinishDialogueInUnison: On the last day, Konishi says what Beat's about to say at the same time he does, commenting that she's gathered enough information to predict his every move. |
| 276 | * FireIceLightning: While the game doesn't play ElementalRockPaperScissors (strictly speaking, at least), nevertheless, it still has fire, ice, and lightning attacks for Neku to use in battle. They don't differ in "element" — and, in fact, all share the same "negative/ranged" element — but instead differ in the way they're used. |
| 277 | * FlunkyBoss: In addition to most of the minor, required Noise bosses you fight early on, there's also Verspetilio Canor, Cornix Canor, Sho Minimimoto/Leo Cantus, Pteroptus Canor, and Tigris Cantus (especially her first phase). Also, Pig Mazurka, the king of the Pig Noise. |
| 278 | * {{Foil}}: There are too many people that are {{foil}}s towards each other. [[Foil/TheWorldEndsWithYou See the page here.]] |
| 279 | * {{Foreshadowing}}: Frequently. For example: remember the scene in Josh Week, Day 2, where Uzuki pulls out a gun and suggests popping over to the RG to "recruit" more Players? [[spoiler:That's ''exactly'' what the Composer did to get his proxy for the Game. With the ''exact same kind of gun''.]] |
| 280 | ** Watch the opening sequence very carefully after you've beaten the game the first time. ''It spoils the whole plot'', but in such a cryptic way most people never notice they're being spoiled. |
| 281 | ** When Beat introduces Rhyme, he says she's "my... my partner." [[spoiler:He was most likely about to say "little sister", but stopped himself when he remembered that Rhyme lost her memories]]. |
| 282 | ** On Week 1, Day 4, [[spoiler:when Rhyme pushes Beat out of the way of the shark Noise]], the top screen shows [[spoiler:Beat trying to push Rhyme out of the way of an oncoming car]]. |
| 283 | ** In the scene immediately following [[spoiler:Rhyme's erasure]] where Kariya and Uzuki summon Noise to attack the rest of the group, Kariya explains that Reapers create Noise by gathering up soul essence and binding it to a pin. [[spoiler:This is later revealed to be what Hanekoma did to Rhyme to keep her from being completely lost.]] |
| 284 | ** The theme Transformation while it more obviously alludes to Minamimoto transforming into a Black Noise and Neku's feelings about Joshua changing, it foreshadows that [[spoiler: there's more to Neku's death still and that the whole truth of how he was killed by Joshua have still not been revealed]]. |
| 285 | ** Several Gatito pins have a RageAgainstTheHeavens theme to their flavor text (especially the three Cat pins, which each talk about "breaking the gods' spell over all"), foreshadowing [[spoiler:the fact that their creator, Sanae Hanekoma, is a FallenAngel.]] |
| 286 | * AFormYouAreComfortableWith: Subverted with [[spoiler:Joshua]], because [[spoiler:downtuning his vibe automatically gave him a human appearance]]. Played more straight with the Reapers, who appear in the Realground without their wings. |
| 287 | * FormulaicMagic: Minamimoto is all over this one, using math-based "spells". |
| 288 | * FourIsDeath: There are 4 Reaper Officers, and Tigris Cantus' (Konishi's Noise Form) HP is 4444; though it was 6000 in the original Japanese version. |
| 289 | * FourEyesZeroSoul: Megumi Kitaniji and Mitsuki Konishi, the BigBad and TheDragon who both wear glasses. |
| 290 | ** Possibly averted with Kitaniji. The fact that his entire plan is to [[spoiler:save the soul and essence of Shibuya by conforming everyone so that the city may be saved for another Composer]] says a lot about his character. |
| 291 | * FragileSpeedster: Cornix Canor is fast and evasive, but he has extremely low HP for a boss. |
| 292 | * FreudianSlip: Possibly when Joshua [[spoiler:calls Neku by name]], ''then'' asks what it is. Since Neku doesn't notice and this didn't happen in the original Japanese version, it may be just as well be a translation error as {{Foreshadowing}} that [[spoiler:Joshua has seen him before]]. |
| 293 | * FromBadToWorse: At the end of the game things are spiraling out of control -- [[spoiler:Rhyme is gone, her Pin is in the hands of a person who will destroy it if you don't win the Reaper's Game, the third week Joshua is "dead" and Shiki is your entry fee, and now after you get everyone back you find out that Joshua is really the Composer, and then the Conductor, in one last resort, turns into a more powerful Noise form by absorbing every one of your partners, leaving you to fight him alone.]] |
| 294 | * FunWithAcronyms: |
| 295 | ** One of Minamimoto's things is to say "SOHCAHTOA" ([[GeniusBonus a mnemonic for basic trigonometric functions]]) [[VoiceGrunting out loud]] while reciting in the text some contrived statement that fits the acronym. This is also a subversion of LostInTranslation and {{Pun}}, in which Minamimoto makes a pun on "''Sou ka?''" or "Is that so?" |
| 296 | ** ''Some Old Horses Can Always Hear Their Owner Approaching.'' Said to Joshua. Minamimoto seems to be saying "I know that [[spoiler:you're the Composer]]." |
| 297 | ** (When asked what he eats) "Slabs of Ham, Celery and Horseradish, Tons of Asparagus." |
| 298 | * GainaxEnding: The ending is ''extremely'' confusing for a first-time player, involving several plot twists piling up at once and a lot of ambiguity. Comprehensible plot twists include [[spoiler: Joshua being the BigBad who killed Neku and was manipulating him to destroy Shibuya, with Kitanji fighting to save it via an AssimilationPlot]], while MindScrew questions include [[spoiler:what happened after Neku and Joshua's gun duel, why Joshua was with Mr. H, what Hanekoma's role was, and why he let Shibuya live]]. Fittingly, the ''main character's'' reaction to the ending is "WHAT THE HELL?!" It's then subverted with the option to [[NewGamePlus play through the game again]] and fill in those gaps with the Secret Reports, which [[DoubleSubversion manage to Gainax it back up]] by including concepts, copious religious symbolism, and a SequelHook never hinted at in the story. |
| 299 | * GambitPileup: The plot is the result of more than one mastermind squaring off against each other. The post-game OneHundredPercentCompletion quests exist just to reveal what the hell is going on. |
| 300 | ** Behold, the motives of all the Officers and their seniors -- [[spoiler:Joshua wants to destroy Shibuya as judgment on humanity, Kitanji is trying to stop him with an AssimilationPlot, Mr. Hanekoma wants to stop both of them by manipulating everything from behind the scenes, Minamimoto was given Taboo powers by Hanekoma for his plans but would rather become Composer, Konishi wants to be Conductor and will manipulate anyone for that purpose, and Higashizawa just wants to help Kitanji]]. |
| 301 | * GameplayAndStoryIntegration: |
| 302 | ** Joshua points out that Taboo Noise can only be hurt when you have the light puck. Kariya and Uzuki [[MirrorBoss also have a light puck]], which explains why they don't get their asses handed to them by Taboo Noise. |
| 303 | ** At the beginning of week 3, [[spoiler:how does the game show that having no partner renders the Reapers' Game UnwinnableByDesign? By disabling your pins so you can't do anything besides move and escape. Neku himself points out that he can simply run away from every battle, since the escape command has zero chance of failure and the one penalty for it, a loss of Partner Sync, doesn't apply when he doesn't ''have'' a partner. But then he realizes that the moment a mission forces him to fight, he's screwed.]] |
| 304 | ** Shiki, as a fashionable girl, has the highest initial Bravery stat despite being the first partner you get. |
| 305 | * GameplayAndStorySegregation: |
| 306 | ** In-story, it's treated as either extremely anomalous or a mark of involvement in the Reapers' Game if an NPC's mind can't be read. In-game, there are generally more [=NPCs=] without thoughts to be read than there are ones that do. |
| 307 | ** In-story, almost every mission has its time limit, and failing to fulfill tasks in time results in facing Erasure. In-game, there is no time limit of any kind, and you can grind your level and pins as long as you want to. More strangely, eating food causes a decrease in Byte capacity that can [[AntiPoopSocking only be lifted by waiting in real time]], so while the story might say, for example, Neku and Shiki must complete some objective in one hour or face Erasure, if they have eaten to a point where they cannot consume food that is bigger than 6 Bytes, they can just rest and wait multiple real-world hours to eat the bigger meals again while the alleged mission timer never advances. |
| 308 | * GameplayAutomation: If controlling Neku and the partner at the same time appears too difficult, you have the option of allowing the AI to take over the partner's controls after a set period of time at the expense of the AI being slower than the player and suffering from some ArtificialStupidity. [[HardModePerks You also get a free PP multiplier for not using it.]] |
| 309 | * GameplayGrading: After each battle, your performance is ranked based on number of reductions, time, damage taken, and how many "special" bonuses you achieved (such as combos, puck passes/cross combos, [[HardModePerks having autoplay disabled]], failing to get any pin drops, [[invoked]][[SoloCharacterRun only using one character]]...), and these are combined into an overall rank. The overall rank itself doesn't mean anything, but the components give a multiplier to the PP earned, so if you're grinding your pins, you're gonna want to aim for ⭐ ranks anyway. |
| 310 | * GenderBlenderName: Shiki, Makoto, Sanae, and Kitanji, the last of whom was apparently teased as a child for being named Megumi. Might explain a lot of things. |
| 311 | * GenericGraffiti: Inverted, as the game's graffiti is mostly CAT's doing with only a few generic tags appearing, and none of it is specifically relevant to the story. [[spoiler:Except for the bit where Neku was killed (thus becoming the Composers's proxy) because he was standing admiring CAT's mural.]] |
| 312 | ** [[spoiler:It's revealed in the secret reports that CAT's murals attract those with a lot of imagination, and this was the reason why Joshua selected Neku (amongst other reasons) to be his proxy.]] |
| 313 | * GenreBusting: Although it's commonly classified as an ActionRPG, the combat, particularly on the bottom screen, is quite reminiscent of belt-scrolling [[BeatEmUp Beat 'em Ups]]. |
| 314 | * GeometricMagic: With graffiti, obviously. |
| 315 | * GetBackHereBoss: Several of the bosses like to teleport, such as Uzuki and [[spoiler:Reaper Beat]], as well as [[spoiler:Taboo Minamimoto]]. Cornix Canor also has a tendency to stay offscreen for 90% of the battle, only flying by every once in a while. |
| 316 | * GlassCannon: Beat. Even if his attack and defense stats are equal with Shiki's or Joshua's, he'll still give and receive more damage than them, respectively. His Fusion, which can potentially charge up the fastest, also has the potential to damage him if you screw up. |
| 317 | * TheGlassesComeOff: Konishi starts her transformation into Tigris Cantus by removing her glasses and staring cruelly at the screen. |
| 318 | * GlowingEyesOfDoom: [[spoiler:When everyone in Shibuya is possessed by the O-Pins]], their eyes glow red. |
| 319 | * GodWasMyCopilot: [[spoiler:Joshua, Neku's partner for the second week, is the Composer. Also Mr. Hanekoma, who's actually even ''higher'' rank than Josh.]] |
| 320 | * GoldenMoment: Shiki and Neku get one of these on day 7, [[spoiler:as part of the illusion that you're about to finish the game]]. Shiki talks about what she learned about herself over the week, and Neku declares that "the best is still ahead", [[HopeSpot once they come back to life]]. |
| 321 | * GoodWingsEvilWings: Reapers have black, angular wings. However, rather than being bat wings, they're hard-edged and have no feathers or webbing whatsoever, looking more like a wing skeleton made out of iron. [[spoiler:Angels, of course, have the standard white feathered wings. However, Angels are a bit more morally ambiguous than you'd expect]]. |
| 322 | * GoodWithNumbers: Minamimoto cranks this one up to root 121. |
| 323 | * GottaCatchThemAll: There are 96 types of Noise to fight (105 in ''Final Remix''), 304 Pins to find and master (323 in ''Final Remix''), and 472 items in general to collect. Good luck getting OneHundredPercentCompletion. |
| 324 | * GratuitousEnglish: |
| 325 | ** Grammatically, the official English lyrics to the songs are all fine, but it's obvious that some of the singers are not fluent in English, with "Hybrid" being hit with this particularly hard. |
| 326 | ** The "You have 7 days" text in the English version shows up as "Timelimit within 7 days" in the original Japanese version. |
| 327 | * GroinAttack: {{Implied|Trope}} in a random NPC thought. After musing on his skating accident the other day, he thinks "I only need one to have kids." |
| 328 | * GuideDangIt: The game never tells you which type of PP you need to evolve pins, so you need a guide in order to keep from screwing evolutions up by getting too much of the wrong types. |
| 329 | ** This is especially true for the Approaching Eden set, which will get stuck in an endless loop if you only evolve them with battle PP (the final pin will always evolve back to the first one in the line). Like every pin set, you need all (five) of them to get the full benefits, which makes this quirk especially annoying. In the Japanese version of the game, the last Approaching Eden pin would evolve into ''a one yen pin.'' A devastating punishment for... not having a guide. |
| 330 | ** For that matter, good luck guessing what the Approaching Eden, Brainy Cat, and Irregular Note sets even ''do,'' as rather than describe what they do, the descriptions for all of their pins instead vaguely tell the player that they need other pins to complete the set. The [[InfinityPlusOneSword Darklit Planet set]] does clearly tell you how to use the pins (and they're psychs you already recognize anyways) but doesn't directly tell you that their power ''triples'' when you have all six pins equipped at once. |
| 331 | ** Also, each character has different reactions to eating different kinds of foods. If the character likes it, the Sync boost that he or she gets from it will increase; if he or she doesn't like it, the boost decreases instead. Out of the 43 foods in the game and the four characters you can feed them to, you are given exactly two clues: Joshua states his preference for shio ramen in an unavoidable dialogue (and being able to select Neku's favorite in the same dialogue could ''maybe'' be interpreted as hinting that he's neutral-or-better to all of the options presented), and the can of coke [[spoiler:left at the memorial in Miyashita Park Underpass]] obliquely implies that Beat is fond of the beverage. Ironically, knowing Beat's TrademarkFavoriteFood is curry is no help here, because there ''isn't'' any curry in the game! |
| 332 | ** One Pig Noise is asleep at the start of the battle and automatically flees after the first hit, far too fast for you to bring it down. [[spoiler:You need to put your device into sleep mode.]] [[FlatWhat What.]] |
| 333 | * GuysSmashGirlsShoot: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]]. Most pins belonging to the hyper-feminine brand Natural Puppy allow Neku to perform projectile-based attacks, while more tradionally masculine brands like Jupiter of the Monkey let him perform melee attacks. |
| 334 | * HalfheartedHenchman: Some of the Support Reapers are lazy, incompetent slackers. [[spoiler:For one of them, this is a good thing, as he ends up the only NPC in all of Shibuya who escapes the AssimilationPlot just because he ditched work one day.]] |
| 335 | * HandWave: On the final day and in the AlternateUniverse bonus chapter, [[spoiler:Shiki still looks like Eri]]. If you seek out Joshua in the bonus chapter before you go to Molco, he explains it (vaguely, as always) as a trick of the mind; that is, you expect to see the same thing you always have. [[BreakingTheFourthWall The explanation is meant more for the player than for Neku]], who would of course have ''no'' idea what the hell he's talking about. In fact, his first thought is "Is this kid high?" And then Joshua proceeds to give the ''real'' explanation: "When you're drowning in a sea of work with not enough time, why pour your soul into assets that will be used all of...what, once?" For obvious reasons, this flies right over Neku's head. |
| 336 | * HappyEndingOverride: The main game seems to end on a rather lighthearted note. The Reaper's Game is over, Shibuya is safe, [[spoiler: Rhyme is alive]], and Neku is all set to spend a nice day together with his new friends. However, ''Final Remix'' keeps the camera running with A New Day. Neku and Beat are entered into the Expert Mode of the Reaper's Game which takes place in a distorted version of Shibuya. Their misson? Escape Shibuya in 24 hours or face erasure. They are greeted by a cute Reaper girl named Coco who claims to know them, and it quickly becomes apparent that something isn't quite right. [[spoiler: They eventually discover that the Shibuya they're in is actually a city-sized Noise that Coco created to manipulate them. They manage to overcome her and escape, only for Coco to shoot Neku in the back, killing him to force him into the UG once again. She goes on to ''ressurrect Sho Minamimoto to serve as Neku's Partner'' in a whole new Game. And on top of all that, the nearby Shinjuku has not only been erased, but has been subject to something called an "Inversion", which seems to involve Noise ''manifesting in the RG''.]] |
| 337 | * HarderThanHard: Above Hard difficulty is Ultimate difficulty, in which enemy Noise are at their most powerful, but will also generally drop better Pins than on any other difficulty. |
| 338 | * HeavyMetalUmlaut: '''Def Märch'''. |
| 339 | * HeWasRightThereAllAlong: [[spoiler:Konishi during the third week, hides in Beat's shadow in order to trick him into panicking and making a mistake due to the pressure of his impending erasure.]] |
| 340 | * HeadphonesEqualIsolation: Played straight with Neku, but extremely inverted in Kitaniji. Not as much of an inversion in Kitaniji's case as it may seem; [[spoiler:it's actually a subtle clue that his plan involves false unity]]. |
| 341 | * HeadsIWinTailsYouLose: |
| 342 | ** The battles against [[spoiler:Reaper Beat]] end with him getting away even if you can actually defeat him. |
| 343 | ** The Shibuya's Game is one plot-wise as well. Lose to Megumi, and he turns all the people in Shibuya into a HiveMind. Defeat Megumi, and [[spoiler:the real Composer wins the Game and destroys Shibuya. At least until Neku's feelings of trust persuade him to do a HeelFaceTurn.]] |
| 344 | * TheHeartless: The Noise are manifestations of negative thoughts and emotions. Reapers gather up the negativity and concentrate it into their animalistic forms, which are then dispersed throughout the UG. Which means they're more [[Franchise/KingdomHearts Unversed than Heartless]]. |
| 345 | * HereWeGoAgain: [[spoiler:At the end of A New Day, Neku is fatally shot by Coco shortly after returning to the real world; Joshua shows up to defend him but is too late. Neku is last seen fading away in front of the CAT mural as his body returns to the UG.]] |
| 346 | * HeroicSacrifice: Played straight when [[spoiler:Rhyme pushes Beat out of the way of a [[GameplayAndStorySegregation shark noise that "eats" and instantly erases her]]]]. Subverted when [[spoiler:Beat tries to push Rhyme out of the way of a car -- both get hit and die, leading them to become players in the Game]]. Also subverted when [[spoiler:Joshua pushes Neku out of the way and takes the brunt of Minamimoto's final attack himself -- it eventually turns out to be neither heroic nor a sacrifice]]. |
| 347 | * HeroicWillpower: Beat, [[spoiler:facing erasure on the last day, fights it off through sheer willpower, fuelled by his [[HeroicResolve desire to save his sister]]]]. |
| 348 | * HistoryRepeats: Neku's waking up in the Scramble Crossing at the beginning of each week. Rhyme's [[spoiler:death]] and [[spoiler:erasure]] were intentionally reminiscent of each other, as well, as were Neku's [[spoiler:death at the hands of]] and [[spoiler:duel against Joshua]]. |
| 349 | * HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:Konishi turns Noise!Rhyme into a pin and uses it to manipulate Beat's feelings. Due to the way her boss fight works, you will always kill her with the Rhyme Pin itself.]] |
| 350 | * HopelessBossFight: The three fights against [[spoiler:Reaper Beat]] and the one against [[spoiler:Taboo Minamimoto]] are [[GameplayAndStorySegregation only played as hopeless]]--the only actual restriction is time. On your first playthrough you simply have to stay alive for that long, while on a NewGamePlus you can easily beat then within said time limit. Said NewGamePlus also includes special optional battles against them with no time limit. |
| 351 | * HowDidYouKnowIDidnt: From Another Day: |
| 352 | --> '''Joshua''': See, but you're clipping [hairstyle pictures] from fashion mags, not comic books.\ |
| 353 | '''Neku''': Hey! How did you--\ |
| 354 | '''Joshua''': No way. You seriously brought in comics? Hee hee.\ |
| 355 | '''Neku''': (Stupid, Neku! Stupid!) |
| 356 | * HugeSchoolgirl: It's up to you to decide if it's just the [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/twewy/images/b/b4/Ending_high_five.png/revision/latest?cb=20210704020814 angle of the shot]] (big spoilers on the other side of that link), but [[spoiler:RG Shiki]] seems to compete with Beat in height in the ending credits. |
| 357 | * HumanityOnTrial: This is the entire point of the Reaper's Game, except it happens city by city instead of the whole world at once. This current Shibuya Game isn't quite typical for other reasons... |
| 358 | * HurricaneOfPuns: Any time Higashizawa speaks, playing off his chef quirk. Especially his boss fight. Any time Minamimoto speaks will be a hurricane of math puns. |
| 359 | * HyperactiveMetabolism: Averted. The characters can only eat a limited amount of food for each 24-hour real time period, and they have to digest it by battling. Even more realistically, you can eat anything that's six bytes or less without limit--Neku and company can literally eat ice cream and drink coffee all day. Played straight later if you get the Hollow Leg swag which removes the limit. Very useful for grinding. |
| 360 | * IAmNotLeftHanded: [[spoiler:Joshua]] reveals some of his true powers during his Day 5, which gives his combat abilities a definite offensive boost. |
| 361 | * IdleAnimation: The main characters have some when left to idle (e.g. Neku listen to music, Shiki checking out her phone) as well as some enemies (e.g. a Joey popping out of a 2-step Boomer's poach, Electro J-Popguins flapping its wings in place). |
| 362 | * IgnoredEnemy: When you see [[spoiler:Taboo Sho]] for the first time, it's possible to try walking around him. Once you're past him, [[WhatTheHellPlayer he chides you for ignoring him when he's right there]], and the encounter proceeds normally. |
| 363 | * ImpossiblyCoolClothes: Everyone. Every Player, every Reaper, every 2-bit NPC walking down the street is covered head to toe with expensive, gorgeous, and pointless designer toggery. But, this ''is'' Shibuya. It's also hard to believe you get outright {{Stripperiffic}} outfits like Shiki's in the same time and place as heavy, black hoodies like BJ's. Certain thought fragments imply that the game takes place in the summertime and others imply that it's winter, but there are plenty of highly impractical outfits for both seasons. Stores will also sell both summer- and winter-wear to you. |
| 364 | * ImprobableWeaponUser: Everyone. Pins are most Players' weapons, but they can also be used to control other items as weapons, such as Shiki's plushie, playing cards, or [=SUVs=]. |
| 365 | %%* IneffectualLoner: Neku. %%Zero-context, please elaborate |
| 366 | * INeverToldYouMyName: One of the reasons an attentive player will quickly realize [[spoiler:Joshua]] is much more than he seems. |
| 367 | ** When trying to get Neku's attention, he says Neku's name before Neku ever says it. Since Neku was surprised about being able to scan him, he didn't notice the slip up. Immediately after, he asks Neku to introduce himself so that he has Neku's name. Ironically, this is a localization error that was fixed in ''Final Remix''. |
| 368 | ** His voice clip "Have fun, Neku" may appear even in their first battle, before they've spoken to each other. It's possible this is simply GameplayAndStorySegregation. |
| 369 | * InexplicablyIdenticalIndividuals: Reapers BJ and Tenho look exactly like all of their coworkers, to the point where [[EpilepticTrees some have theorized]] that they just have the ability to duplicate themselves (despite evidence -- like the Reaper Review guy retiring and the slacker who didn't attend the emergency meeting -- proving they're all individuals). Considering that the Wall Reapers don't show that much of their face (Tenho-style reapers only show their jaw, BJ-style reapers don't even show that), it's possible that they actually are several different people in identical outfits. |
| 370 | * InfinityMinusOneSword: |
| 371 | ** Pi-Face's Cap, pried out of [[spoiler:Minamimoto's cold broken hands]] in TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon. While it's nowhere near the power of the post-game equipment you can get, it's still the most powerful thing you'll have for the main storyline and only requires a rather forgiving 75 Bravery to wear. In the original Japanese version, it has slightly worse stats but its Bravery requirement is so forgiving that even Beat should be able to equip it by the time it shows up. |
| 372 | ** Lightning Rook shoots lightning in a straight line for good damage, ''and'' unlike most pins worth their salt, you can equip a duplicate of it. During a normal playthrough you're most likely to get it just in time for FinalBoss, although it's possible to acquire it somewhat earlier by grinding and evolving a different pin. |
| 373 | ** Most of the pins exclusive to ''Final Remix'' qualify for this, if not for InfinityPlusOneSword. All of them either sport new psychs outright, blend two old psychs together, or put a new twist on an old psych that makes it much more powerful. |
| 374 | * InfinityPlusOneSword: |
| 375 | ** If all six Darklit Planet pins are put in one deck, their attack power triples and they become some of the deadliest pins in the game. However, [[spoiler:Hanekoma]] only sells you one of the six pins, and you have to find the rest either by defeating certain extremely rare and powerful Noise and getting the pins from random drops, or using Mingle shops. [[spoiler:Angels help you if you can't find the one that comes off of Panthera Cantus.]] |
| 376 | ** The [[spoiler:Angel Feather]] is amazing too, but it needs a whopping 999 bravery. This does not apply to the original Japanese release, where it's more of a regular item. |
| 377 | ** The Hollow Leg sticker removes the daily restriction on food consumption, allowing you to eat foods worth more than 6 bytes as often as you want. You can only get it after completing the game. |
| 378 | ** ''Final Remix'' introduces the Crimson Kingdoms set of pins, a miniature version of the Darklit Planets that only double in attack power rather than triple, and are Unbranded so they can't get a trend boost like the Darklit Planets can, but also only take up three pin slots instead of all six. It also adds the Gourmet Rice Ball and 100,000 Yen pin, both formerly [[BribingYourWayToVictory microtransaction items]], which can be acquired by exchanging a large number of enemy drops for them or by performing a repeatable sidequest in A New Day 3. |
| 379 | * InformedAttribute: |
| 380 | ** A series of random NPC thoughts tell the story of a girl whose boyfriend said "Don't get any thinner", so she got fat on purpose. The game doesn't actually contain any visibly fat [=NPCs=] to assign this thought to, so she invariably looks as thin as the rest of the crowd, even at the end when she's thinking about how they're now ''both'' FatAndProud. |
| 381 | ** The Work Coveralls' description says that it's "a huge challenge to pull off", but they only require 48 Bravery to wear, a level Neku may easily reach the first time they become available, assuming you don't rush through it. |
| 382 | * InMediasRes: Downplayed on Day 4 [[spoiler:of Week 2]]. The rest of the Week establishes that Neku is still getting conked out and wakes up on each day, rather than staying awake until he decides otherwise [[spoiler:despite Minamimoto not issuing missions]]. This Day starts with Joshua and Neku wrapping up a game of Tin Pin Slammer to settle a disagreement, establishing that they've been at this for a few hours, thus allowing the player to skip to the part where Joshua [[BatmanGambit gets fed up and is willing to make a deal with Neku]]. |
| 383 | * InnocuouslyImportantEpisode: [[spoiler:The mission in the first week to get the Red Skull pin popular, and we later learn that it was instrumental to Kitaniji's plot.]] |
| 384 | * InsufferableGenius: |
| 385 | ** Minamimoto loves to use math terminology and repeat mnemonics. (Did he really just call Neku a "hectopascal"?) |
| 386 | ** Joshua is not only a clever young man, with knowledge of Shibuya's history, and one of the only people in Shibuya who can make sense of Sho's rantings, he's also a smarmy {{Jerkass}} who loves pissing Neku off whenever he can. |
| 387 | * IntercourseWithYou: "Give Me All Your Love" has surprisingly explicit lyrics. [[spoiler:'Enjoy the moment,' indeed.]] |
| 388 | * InterfaceSpoiler: |
| 389 | ** The first big [[TheReveal reveal]] comes as a lot less of a surprise when you notice that [[spoiler:the save screen directly specifies "Day X, ''Week 1''".]] Later pressings of the game fix this by replacing it with [[spoiler:"[Partner], Day X"]], which is still a spoiler, but a much smaller one, and already revealed in the manual anyway. |
| 390 | ** If you're a dedicated grinder, you can gain [[spoiler:an item with a Beat-specific ability during Joshua's week, spoiling the existence and identity of Neku's third partner]]. |
| 391 | * InvertedPortrait: In the opening, Shiki is shown upside-down next to mirror image of her right-side up. [[spoiler:This is an outright [[SpoilerOpening spoiler]] that can only be seen in hindsight. Shiki has Eri's appearance, so there really are two Shikis. [[MindScrew We're confused too]].]] |
| 392 | * InvisibleToNormals: The Players, the Reapers and the Noise are all invisible to normal people. The Players can be seen if they go into shops, and the Reapers are also said to be visible in the real world except for their wings. Interestingly, scanning will reveal some random [=NPCs=] can notice some of these phenomena - probably due to latent PsychicPowers or something. |
| 393 | * IronicHell: For one thing, [[spoiler:they're all dead]]; and besides, to play the Game, a Player lays their [[EquivalentExchange most precious possession]] on the line; this can be anything from [[spoiler:people]] to [[spoiler:memories]], and you don't even get to choose it. It's what the Conductor considers what you value most, or what's most convenient for him to take. It's especially ironic for the misanthropic Neku, who now has to actually deal with the same person for seven days straight and even read people's most inane thoughts. |
| 394 | * IrrelevantImportance: Try to sell certain pins, and you'll be told they're too precious to sell ("worth more than all the yen in the world"). Given that one of these pins is a PoisonMushroom, after you complete the mission that requires it, it doesn't seem nearly that priceless after all, but you still can't sell it, even after you've got dozens of them. After all, [[GameplayAndStorySegregation it's plot-important.]] |
| 395 | * IrrelevantSidequest: Some Wall Reapers block Neku's path until he finds a microphone for them. Neku later refers to the ordeal as "the detour from hell." Doing the quest for some Wall Reapers is also often not necessary -- sometimes they don't even clear the wall. |
| 396 | * ItIsBeyondSaving: [[spoiler:Joshua]] thinks this about Shibuya at the beginning of the game. [[spoiler: He changes his mind later though.]] |
| 397 | * ItOnlyWorksOnce: The Anguis Pin. It's one of the only four pins with Nexus Ray and has a whopping ''999 Attack'', but its psych only lasts for one shot (two if you have a pin with Turbo Gauge in the same deck), and once you fire it off, it never Reboots until you're done fighting - even if you're fighting a chain. |
| 398 | * ItsAWonderfulPlot: [[spoiler: A stew of played straight, played with, deconstructed, subverted, and reconstructed back into form. Its ''It's A Wonderful World'' elements are mixed with a nice heavy dose of popular culture and modern social commentary, an anime styled survival game premise, real life allusions, and mysteries to a dimension related to the supernatural, the divine, and human experience. See the Characters page for how these elements play accordingly to the main cast.]] |
| 399 | * ItsPopularNowItSucks: In-universe example: "I'll be off listening to bands you kids have never even heard of! And then...when they go major...[[LampshadeHanging I'll be there to complain about how they sold out]]!" |
| 400 | * ItsUpToYou: Averted. A few missions are completed by other Players. Neku and his partner usually still contribute to those missions, however, though Joshua is inclined to [[BystanderSyndrome let someone else deal with it]]. |
| 401 | * IWillWaitForYou: Shiki. [[spoiler:Cruelly subverted when she's made Neku's entry fee for the second week.]] Less obvious but still there, Neku waiting for [[spoiler:Joshua]] to meet him at Hachiko. [[spoiler:He never shows up. In a bonus scene, he is seen watching over the others gathered there and he's in his true form. His unhappy expression (which Hanekoma comments on) implies he wishes he could join them.]] |
| 402 | * JediMindTrick: Meme imprinting can subtly steer people's thinking in a direction of your choice. |
| 403 | * {{Jerkass}}: |
| 404 | ** Joshua, at least, is aware of his status as the resident jerk, and most of his act is on purpose. |
| 405 | ** Neku is one early on, typically ignoring or being rude to Shiki or the other players much of the time. Rhyme is the only fellow player who isn't repulsed by this. |
| 406 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Beat, during the third week. Neku also evolves into one, going from someone who doesn't care about other people to someone who does care for others, but sometimes loses patience with Joshua's JerkAss tendencies and Beat's [[IdiotHero moments of stupidity]]. |
| 407 | %%* JigsawPuzzlePlot or KudzuPlot: It depends on how you look at it. %%Zero-context, please elaborate. Also, pick one; don't stick both on one line |
| 408 | * KarmicTransformation: While she wasn't transformed into something she ''hated'', [[spoiler:Shiki's entry fee was her own appearance, resulting into her transformation into her best friend she sorely envied]]. |
| 409 | * KatanasAreJustBetter: You can buy a (dull) samurai sword accessory that confers an incredible bonus to Attack. |
| 410 | * {{Kawaiiko}}: Nao doesn't dress like a little kid, but she's a cutesy kogal through and through, giving everyone [[SickeninglySweet unbearably sweet]] nicknames. In fact, you can call her "Nao-Nao". For ''short''. [[http://twewy.wikia.com/wiki/Atarashi_Koko Coco]] from ''Solo Remix'' plays this straight, though. |
| 411 | * KeepItForeign: |
| 412 | ** One thought fragment, entitled "English", is written in Japanese in the English version of the game (it was presumably written in English in the original Japanese version). This results in a DubInducedPlothole where a supposedly English-speaking tourist who is ''thinking in Japanese'' worries about how he's going to get the Japanese locals to understand him. |
| 413 | ** In the English version, Hideki Kikuchi, the owner of Mexican Dog at Spain Hill, speaks Spanish words with the Midwestern accent from the United States. In the FanTranslation to European Spanish, Hideki says the Spanish words in a (stereotypical?) Mexican accent. |
| 414 | * TheKeyIsBehindTheLock: On Day 2 of Week 2, there's a Reaper stationed by the entrance to Spain Hill who won't let you pass unless you bring him a Definitivo Chilli Dog. Problem is, the only restaurant that sells Definitivo Chilli Dogs is located on Spain Hill. If you didn't bother to pick one up on an earlier day, then you'll have to wait for a NewGamePlus to fulfil his request. |
| 415 | * {{Kiai}}: Presumbly the only reason Minamimoto would be shouting things like "SINE", "COSINE" at you as he attacks... Most bosses have grunts and other phrases they say as well. |
| 416 | * KickTheDog: |
| 417 | %%** Kitaniji and Konishi apparently play soccer with canines, while fouling ''flagrantly'', on weekends. %%Zero-context, please elaborate |
| 418 | ** Konishi [[spoiler:killing 777 off-screen after his defeat against Neku and Beat]]. |
| 419 | ** [[spoiler:Konishi's]] last words are to tell Beat that [[spoiler:Rhyme didn't care as much for him as he did for her]], for no reason other than pure cruelty. |
| 420 | * KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: Neku's first day of the third week has this in the hands of Kariya and Uzuki. Luckily, [[spoiler:Beat is not gonna tolerate this move, starting his HeelFaceTurn.]] |
| 421 | * KidHero: Neku, Shiki, Joshua and Beat are all 15, according to the manual. [[spoiler:No idea how old Joshua actually ''is'', especially considering his true form, which looks much older.]] |
| 422 | * KilledOffScreen: Implied to have happened to [[spoiler:Sota and Nao]] between when you see them last in Week 1, and when Week 2 begins, since they're playing in the game the latter week. |
| 423 | * KillerGameMaster: The Game Masters will hunt players on the final day of a game. |
| 424 | * KillerRabbit: Pigs are usually [[MetalSlime harmless monsters with great rewards]]. However, there is one particular Pig Noise, Pig Butoh, that fights back, and it can kick your ass in seconds. It doesn't attempt to run away, since it doesn't need to. |
| 425 | * KingIncognito: [[spoiler:The Composer's downtuning makes him unrecognizable to most, allowing him to accompany Neku during the second week almost completely unnoticed.]] |
| 426 | * KingMook: The Canor Noise are Boss Noise that resemble big versions of standard Noise (Vespertilio Canor-Gabba Bat, Cornix Canor-Decadraven and Pteropus Canor-Happycore Bat) and can spawn them during the fight. |
| 427 | * KlingonPromotion: According to several cast members, if you take out the Composer, you get his job. This is confirmed by the secret reports, which are written by someone who had ''better'' know if that's true. |
| 428 | * {{Lampshade Hanging}}: Several times in the manga, but a ''beautiful'' one is delivered by Kariya. |
| 429 | -->'''Kariya:''' "Since we showed up in silhouette last time, you probably thought we were up to something ''dastardly''." |
| 430 | * LargeAndInCharge: GM Higashizawa is a tower of a man by any definition, and his Noise form is larger than any regular Noise in the game, filling the whole bottom screen and only the head is visible on the top. Tellingly, his Noise form is a ram rather than a big cat (Minamimoto's is a lion, Konishi's a tiger, and [[spoiler:Sanae's is both]] - of course, Kitanji's a snake [[spoiler:and it's possible Joshua's is a dragon]]). The Conductor has a noise form that is so large, only the head and small bits of the body are visible[[spoiler:; and then he absorbs the Composer...]]. |
| 431 | * LargeHam: Hanekoma can be this, seen in his odd [[BattleCry Battle Cries]]. |
| 432 | -->[[spoiler: Panthera Cantus: '''''"Enjoy the MOMEEEEEEENT!!!"''''']] |
| 433 | * LaserGuidedAmnesia: The protagonist, as in all Square games. He actually has it twice! [[spoiler:Rhyme]], too, lost a particularly important memory before the story starts; [[spoiler:that Beat is the older brother that she admires]]. Interestingly enough, [[spoiler:that memory was ''Beat's'' entry fee, not hers]]. |
| 434 | * LawOfChromaticSuperiority: Played with and invoked by some characters with the FiveManBand in Another Day. The leader (who is now Shooter instead of Neku) takes Red, Neku is first Black-n-Blue but later "demoted" to just Blue so someone else can be Black ([[spoiler:Black is TheMole]]), and Joshua first wants to be Pink, but then says he should actually be Gold and later gets "upgraded" to [[AmbiguouslyGay Rainbow]]. While Red is the one who fights [[spoiler: Higashizawa]] in the end, Blue is the one [[spoiler: Shinji Hashimoto]] chooses to fight. |
| 435 | * LayeredWorld: Referred to here as "frequencies", in keeping with the music theme. The Underground exists just above Realground, causing those in the former to be able to perceive the latter, but not the other way around. Noise exists on a plane between these two, allowing it to interfere with both. [[spoiler: Above all of these is a plane from which the mysterious Angels such as Hanekoma come from.]] |
| 436 | * LemonyNarrator: The tutorial box has shades of this, on occasion. |
| 437 | -->Week 2, Day 1: [[ReplacementScrappy Annoyingly,]] Joshua is [[DamnYouMuscleMemory nothing like your previous partner, Shiki]]. |
| 438 | * LevelLimiter: Lowering your level raises the drop rate, giving you a higher chance of getting Pins. |
| 439 | * LifeAffirmingAesop: The game's core theme is about how to live in the world. The Reaper's Game is made for Players to survive and improve through their experience. |
| 440 | * LimitBreak: In order to perform a Fusion attack the player must collect stars via the particular combo system each of Neku's partners use. |
| 441 | * TheLittleDetecto: Joshua gets an app from Hanekoma that lets him track some kind of "energy spikes". Things that set it off include the mysterious new Shadow Ramen shop and large crowds of people wearing Red Skull pins. Unfortunately for Neku, the only explanation Josh is willing to give him is that he's looking for "[[ShapedLikeItself what this tracker is tracking]]". [[spoiler:The Secret Reports explain that it detects the Conductor's Imagination -- anything related to Kitaniji's plan will ping it, allowing Joshua to put together what he's up against. At this point, even Hanekoma himself doesn't know what Kitaniji's plan ''is'', so the tracker is the best bet for both of them.]] |
| 442 | * TheLittleShopThatWasntThereYesterday: Shadow Ramen. Subverted later, as you can actually get it to reopen. |
| 443 | * LoopholeAbuse: Pork City is a special area where only pins of certain brands work. Unbranded pins are not affected by this, and many of them are stronger versions of branded pins. |
| 444 | * LostInTranslation: Subverted. Whenever Minamimoto says "SOHCAHTOA", he's making a pun on "Sou ka?" or "Is that so?" It just so happens that his lines are perfectly appropriate for the situation. |
| 445 | * LotusEaterMachine: [[spoiler:The entirety of A New Day until the ending takes place inside an immensely powerful Noise that Neku and Beat are trapped in.]] |
| 446 | * LowLevelAdvantage: Powering down your characters gives you a higher chance of collecting rare item drops. |
| 447 | * LuminescentBlush: Shiki feels embarrassed after finding out that [[spoiler:she was Neku's entry fee for Week 2]], causing two bright pink spots to become visible on her cheeks. |
| 448 | * MadMathematician: Sho Minamimoto, the psychotic Game Master in Week 2, has a tendency to pepper his dialogue with what appears to be nonsensical math references. This quirk extends even to his chants, as his most powerful attack requires him to recite [[MouthfulOfPi the first 156 digits of pi]]. |
| 449 | * MagicalCamera: Joshua's cell phone camera can take pictures of the past, and Neku's is later upgraded to be able to do the same. |
| 450 | * TheMainCharactersDoEverything: |
| 451 | ** Generally played straight, as any Player duo can complete a mission but Neku and his partners will usually be the ones doing it. Justified the later in a week you go, as there are fewer other Players that could do it ([[spoiler:and all of Week 3, where ''there are no other Players'']]). |
| 452 | ** Lampshaded and parodied in Week 2 Day 2. Joshua wants to blow off the day's mission to pursue his own errands and points out that other Players can cover it. But Neku doesn't want to leave it to others and refuses, strongarming Joshua into pursuing the mission anyway. The mission ends up forcing Neku into an awkward social situation, with Joshua trolling him the entire time. [[spoiler:And it's ultimately another Player who completes the mission anyway after Neku fails.]] |
| 453 | %%* TheManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler:Joshua behind Neku and Hanekoma behind Minamimoto.]] %%Zero-context, please elaborate |
| 454 | * ManicPixieDreamGirl: Shiki is an outgoing, energetic young girl paired with the antisocial, brooding Neku. [[spoiler:Subverted; it's an act she's putting on and she's at least as much a mess as Neku is.]] |
| 455 | %%* ManipulativeBastard: Konishi. [[spoiler:Joshua]] qualifies as well. %%Zero-context, please elaborate |
| 456 | * ManlyTears: Beat, whenever [[spoiler:his involvement in Rhyme's death and erasure is brought up]]. |
| 457 | ** Neku cries like this twice. First: [[spoiler:During his duel with Joshua. The truth of how he died, combined with the emotional strain of having to choose shooting a friend or losing Shibuya, reduces him to tears]]. Second: [[spoiler:When he wakes up in the Scramble for the last time and believes that he's still in the Game]]. |
| 458 | * {{Malaproper}}: Beat. Rhyme usually has to correct him. |
| 459 | * MasterActor: Joshua. Everyone knew there was ''something'' he was hiding. "[[spoiler:I'm actually the Composer]]" was not expected. |
| 460 | %%* MasterOfIllusion: Konishi, who is also, fittingly, a PuzzleBoss. %%Zero-context, please elaborate |
| 461 | * MeaningfulName: |
| 462 | ** You can make up the kanji of kind-of relevant animals by taking and assembling parts of the kanji of many characters's names. Of particularly note is "Sanae Hanekoma": [[spoiler:not only can you make up the kanji for "cat", but it also contains the sounds "neko" (= "cat")... and, even better and MORE spoilery, "hane" is the kanji for "feather"]]. |
| 463 | ** Joshua's name is full of possible allusions to [[spoiler:the fact that he's the Composer, God-like ruler of the Game, and "resurrects" at the end of the game]]. "Joshua" is basically another name for Platform/{{Jesus}}, "Yoshiya" contains the kanji for "justice", and "Kiryu" is written with the kanji for "Paulownia tree" and "life". (The Paulownia tree has legendary ties with the Phoenix bird of rebirth... and is also called [[AmbiguouslyGay The Princess Tree]], for extra giggles.) |
| 464 | * MegaNeko: Shiki's Third-level Fusion Attack essentially turns Mr. Mew into a {{Kaiju}} temporarily. "Get 'em, Piggy!" indeed! |
| 465 | * {{Meido}}: One NPC mistakes an actual maid for a waitress at a MaidCafe. You can also get a maid costume in the game. |
| 466 | * MessianicArchetype: Despite the various religious references found in Joshua, the game's Messianic Archetype is actually Neku. [[spoiler:He is killed senselessly and put through a variety of trials, thrice sacrificing what he most treasures, but ultimately cleanses Shibuya of the "sins" for which the Composer would have destroyed it and is resurrected. He was hand-picked by the Game's God-figure, and gains at least two disciples (Shiki and Beat) over the course of his time in the UG.]] |
| 467 | * MexicanStandoff: [[spoiler:After the final boss fight, Joshua forces Neku to have one of these with him to decide the fate of Shibuya. Neku falters though, and lets Joshua shoot him, which most likely means that the standoff was nothing but a test.]] |
| 468 | * MindControl: A [[DownplayedTrope very minor]] version: during some missions you can find key words to imprint on people's minds. It doesn't change their mind entirely, but it can help prompt them into action if they're indecisive or have forgotten something. [[spoiler:Of course, Kitaniji's plan plays it a lot straighter...]] |
| 469 | * MindOverMatter: The Psychokinesis psych gives Neku the ability to push or lift objects in the battlefield, and with certain pins, push or lift enemies. Joshua's basic fighting abilities also has him dropping objects such as road blocks, bicycles, and [=SUVs=] on enemies. |
| 470 | * MindReading: The Player Pins gives the players of the Reaper Game to read the mains of those in the RG. |
| 471 | %%* MindScrew: It actually takes a few plot twists from ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. %%Zero-context, please elaborate |
| 472 | * MiniGame: Tin Pin Slammer, which has the player flicking their pins at their opponents' in an attempt to push them out of an arena. |
| 473 | * MistakenForGay: Mick, after having becoming overconfident in the second week only for things to fall apart by the third, apparently has so little confidence that he assumes Neku gives him his patronage because Neku's gay for him. |
| 474 | * MoreDakka: At the higher evolutions, the Natural Puppy brand has a tendency to fill the entire screen with ''penetrating'' bullets. Not ''too'' useful against bosses, but against enemies which have a wonky hitbox or groups of weaker enemies they're pure gold, especially when it comes to grinding sync rates. Some other brands have a similar screen-filling ability, but Natural Puppy has the 'spray and pray' down pat. |
| 475 | * MortonsFork: A pair of {{NPC}} Reapers complain about being caught in one of these during week 2 -- they've been tasked by Konishi to clean up Minamimoto's "art". If he sees them doing this, they're screwed. If they ignore her, they're screwed. |
| 476 | * {{Motif}}: The game is entirely motifed after music and elements of music production in general, with it being vital in naming conventions across the game. |
| 477 | ** Enemies are named after music genres and sub-genres, with families of noises being named after sub-genres of the same gerne (for example, wolf noises are called "Alterna", "Garage" and "Grunge", various sub-genres of alternative rock). The species of enemies itself being referred to as Noise is another reference to music. The reaper's noise form are also named always in latin in the format "[Animal Latin Name] Cantus", which translates to "Singing [Animal]". |
| 478 | ** The people behind the reaper's game at the highest grade are granted the titles of "Conductor", [[spoiler:"Composer", and "Producer"]], all of which are professions involved in music creation and production. |
| 479 | * MouthfulOfPi: Sho's incantation for Level ''i'' Flare is pi, recited to an absurd number of places. |
| 480 | %%* MrExposition: Higashizawa in Another Day. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] and reprimanded by Uzuki. %%Zero-context, please elaborate |
| 481 | * MundaneMadeAwesome: [[spoiler:Minamimoto triggering his homemade nuke at the end of the second week by [[MouthfulOfPi reciting pi to 150 significant digits]].]] |
| 482 | * MundaneUtility: Subverted. On Day 3, Neku tries to use the [[PlayingWithFire Pyrokinesis]] pin for a light, only to find that very few pins work outside of battle. |
| 483 | * MyGreatestFailure and MyGreatestSecondChance, [[RuleOfThree times three]]: A large source of guilt for Beat is [[spoiler:the death of his sister, Rhyme]]. The Reapers' Game gave him a greatest second chance, which he botched by [[spoiler:being careless and failing to protect her]]. [[spoiler:Mr. Hanekoma]] gave him a greatest ''third'' chance by [[spoiler:binding Rhyme's Soul to a pin]], and Beat failed ''yet again'' when [[spoiler:Konishi crushes her Noise form and takes her pin hostage]]. [[EarnYourHappyEnding It all works out in the end]], but ''[[EpicFail damn]]''. |
| 484 | * MyNameIsQuestionMarks: The names of unvisited districts appear as question marks when you approach them, and on the third day question marks are (justifiably) used to obfuscate the fact that [[spoiler:the place you wake up in is actually your goal]]. |
| 485 | * Mystical108: Joshua is Entry #108 in Another Day's Tin Pin Slammer tourney. And Pin #108 is "Eyes Full of Light". |
| 486 | * NeverFoundTheBody: Inverted; people and Noise disappear in a flash of static upon erasure. This results in an interesting twist on the trope when we're shown [[spoiler:Minamimoto]]'s body; many fans assume he's actually alive and will appear in the possible sequel. |
| 487 | * NeverTrustATrailer: There are several scenes in trailers that weren't in the game proper. The ''Final Remix'' advertising also asserted that A New Day would "[[MindScrewdriver get right to the heart of the story]]", but it ended up delivering no answers and actually ''raising'' tons of questions -- [[SequelHook to be answered in the sequel, presumably]]. |
| 488 | %%* NewAgeRetroHippie: Shinta Iwata, the owner of the Cosmic Corner shop. %%Zero-context, please elaborate |
| 489 | * NewGamePlus: After beating the game, you can return to any chapter previously as well as play a new one. You keep your stats, items, and bestiary, and use any partner at any time with the exception of storyline boss battles. You can also hold L or R to rush through text, but you can't skip the animated cutscenes in the DS version. You'll also gain access to every day, whenever you want to access it. |
| 490 | * NiceJobBreakingItHero: |
| 491 | ** Neku becomes understandably upset when he's told that, by defeating [[spoiler:Kitaniji, he won Joshua's Game for him, meaning that Joshua gets to go through with his plan of destroying Shibuya. It's a good thing he changes his mind]]. |
| 492 | ** A delayed version: [[spoiler:in the first week, one of the missions is to make the Red Skull Pins successful. It turns out to be a vital part of the [[BigBad Big Bad's]] AssimilationPlot]]. |
| 493 | * NintendoHard: While manageable for most of the story, this game gets unusually difficult at the end. You fight several bosses in succession after you're last able to save, the last one possessing absurd HP totals, and one death sends you back to the checkpoint. |
| 494 | * NoCommunitiesWereHarmed: Nearly every store encountered in Shibuya is given a thinly-veiled rename and bears ridiculous visual similarity to the location it's based on. For example, the [[SmallReferencePools Tower Records]] (slogan "It's a World Thing") becomes [[{{Pun}} Towa Records]] (slogan "It's a Wild Thing"). |
| 495 | * NoIndoorVoice: Minamimoto, full stop. He even carries a bullhorn to drive the point across. |
| 496 | * NonindicativeName: |
| 497 | ** Westerners who haven't played the game usually think it has [[ApocalypseHow something to do with the world ending]]. [[spoiler: The fate of Shibuya, which was made into the game's world, hangs in the balance, though. And you come close to causing its end.]] |
| 498 | ** The "Underground" is considered a ''higher'' plane to normal reality. |
| 499 | * NonNaturalNumberGag: Minamimoto's final attack (which he never uses in battle) is called "Level ''i'' Flare", a play on the names of attacks in ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' such as Level 3 Flare and Level 5 Death, which affect characters whose levels are divisible by those numbers. Except that ''i'' is the square root of negative one, making it a possible factor in ''every'' number, ''both real and imaginary''. Also a moment of FridgeBrilliance, as [[spoiler:the Secret Reports]] state that the psychic attacks used by Reapers and Players are powered by the user's Imagination. Therefore, it makes perfect sense that Sho's most powerful attack would utilize an ''imaginary number''. |
| 500 | * NoodleIncident: In the first week, when Neku witnesses [[spoiler:Rhyme]] being devoured by a Noise, he says that he feels like crap, "just like that other time". Whatever memory had awakened within him is not revealed throughout the game, though [[spoiler:"Another Day" implies that Neku was reminded of a friend who had perished in an accident, which in turn triggered his [[CynicismCatalyst traumatic descent into the insociable individual]] he is at the start of the story]]. |
| 501 | * NoodlePeople: Some of the characters have exaggeratedly thin waists (e.g. Shiki, Uzuki, Nao). The anime averts this by giving such characters slightly more realistic proportions. |
| 502 | * NotSoDifferentRemark: |
| 503 | ** "But Neku, don't you like music?" If Kitaniji had talked to Neku in the beginning of the game, they would have had identical mindsets. |
| 504 | ** [[spoiler:Joshua's mindset behind wanting to destroy Shibuya is similar to Neku's own mindset at the beginning of the game. Additionally, Kitaniji was using his AssimilationPlot in order to ultimately save Shibuya from the Composer. Hanekoma also wanted to keep Shibuya around. In the end, everybody wanted the same thing. Well, almost everybody.]] |
| 505 | * NumericalHard: On higher difficulties, enemies have higher stats and better drops, and that's the only difference. |
| 506 | * OddFriendship: Lazy, cool-headed Kariya and driven, high-strung Uzuki. Neku achieves this with all his partners despite rocky starts. |
| 507 | * OfficiallyShortenedTitle: Originally ''WEWY'', as seen in the DS version's manual and a handful of [[BreakingTheFourthWall fourth-wall-breaking]] post-game threads. The fanbase near-universally ignored this and abbreviated it as ''TWEWY'', which was {{ascended|Fanon}} in Solo and Final Remix by renaming the threads in question. |
| 508 | * OhNoYouDidnt: Beat says this when a Reaper almost says his EmbarrassingFirstName. |
| 509 | * OlderThanTheyLook: A random NPC thought reveals that the woman having it (who looks the same as any of the other late-teens-early-20s random background [=NPCs=]) is, in fact, 58. She credits her youthful looks to "the restorative powers of royal jelly". |
| 510 | * OldMediaAreEvil: [[spoiler:Another Day]] Neku never watched TV at all, because his parents forbade him from watching TV, as it "warps the mind". |
| 511 | * OmniscientMoralityLicense: Invoked by [[spoiler:Hanekoma, in the final Secret Report. One almost gets the impression he expects his Fallen Angel status to be revoked when his actions cause everything to end up working out for the best.]] |
| 512 | * OneManArmy: Well, two-men army for Neku and his respective partner. |
| 513 | * OnceMoreWithClarity: The game does this ''three times'' with the same sequence [[spoiler: of Neku's death. First, Neku ends up scanning Joshua's mind, which normally shouldn't be possible, and ends up seeing his dead body in his mind. When he scans Joshua again, we see a sequence where Joshua appears to shoot Neku. Then on the final day, the presence of Joshua and Minamimoto in the same area makes him remember the same sequence of events, only this time, it's revealed that Joshua was aiming for Minamimoto, who was right behind Neku, and it appears that Minamimoto was the one who shot Neku, and ''then'' during the ending, Joshua restores the full memory, where it's revealed that Minamimoto was aiming for Joshua, but failed due to Joshua still having some of his powers, causing Minamimoto to flee. Then, Joshua ''definitely'' kills Neku and leaves him with his extra Player pin.]] |
| 514 | * OneSizeFitsAll: Once you can get your character's Bravery stat high enough, you can get them to wear all sorts of clothes that are smaller than the characters. |
| 515 | * OneWingedAngel: Every Game Master and [[spoiler:Hanekoma]] start their boss battles by morphing into their Cantus forms. The FinalBoss does it twice. [[spoiler: You beat Kitaniji in his human form, then he assumes his Noise form, only for Joshua to arrive after he's beaten, giving Kitaniji the idea to use Joshua to give his One Winged Angel form its own One Winged Angel: Draco Cantus.]] |
| 516 | * OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: The entire cast, though, admittedly, some more than others. Justified in some cases, as Neku and his partner are usually never formally introduced to the GM or other reapers, and thus actually don't know their names. |
| 517 | ** Neku Sakuraba - [[HeadphonesEqualIsolation Phones]] |
| 518 | ** Yoshiya Kiryu - Joshua, Josh, J |
| 519 | ** Daisukenojo Bito - Beat, Skulls, Freshmeat |
| 520 | ** [[spoiler:Raimu Bito]] - Rhyme, Skulls Jr. |
| 521 | ** Uzuki Yashiro - Pinky |
| 522 | ** Koki Kariya - [[OralFixation Lollipop]] |
| 523 | ** Yodai Higashizawa - Big Guy, Ram-Crotch |
| 524 | ** Sho Minamimoto - [[MadMathematician Pi-Face]], The Grim Heaper |
| 525 | ** Mitsuki Konishi - Iron Maiden and several variations thereof. |
| 526 | ** Megumi Kitaniji - Shades |
| 527 | ** Sanae Hanekoma - Mr. H |
| 528 | ** CAT ([[spoiler:Mr. Hanekoma]]), Piggy (Mr. Mew), Nao-Nao, Makoto "Mick" Miki, Shuuto "Shooter" Dan, Itaru "Yammer" Yokoyamada, and Eiji "The Prince" Oji. |
| 529 | ** And then there's Another Day, in which the main cast all get themselves color codenames. Neku doesn't ever get to actually introduce himself. |
| 530 | * OnlyOneSaveFile: The game only has a single save file, and attempting to start a New Game from the title screen will instead ask the player to erase the existing save data if there's one already present. |
| 531 | * OntologicalMystery: One of your objectives in the first week is to figure out just how you ended up waking up in the middle of the Scramble. |
| 532 | * OurAngelsAreDifferent: [[spoiler:They run the Game too, and are even higher in status than the Composer, but they're generally more like rule keepers that watch from the sidelines than anything else. (Hanekoma's one of them.)]] |
| 533 | * OurSoulsAreDifferent: People can be erased, but as it turns out, [[spoiler:souls are immortal, so they're not gone for good. If taken and reshaped by a strong enough outside source, they can even come back to life, in their own form or as something else]]. |
| 534 | * OutOfCharacterAlert: Seeing the characters act grossly out of character is a major red flag that something is seriously wrong in "A New Day"; Uzuki is a LazyBum, Kariya is the [[AmbitionIsEvil ruthlessly ambitious]] one, and Joshua is a stammering ShrinkingViolet who always goes by his full name. |
| 535 | * OutsideTheBoxTactic: The [[DemonicSpider hated elephant Noise]] and both forms of the final boss can be defeated easily in a matter of seconds with [[spoiler:the Time Bomb psych]]. |
| 536 | [[/folder]] |
| 537 | |
| 538 | [[folder:P - Z]] |
| 539 | * PacifistRun: Attempted invocation in Week 3 when [[spoiler:Neku is forced to play the week without a partner, and thus no way to attack Noise. He deduces that he can just run from every Noise encounter...only to cut this train of thought short when he realizes that the moment a mission requires him to erase Noise, escaping ceases to be an option.]] |
| 540 | * PaletteSwap: The SuperBoss, [[spoiler:Panthera Cantus]], is a double-palette swap: a blue Tigris Cantus on the upper screen and a red Leo Cantus on the lower. |
| 541 | * PantheraAwesome: A trinity of them. PuzzleBoss Mitsuki Konishi, ThatOneBoss Sho Minamimoto, and SuperBoss [[spoiler:Sanae Hanekoma]]. |
| 542 | * PartyInMyPocket: In Another Day, Neku can fight with any of his partners, but their sprites aren't seen following him outside of battle like they do in the main game. While [[GameplayAndStorySegregation this happens before he's even met them]], after Neku meets them and gathers a whole gang, you still don't see anyone but Neku outside of cutscenes. |
| 543 | * PerkyGoth: Princess K, once you get her FSG to max. The shopkeeper at Tigre Punks is a Perky ''Punk''. |
| 544 | * PermanentlyMissableContent: The Pig Noise disappear forever once beaten, even during the NewGamePlus. In the DS version, if you sell one of the unique drops from the pigs in Pork City and save, there's no way to recover them without erasing your save file and restarting the game. ''Everything'' else can be reacquired from somewhere (or can't be discarded in the first place). Averted in the Solo Remix version, where it is possible to rebuy them after seeing TheStinger. |
| 545 | * PhysicalGod: The Game's Composer has ridiculous reality-bending powers (read: the power to create and manipulate laws of nature as well as the Game's rules)... whether in the Underground or the Realground. An observant player may note that the first mention of him uses capitalized pronouns. |
| 546 | * PickyEater: Your companions have certain goods they ''don't'' like. Neku in particular hates muffins. |
| 547 | * PlaylistSoundtrack: The game has this style of soundtrack as the protagonist, Neku Sakuraba, listens to it through his headphones. |
| 548 | * PlotBasedPhotographObfuscation: Shiki has a photo on her cell phone of her and her friend Eri, with the glare obscuring the unfamiliar face. [[spoiler:Not Eri's face, though -- turns out, Shiki has taken on her friend's appearance as her entry fee.]] |
| 549 | * PoisonMushroom: The Red Skull pin does nothing but lowering Neku's movement speed. In Week 1 Day 6, you have to wear it for a few battles to complete an objective (promoting the Gatito brand) in the story, since it is the only Gatito pin the player will have at this time. |
| 550 | * PopQuiz: ''"Like a bolt from the blue, it's time for the Reaper Review!"'' |
| 551 | ** There's a sequence in Joshua's week when Neku and Joshua have to solve a mystery together that plays a bit like this, too. |
| 552 | ** In that same week, there's one day during which entering certain areas will prompt Josh into a little ramble about the place (or ramen) and then ask you a question. |
| 553 | * PostEndGameContent: If you think that killing the FinalBoss makes the game over, you're wrong. Say hello to a lot of the best equipment and stickers that have just been unlocked. Of course you still have to buy it. |
| 554 | * POVCam: At the end when [[spoiler:Neku sees Joshua and Mr. Hanekoma together after the duel]]. |
| 555 | * PowerFloats: Joshua, when using his Jesus Beams. |
| 556 | ** Neku, when using any psych that doesn't allow movement during the attack. |
| 557 | * PowerGivesYouWings: It's explained that a Reaper's supernatural power is contained in their wings. When they shift over to the RG, their wings vanish, making them essentially normal humans until they return to the UG. Interestingly, Support Reapers (the ones who create walls) don't have any wings at all, while all Harriers (who create Noise and occasionally attack Players personally) do, suggesting that Support Reapers are stuck on wall duty because they don't have any other powers. |
| 558 | * ThePowerOfFriendship: Most battles against the Noise are done with two Players. You control the fighting with the stylus for one, and the D-pad (or the buttons for you left-handers out there) for the other person. Not to mention the ending of the game, [[spoiler:which contains a cutscene of a Quad Fusion attack, more or less. Things went boom]]. |
| 559 | ** Mingle Mode is the game's way of enforcing PowerOfFriendship in the real world. |
| 560 | ** Another real-world example can be found in ''Final Remix'', which allows for two players to play the game in "Co-op Mode", each with one joy-con and controlling either Neku or his Partner. Doing this gives you a post-fight "special" and consequent boost to your EXP modifier (*1.1). |
| 561 | * PowerOfTrust: The story has Neku trying to open up to people so he and his partner can fight efficiency against the Noise and complete the missions of the Reaper's Game. |
| 562 | * PowerUpFood: All kinds of food have different effects on each character in terms of stat boosts and sync rate effects. They also come in different sizes, measured in [[{{Pun}} Bytes]], and their effects on each character will depend on how well they enjoy them. [[http://twewy.wikia.com/wiki/Food Full list here.]] |
| 563 | * PragmaticAdaptation: Essentially what happened to the gameplay in ''Solo Remix'' and ''Final Remix''. The original game was very much designed around the Nintendo DS having two screens with two different control schemes to control two playable characters simultaneously. Nearly every other system lacking multiple screens makes this impossible to translate cleanly, so the ports consolidated all the action into one screen with just Neku, turned the second playable character into an AssistCharacter, and revamped Sync into a CombinationAttack mechanic. |
| 564 | * PreAsskickingOneLiner: Neku and his partners get memorable two-liners right before performing their Fusion attacks. |
| 565 | -->'''Beat:''' Yo, let's start it up!\ |
| 566 | '''Neku:''' No, let's [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill end it!]] |
| 567 | * PreexistingEncounters: You scan the area to find and fight Noise symbols; the only times where you must battle Noise is if it's required in order to clear out a wall, or when the battle advances the storyline. |
| 568 | * ProphecyTwist: During ''A New Day'', Neku has a vision of [[spoiler:Joshua shooting at him. Again.]] When the vision comes to pass, [[spoiler:this time Joshua really does turn out to be shooting at someone behind Neku: Coco, who just killed Neku]]. |
| 569 | * ProtagonistCenteredMorality: Played with. |
| 570 | ** During the second week, Neku is feeling sorry for himself for losing [[spoiler:Shiki]] as his entry fee, since [[spoiler:Shiki was supposedly about to come back to life]]. When Neku brings this up as the reason why he can't afford to waste time with Joshua's errands, Joshua tells him that all Players are fighting for something precious and Neku's entry fee doesn't make him any more a deserving candidate to win the Game than anyone else. Part of Neku's CharacterDevelopment in Week 2 is learning to care about other people. |
| 571 | ** [[spoiler:The game has you rooting for Neku and his friends all the way, with Kitaniji being played up as the BigBad. But once Kitaniji is finally defeated, we learn that he was working to save Shibuya all along, while everyone helping Neku was unwittingly enabling the Composer's plan to destroy it.]] |
| 572 | * PsychicPowers: The game's magic system. The powers granted by pins have names such as "[[PlayingWithFire Pyrokinesis]]" and "[[MindOverMatter Psychokinesis]]", and the game (not the characters, the game itself) refers to playable characters as ESP'ers. MindReading is also an important plot and gameplay element. Neku is a special case, as he can use ''every pin'' available, whereas generally, Players are only able to use certain psychs. For example, Shiki can only use the psychokinesis pin 'Groove Pawn' to control Mr Mew. She could not use Pyrokinesis, so she gave her Pyrokinesis pin to Neku. |
| 573 | * PunchClockVillain: Most of the rank and file Reapers are nice guys, and the protagonists even make friends with some of them. They are just doing their job, which just happens to be erasing people from existence. If they fail at it, ''they'' get erased. So there's some motivation there. Reapers were once players themselves, who were granted the option of ''becoming'' Reapers due to [[ItRunsOnNonsensoleum their powers of Imagination]]. It's one career option in the afterlife. |
| 574 | * QuirkyMinibossSquad: The Game Masters, or Reapers who control the Noise and give the players missions. The Harriers, below them, are their own Quirky Miniboss Squad. |
| 575 | * RainbowMotif: Jokingly mentioned in reference to Joshua. |
| 576 | * RainbowSpeak: All the [[color:red:key words]] and [[color:red:memes]] are like this. |
| 577 | * RandomEncounters: By the third week, Neku may be attacked randomly [[spoiler:by Reapers]] when moving between areas. |
| 578 | * RandomEvent: When using Mingle Mode, you may come across "Aliens" that award a hefty 100 MPP when encountered. As far as anyone knows, nothing influences the appearance rate of Aliens, thus making them more or less random occurrences. |
| 579 | * RankInflation: In battles from lowest to highest: E, D, C, B, A, and ★ (Star). |
| 580 | * RareCandy: While most of the food items that permanently boost stats are not rare or expensive, the foods that boost drop rate are exceptionally expensive and hard to obtain. Curious Mushrooms can be bought for either 590,000 yen or fifteen 10,000 yen pins. Absolute Shadow Ramen requires redeeming several quest items, including the rare Dark Matter. A few food items are extremely expensive as well, such as the ones sold at the Shibu Q-Heads pharmacy and the Natural Remedies shop. And while food generally isn't rare or expensive, you do need to fight a number of battles before you can get the stat boost. |
| 581 | * RareRandomDrop: The Black Mercury pin, part of the Darklit Planets, can be acquired through two ways: the [=WildKat=] shop (which has a random Darklit Planet pin for sale which does not change in a single save file), or grinding in the Shibuya River in Another Day, the only place where you can find the rare Fifenfrogs, which have a base 0.13% chance of dropping Black Mercury on Ultimate difficulty -- this can be capped, if you can chain your way to ''770'' drop stars. Of course, after that you have to go through all those battles and hope the damn frog is ''in'' one of them. |
| 582 | * RealMenHateSugar: Aside from cola, Beat's reactions to eating sweet foods are neutral ''at best'' -- don't even try to give him crepes or chocolate icecream. |
| 583 | * RealPlaceBackground: Shibuya's depiction in ''TWEWY'' is actually very accurate... making exceptions for the skewed angles and the changed store names, of course. |
| 584 | * ReclusiveArtist: InUniverse: The reason why despite being an avid fanboy, Neku doesn't know who CAT is. |
| 585 | * RecurringBoss: |
| 586 | ** [[spoiler:Reaper Beat]] is fought at three points during Week 2. |
| 587 | ** Minamimoto is the final boss of Week 2 and reappears as a boss in Week 3 as [[spoiler:Taboo Noise]]. |
| 588 | ** Uzuki and Kariya: both are initially fought individually, then both at the same time as a DualBoss twice. |
| 589 | ** Kitaniji is fought in a total of three fights in the final day. |
| 590 | * RedEyesTakeWarning: [[spoiler:Characters who have been BrainwashedAndCrazy by the Red Skull pins]] have glowing red eyes and attack Neku on sight. |
| 591 | %%* RedFilterOfDoom: Neku's flashback. |
| 592 | %%* RedOniBlueOni: In Another Day, "Red and Blue, eternal rivals..." |
| 593 | * ReplacementScrappy: In-universe example: at the start of the second Game, Neku's trusted companion, Shiki, is replaced by Joshua; a self-centered, secretive, condescending, smug little JerkAss ''prick''. Joshua doesn't get through half a conversation before he makes Neku want to strangle him. Even the ''tutorial box'' points out how annoying it is that he's different from Shiki. |
| 594 | * ReplayMode: After playing through the entire game once, all chapters of the story are accessible directly, so you can fight Noise with good item drops and replaying is required to get HundredPercentCompletion. |
| 595 | * ReplayValue: Worth going back and replaying it at least once to collect the Secret Reports. |
| 596 | * RespawningEnemies: Noise respawn only after you leave the area (except for Pig Noise, which never respawn). Of course, the one time your mission is to clear all the Noise from an area, they ''do'' keep respawning until you get to the root of the problem. |
| 597 | * RestoredMyFaithInHumanity: Most of the characters in the game help to do this for Neku, and Neku in turn does it for [[spoiler:Joshua]]. |
| 598 | * RewatchBonus: The game contains a thick and complex plot that tends to be easy enough to follow on the first playthrough. However, during a second playthrough, the perspective will alter your perception of the storyline, most noticeably everything regarding [[spoiler:Joshua]]. It happens again after you've played through the game again and gotten all the [[NewGamePlus secret reports]], this time with [[spoiler:Hanekoma]]. Most notably, [[SpoilerOpening the opening movie actually sums up the entire plot]], but you won't know until a second playthrough. Even the biggest spoileriffic detail is there, though it's a FreezeFrameBonus. |
| 599 | %%* RhinoRampage: The Rhino Noise, naturally. |
| 600 | * RhymingWithItself: In "Transformation": |
| 601 | -->Now, open your eyes, the pieces are all over!\ |
| 602 | Now, you should accept that it is over! |
| 603 | %%* SacrificialLamb: [[spoiler:Rhyme]], but [[spoiler:she gets revived in the end]]. |
| 604 | %%* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:Triple 7.]] |
| 605 | * RocksFallEveryoneDies: Attempted by one of the Game Masters. [[spoiler: By the third week, Kitaniji has become sufficiently fed up with Neku's continued survival that he immediately starts off with putting Neku in a no-win scenario.]] |
| 606 | * SchizophrenicDifficulty: The partners are this - Shiki's the tougher partner to attack with, while Beat is usually considered the easiest. Joshua is considered the best partner though. |
| 607 | * {{Sentai}}: Kindred Spirits in Another Day organize themselves like a sentai team, including colour-coded names and items. |
| 608 | %%* SequentialBoss: Tigris Cantus, Konishi's Noise form. |
| 609 | * SequelHook: |
| 610 | ** It is mentioned that Shibuya is not the only city with a Reaper's Game and that it is not the Reapers and the Composer at the top of Shibuya's hierarchy, but rather [[spoiler:the Angels]], who the protagonists never learn of or have to confront. |
| 611 | ** Collecting all of the Secret Reports and clearing the game again in ''Solo Remix'' awards [[http://i.imgur.com/oCjx9.jpg a hidden illustration]] as TheStinger, shown after the secret ending. [[spoiler:The girl in the image is ultimately revealed to be Tsugumi Matsunae, a major character in ''NEO: The World Ends With You''.]] |
| 612 | ** The main purpose of the new chapter "A New Day" in ''Final Remix'' is to set up the events leading to ''NEO''. [[spoiler:Neku is shot dead (again) by Coco to force him back into the UG, and Coco revives Minamimoto to become a Player, purportedly as Neku's new Partner. Furthermore, Shinjuku is Inverted, causing the erasure of most of its human population except for Tsugumi, leaving its Reapers available to cross over to Shibuya]]. |
| 613 | * SeriousBusiness: Pin Collection, justified in that they actually give you psychic powers. In the real world, they're just another fashion accessory. They then parody the whole concept with the bonus chapter, "Another Day" which takes the minigame, Tin-Pin Slammer, the characters, and transports them all into a ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries''-type setting in which the game is all-important. Lampshaded in the Secret Reports: |
| 614 | -->"... a world where Tin Pin Slammer--of all things!--[[BrickJoke reigns supreme]]." |
| 615 | * SetBonus: The [[InfinityPlusOneSword Gatito brand]]'s shtick is pins that have these: |
| 616 | ** Big Bang and Big Crunch together give access to the [[EnergyWeapon Nexus Ray]] Psych, a rare psych that only two other pins can use. |
| 617 | ** Over The Top (Righty Cat, Lefty Cat, Brainy Cat) slashes the Reboot time of other pins by 40% and causes all pins to start the fight already booted. While this set takes up half the deck, with the right attacking pins it allows for infinite air-juggling. |
| 618 | ** The Irregular Note set causes the four pins in the deck to start floating around the screen in random directions, bouncing off the walls of the screen and each other. The player can pause the game to rearrange the pins with the stylus. Tapping any of the pins causes a series of [[NonElemental neutral-element]] bullets to travel between the four pins on the screen, damaging enemies in their path. |
| 619 | ** The Steps to Eden set activates the Holy Field Ability when all five pins are in the same Deck. Holy Field hypercharges your Puck, granting it 5x Multiplier, near-instant travel speed, and insanely long duration, in addition to granting Neku total invincibility if he has the Puck. In ''Solo Remix'', Holy Field instead hypercharges your Cross Combo hits, bestowing permanent Blazing, 330% damage and 7% Sync Rate per CC hit, and any CC hit grants Neku a 4-second invincibility shield. However, the player will only have a single pin for attacking with, so they need to make it count. |
| 620 | ** The Darklit Planet set is the only one where the individual pins have any functions of their own, each acting as a reasonably strong pin. Putting all six in the same deck ''triples'' the damage they inflict, with the resulting deck being the game's InfinityPlusOneSword. |
| 621 | ** ''Final Remix'' adds the Crimson Kingdoms set, a trio of Unbranded pins which double their damage output when placed in the same deck in similar fashion to the Darklit Planets. |
| 622 | * ShapedLikeItself: After spending Joshua's third day running around Shibuya on the signals of an unexplained tracker app, Neku finally flat-out asks Joshua what he's looking for. His response? |
| 623 | --> '''Joshua''': Simply put? [[NonAnswer I'm looking for what this tracker is tracking]].\ |
| 624 | '''Neku''': (What the...? Oh, [[LampshadeHanging that's real helpful]]!) |
| 625 | * SharedLifeMeter: |
| 626 | ** Both Neku and his partner share a life meter that stretches across both screens of the DS. It even empties at both ends depending on who's getting hurt, with one character displaying their injured idle animation if his or her half of the life bar is completely empty. |
| 627 | ** Any DualBoss fights in the game (like Kariya and Uzuki, Kitaniji and [[spoiler: Shiki]], or SuperBoss [[spoiler: Hanekoma's]] simultaneous dual forms) have this rule applying for the bosses as well. |
| 628 | * {{Shinigami}}: The Reapers were called "Shinigami" in the original Japanese. They forgo Psychopomp work in lieu of setting up elaborate games that give dead people a second chance at life. |
| 629 | * ShortTeensTallAdults: Even Beat, by far the tallest of the 15-and-under group, is teeny in juxtaposition with any given character over 17. |
| 630 | * ShoutOut: Has [[ShoutOut/TheWorldEndsWithYou its own page!]] |
| 631 | * ShrineToTheFallen: There's one for [[spoiler:Beat and Rhyme]], after they died in a car accident. |
| 632 | * SiblingYinYang: [[spoiler:Beat and Rhyme, with Rhyme being calm, level-headed and responsible, while Beat is more emotional, impulsive and less intelligent]]. [[spoiler:Rhyme's]] gear that you can purchase after completing the game tends to emphasize defense, while [[spoiler:Beat's]] tends to emphasize offense. |
| 633 | * SignatureDevice: Player Pins for Players mark them as players of the Reaper's Game trying to win and be revived. |
| 634 | %%* SinisterShades: Kitaniji's glasses. |
| 635 | %%* SixthRangerTraitor: [[spoiler:Rhyme]] in ''Another Day''. |
| 636 | * SlapOnTheWristNuke: Joshua's level 3 Fusion, "Jesus Meteor", wherein Neku and Joshua [[ColonyDrop drop the freakin' moon]] on Earth. |
| 637 | * SneezeInterruption: Neku is challenged to "Reaper Sport 3" but can't hear what the Reaper says because his partner had a sneezing fit. |
| 638 | * SoBadItWasBetter: One of the passers-by you can scan is an Eiji Oji fangirl bemoaning the fact the Prince has started seeing a vocal coach, as she'd taken a liking to his [[DreadfulMusician incredibly off-key singing voice]].[[invoked]] |
| 639 | * SocializationBonus: One of the game's shops stocks exactly one of six "Darklit Planet" pins (otherwise available only as a RandomDrop from specific opponents on the highest difficulty setting), but which one they offer depends on the player's game (or more specifically, the system ID of the player's DS). The others can be acquired by purchasing them from other players who have them. |
| 640 | * SoftReset: Unique in that the 'return to title' option is only given after you've died. (Or Start, Select, L and R.) |
| 641 | * SoLongAndThanksForAllTheGear: Neku changes partners each week, and any stat boosts you've given them via food or any equipment they had are taken with them. You don't get to use them again until [[spoiler:after you've ''beaten the game'']]. To make it worse, you can't just unequip them, since the last time you can do so is right before a ClimaxBoss. |
| 642 | * SomeDexterityRequired: The game's battle system has you controlling Neku on the bottom screen using the stylus and your partner character on the top using the D-pad or the face buttons for lefties. This means you need to pay attention to two screens at once and control using both the stylus and face buttons, which can be difficult to pull off for players. You ''can'' set the partner's actions to have the CPU to take over, but it isn't terribly reliable, especially for gathering Fusion Stars for the Fusion attacks. If you're up against [[ThatOneBoss certain bosses]] or even simple Taboo Noise, this trope's name becomes quite the understatement, as ''they'' will absolutely require you to have some mastery over both Neku and his partner so you can at least use the light puck (which gives a damage boost to whoever it's passed to) reliably. The iOS version has different battle mechanics to compensate for being on a single screen, such as turning the partners into [[AssistCharacter Assist Characters]] instead. |
| 643 | * SpannerInTheWorks: Neku specifically mentions to a Reaper that Beat cannot be predicted by anyone, so trying to manipulate him is pointless. The Secret Reports reveal that [[spoiler:Hanekoma imprinted Beat with the knowledge of how to create noise specifically because it wouldn't alter the outcome of the game, and he admired his dedication to wanting to save his sister. Come week 3...]] |
| 644 | * SpellLevels: Pins in the game are divided into three elements: Positive, Negative, and [[NonElemental Neutral]]. Each psych has an associated rank (e.g. C, B, and A) which determines the limit of how many said psych can be equipped in a single deck. There are also Reaper and Angel ranked pins, which unlike A-ranked pins, only one pin of these ranks can be used (it is possible to have a Reaper and Angel in the same deck, but no more than one can be used). |
| 645 | * SpiritualAntithesis: Whereas ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' is a HighFantasy series that focuses on traveling through different worlds and going on fantastical adventures with an assortment of colorful characters from Creator/{{Disney}} and Creator/SquareEnix, this game is an UrbanFantasy that has the main characters trapped in the ultra stylistic Shibuya and being forced to team up with others in order to survive a DeadlyGame. The protagonists are complete opposites of each other, with the former franchise starring an idealistic and kindhearted young man who embraces ThePowerOfFriendship and becomes a MessianicArchetype despite being TheUnchosenOne; whereas the latter is starred by a hardened and insociable teenager who is [[TheChosenOne handpicked]] to represent the worst of humanity, before gradually changing for the better. |
| 646 | * SpoilerOpening: You won't realize it until after you've beaten the game, but [[spoiler:the opening cinematic spoils ''the entire plot.'' Joshua, the "two Shikis", Rhyme's fate, Kitaniji's AssimilationPlot, the reason behind Neku's death... it's all there.]] |
| 647 | * StalkerWithACrush: PlayedForLaughs. You can follow the train of thought of one of 777's fangirls throughout the game as it basically goes from "He's the hottest man alive!" to "I'm gonna follow him home next time." to "WTH, he just disappeared while I was stalk-FOLLOWING him!" |
| 648 | * TheStarscream: Several people are trying to overthrow the Composer to take up the mantle, including Sho Minamimoto [[spoiler:and Beat, though his reasons are [[WellIntentionedExtremist generally good]]]]. |
| 649 | * TheStinger: |
| 650 | ** Provided you've completed one of the OneHundredPercentCompletion criteria. |
| 651 | ** ''Solo Remix'' tacks on a Stinger ''to'' a Stinger, adding [[spoiler:a picture of a mysterious girl who bears similarities in design to both Neku and Shiki.]] |
| 652 | ** ''Final Remix'' tops them both with the new stinger at the end of A New Day, which acts as a full-on sequel hook. |
| 653 | * SubliminalSeduction: Two characters use this to advance their agendas. |
| 654 | ** [[spoiler:As CAT, Hanekoma imprints his art with the message "Enjoy the moment more." to make people more sociable and improve their lives.]] |
| 655 | ** [[spoiler:Kitanji imprints the Red Skull pins to take control of the wearers and indoctrinate them into his AssimilationPlot.]] |
| 656 | * SuicideIsPainless: Heavily implied with [[spoiler:Joshua]]. |
| 657 | --> "Life for me was one giant bore. Just the same thing, day after day... Now THAT felt like death." |
| 658 | ** Even more obvious was the following quote, because by the time it comes up you know how people get into the Game: |
| 659 | ---> "I'm here because I want to be." |
| 660 | ** However, it turns out that [[spoiler:he's actually still alive]]. But ''[[WhamEpisode then]]'' it turns out that [[spoiler:we don't even ''know'' if he's technically alive or dead]]. |
| 661 | * SuperBoss: |
| 662 | ** Progfox, Grindcore Minks, Woolly AOR, and Goth Metal Drake appear as Blue Noise during the main game, are very powerful, have no part in the storyline and fighting them is completely optional. However, they pale in comparison to the game's true superboss, [[spoiler:Panthera Cantus, aka Mr. H]]. |
| 663 | ** [[spoiler:Reaper Beat and Taboo Minamimoto]]. You are required to fight them in the main story, but not defeat them: surviving for a sufficient amount of time is enough. However, they can be fought as Blue Noise in the post-game (with no time limit), and defeating them is necessary for 100% completion. Or just for the sweet, sweet taste of victory. |
| 664 | * SupernaturalPhone: The main characters receive the rules for the days games from the Reapers with their cellphones through text messages. Joshua however kicks it up a notch using his to use initiate his attacks which include dropping objects and [[HolyHandGrenade Jesus]] [[PillarOfLight beams]] on his enemies. Mr. Hanekoma also modifies Neku's phone so that it can take pictures of the past. |
| 665 | * SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Neku and his partner try to wait in line at Shadow Ramen, but being InvisibleToNormals means that no one notices them in the queue or recognizes that they're there, while simply walking through the front door results in them being accused of cutting in line and told to wait with everyone else. |
| 666 | * {{Synchronization}}: Your partner shares HP. Neku might not get hit at all, but if your partner gets dealt enough damage, GameOver. This is especially bad if you're using Auto-Play, because [[ArtificialStupidity the AI for it sucks]]. |
| 667 | * TacticalRockPaperScissors: The Whammies in Tin Pin Slammer (except [[VideoGameLives one]]) each counter another Whammy. |
| 668 | * TakeOffYourClothes: When Shiki sees that a button on Neku's pants isn't sewn on right, she demands he take off his pants to let her fix them. He doesn't really interpret it as a come-on, but it's pretty awkward anyway. |
| 669 | * TakeThat: The track "Game Over" possesses a StealthInsult towards message boards, namely 2ch, and the nature of anonymous posting: |
| 670 | -->''He's got an opinion and posted suggestion but never reveals his name''\ |
| 671 | ''Read by someone, taken as a good one but nobody knew who had wrote it''\ |
| 672 | ''Few lines of the sentences lie''\ |
| 673 | ''Anonymity is annoying me all the time''\ |
| 674 | ''It's like a [[Website/FourChan two channel]], where people can just throw their own anger''\ |
| 675 | ''And forget about those foul actions'' |
| 676 | * TakeYourTime: You have so-and-so many minutes for each mission. Feel free to take years to do so, and, as mentioned, get ''rewarded'' for doing so. |
| 677 | * TeamSpirit: Without a partner, a Player is automatically erased in seven minutes. Fighting alone doesn't work, either; before you get a partner, you can't use any of your pins. |
| 678 | * TechnicianVersusPerformer: It's briefly mentioned that where Yammer is an expert in the technical aspects of Tin Pin Slammer but isn't a very skilled player, the talented Shooter barely understands the game at all. |
| 679 | * TechnicolorDeath: Slain bosses fulfill this in two different ways, first turning black on a background of white noise, then radiating beams of light, and finally vanishing in a white static burst. |
| 680 | * ThemeNaming: |
| 681 | ** The clothing brands are named after the animals of the [[EasternZodiac Chinese Zodiac]]. This becomes relevant in one mission. The 13th clothing brand, Gatito, is a reference to the legend of how the Cat didn't follow the rules of the Chinese Zodiac. [[spoiler:It's also run by Hanekoma, rather than normal civilians. And to make this a bit more [[{{Anvilicious}} obvious]], CAT didn't follow the rules of the Angels.]] |
| 682 | ** The four Game Masters are named after the cardinal directions--''Kita''niji, ''Minami''moto, ''Higashi''zawa, and Ko''nishi'' (north, south, east, and west respectively). |
| 683 | ** Every Game Master and [[spoiler:Hanekoma]]'s OneWingedAngel forms are all given Latin names ending with "Cantus" (Latin for "song" or "chant"). An animal name is also hidden in the kanji of their names. There are also several boss Noise named Canor (also meaning "song"); all these are basically bigger versions of normal Noise. |
| 684 | ** The various normal Noise have musically-themed names. (Mostly.) The musical theme of the UG is reinforced by the top positions being called the Composer, Conductor, and Producer. |
| 685 | ** There is also a subtle FloralThemeNaming for Neku and his partners in their surnames: Sakuraba means '"cherry garden", Misaki translates to "beautiful blossom", while Kiryu and Bito contain the characters for "paulownia" and "wisteria" respectively. [[spoiler:Rhyme's surname is Bito as well.]] |
| 686 | * ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman: The Irregular Notes are a postgame pin set that is very unorthodox in its use, as the pins float around the screen and using them causes the projectile to pass from one pin to another, making them the only time the ability to move around pins on your screen is relevant. They're also one of the few [[NonElemental neutral Psychs]] that Neku can equip, and the only ones that do not rely on obstacles - making them a perfect counter against the dreaded Fifenfrog, which absorb both positive and negative Psychs and spawn only in areas that never spawn obstacles. |
| 687 | * TheOnlyOne: Averted, since the Reaper's Game only requires ''one'' team to complete the mission. Most of the time, Neku and his partners are the ones who complete the missions, but on Week 1, Day 3, Beat and Rhyme deliver the killing blow to the smaller bat that is the boss Noise's true form, and in the Tin Pin slam tournament in Week 2, Sota and Nao win the tournament and complete the mission. For much of Week 2, Joshua has Neku go around doing errands for him while other players do the missions. It's justified in the third week, seeing as how [[spoiler:Neku's team are the only ones who can do the missions, and Neku would be the only player if Beat hadn't done a HeelFaceTurn]]. |
| 688 | * ThePinIsMightierThanTheSword: The main form of combat in the UG is with pins. You collect them, level them up, and evolve them -- rather like a {{Mon}}s game. |
| 689 | %%* ThirdPersonPerson: Princess K. |
| 690 | * ThirteenIsUnlucky: A Reaper's lifespan is determined by points they score by following the brass' orders and erasing Players; if the Reaper doesn't score any points [[spoiler:as Beat demonstrates]], their lifespan is thirteen days. |
| 691 | * ThoseTwoGuys: |
| 692 | ** Shooter and Yammer are two recurring [=NPCs=] who enjoy playing Tin Pin Slammer together. |
| 693 | ** Ai and Mina are a pair of recurring [=NPCs=] involved in a subplot with Makoto. |
| 694 | * TigerVersusDragon: Konishi's noise form is a tiger, while Kitaniji's is a dragon. [[spoiler:She's planning on overthrowing him]]. |
| 695 | * TimeStandsStill: One of Kitaniji's abilities is to freeze time, allowing him to place two energy spheres on the field that fire multiple projectiles once the time stream returns to normal. |
| 696 | * TitleDrop: The English title drop is demonstrated by the top page quote. The Japanese title, "It's a Wonderful World", gets a rather ominous drop near the end of the game: |
| 697 | -->[[spoiler:"To right the countless wrongs of our day, we shine this light of true redemption, that this place may become as paradise.]] What a wonderful world such would be..." |
| 698 | * TomatoSurprise: |
| 699 | ** [[spoiler:Shiki, as she appears in the Underground, is really taking on the guise of her best friend Eri because she's incredibly self-conscious about her own appearance.]] |
| 700 | ** [[spoiler:Joshua, who was the Composer all along, REALLY killed Neku, after being seen as guilty first and innocent later. Then there´s the whole "Angel Hanekoma is more powerful than Joshua and reborn Minamimoto to send him after Josh, who is trying to destroy Shibuya, while Neku is being manipulated by Josh to win a Game he has with Kitaniji, the [[BigBad Big Bad]] who really wants to SAVE the city (using [[AssimilationPlot Instrumentality]], but still wants to protect the place").]] |
| 701 | * TooDumbToFool: When [[AlmostDeadGuy Konishi]] attempts to emotionally cripple him by revealing that [[spoiler:Rhyme doesn't love Beat as much as he loves her]], Beat hesitates only long enough to give her satisfaction, and then promptly ignores it. Despite being vastly more intelligent than Beat, Konishi laments that his stupidity tends to make him a SpannerInTheWorks to her plans. |
| 702 | * TotallyRadical: Usually avoided, as the game uses modern slang, and properly, at that. The salesman, Mick, however, is still stuck in the 80's when he first appears. Neku also falls to this a couple of times. |
| 703 | * TWordEuphemism: Subverted. Cultural icon Eiji Oji, A.K.A. the Prince of Ennui, has a super-popular blog called "F Everything" which gets referenced several times. No, it doesn't mean what you think it does. [[spoiler:It stands for Fabulous.]] |
| 704 | * TrademarkFavoriteFood: The game uses this as a gameplay mechanic: how much a character likes a certain meal affects the Sync Boosts you get. Of the four beginning ramen types, Neku likes Shoyu Ramen, Shiki likes Miso Ramen, Beat likes Tonkotsu Ramen, and Joshua prefers Shio. Shiki has a fondness for sweets. Beat meanwhile likes fast food while Joshua is disgusted by it. Neku likes ramen and Mexican food. |
| 705 | * TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The reveal trailer for ''[[UpdatedRerelease Final Remix]]'' prominently features [[spoiler:the mysterious girl that appeared in TheStinger of ''Solo Remix'' and Sho coming back from the Taboo Noise Sigil.]] |
| 706 | * TranslatedCoverVersion: Some songs in the soundtrack have versions in both English and Japanese. |
| 707 | * TranslationConvention: While the characters in non-Japanese versions appear to speak the language the game is being played in, the story does still take place in Japan and the characters can be assumed to "actually" be speaking Japanese. This is, of course, true of every translated work ever, and so would normally not be worth mentioning, but the "English" thought fragment, which (as the name implies) was in English in the original Japanese text, is [[KeepItForeign changed to Japanese in the non-Japanese texts]], to preserve the jarring and possibly incomprehensible language shift, despite being about someone who ''only'' speaks English and not Japanese and is actively complaining about the trouble this fact causes him. |
| 708 | * TrappedInVillainy: The Reapers are mostly {{Punch Clock Villain}}s, but they do point out that if they don't erase players, then ''they'' get erased instead. |
| 709 | * TrueArtIsIncomprehensible: Sho is insistent that his junk heaps are works of art. No one else is convinced. |
| 710 | * TrueFinalBoss: |
| 711 | ** Beating the main story of [[AlternateUniverse Another Day]] [[spoiler: lets you challenge Shuto for one final match of Tin Pin Slammer. Beating Shuto lets you challenge [[CreatorCameo Shinji Hashimoto]] himself for a final match of Tin Pin Slammer.]] |
| 712 | ** At the end of "A New Day", your final opponent is the Dissonance Tapir, a big-ass elephant Noise [[spoiler:responsible for trapping Neku and Beat in the distorted alternate Shibuya]]. |
| 713 | * {{Tsundere}}: One female clerk for an upscale clothing store is rather dismissive of Neku at first, with her thoughts doubting that he can afford anything. If Neku spends enough money there, she'll initially be surprised, then start greeting Neku with polite professionalism but her thoughts indicating she's rather bashful and possibly has a crush on Neku |
| 714 | * UndergroundMonkey: Many normal enemies appear in different versions that only differ from each other by colour and minor additions to the model. |
| 715 | %%* TheUnFavorite: Beat, compared to [[spoiler:his sister Rhyme]]. |
| 716 | * TheUnfought: The final boss is [[spoiler:not the Composer. Well, at least [[FusionDance not directly]]. When Neku does face the Composer, it's in the epilogue; the player can't influence the outcome.]] |
| 717 | * UnintentionallyUnwinnable: The iOS port makes full completion just about impossible due to the changes to "mingling." This was changed in an update which added Tin Pin practice mode which gives Mingle PP. |
| 718 | * UnlockableDifficultyLevels: You start off on Normal and unlock the other difficulty levels with stickers. Easy is earned on day 3, Hard [[spoiler:at the start of the second week]], and Ultimate can be purchased in the post-game. This is important because [[HardModePerks Noise drop more and better pins on higher difficulties]]. |
| 719 | * UnreliableNarrator: [[spoiler:Hanekoma in the secret reports]]. To the point where he blatantly leaves important things out or makes them ambiguous and then [[spoiler:writes to Neku himself towards the end]]. |
| 720 | ** Also, Neku's [[spoiler:LaserGuidedAmnesia makes his ''own'' memories unintentionally unreliable. Several times.]] |
| 721 | * TheUnreveal: [[spoiler:No, you never see the entirety of RG Shiki's face. [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm Not even in Another Day.]]]] |
| 722 | * UnsoundEffect: Bling! Which is at least vaguely onomatopoeia. The original version, "GET!", on the other hand... |
| 723 | * UnwinnableByDesign: [[spoiler:Kitaniji]] tries to invoke this in week 3 by [[spoiler:swiping away all other Players as the entry fee for Week 3. Neku reasons that all he has to do is [[PacifistRun simply not fight]]...but then realizes that the moment a mission requires him to fight any Noise, he'll be really stuck. [[SubvertedTrope It fails]] when Beat shows up to save Neku.]] |
| 724 | * UnwittingPawn: Beat, Neku, and Shiki are both examples of this and [[SpannerInTheWorks Spanners In The Works]]. |
| 725 | * UpdatedRerelease: |
| 726 | ** The [=iOS=] version, despite making compromises to the gameplay for it to work on one screen, features higher resolution graphics, music tracks from ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'', and adds social features added into the game. |
| 727 | ** The Switch version builds upon the [=iOS=] version and adds a whole new extra scenario that further fleshes out the story. |
| 728 | * UrbanFantasy: The game takes place in modern-day Shibuya, where death gods pits people in a game of life-or-death and fighting off graffiti-inspired monsters. |
| 729 | * UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: ''[[spoiler:To right the countless wrongs of our day, we shine this light of true redemption, that this place may become as paradise. What a wonderful world such would be...]]'' |
| 730 | * ValleyGirl: Both Nao and ''Solo Remix's'' Coco talk like this. Some of the shopkeepers as well. |
| 731 | * TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon: [[spoiler:The Shibuya River sewers. Brr.]] |
| 732 | -->'''[[spoiler:Shiki]]''': This door just screams "endgame". |
| 733 | ** And just so you know you're finally really getting near the end, [[spoiler:instead of being numbered "Day 1", "Day 2", etc, Week 3 uses "7 Days Left", "6 Days Left", etc, until "The Last Day"]]. |
| 734 | * VictorGainsLosersPowers: |
| 735 | ** Beat some of the enemies in specific difficulties and you'll get their pins instead of normal ones. |
| 736 | ** Hypothetically, if someone were to defeat the Composer, then he or she would assume his position and all it entails. |
| 737 | * VideoGameCaringPotential: If you go out of your way when you're trying to help Def Märch's tech fix the lights at A-East, you can also have him buy 777 some cough drops for his sore throat. Doing so nets you a valuable pin, but more importantly, you get the sense of satisfaction that comes with helping someone. |
| 738 | * VideoGameCrueltyPotential: Mild example. Certain characters have food(s) that they don't like. Keep on feeding them these food(s) and you'll be treated to voice clips of them saying "Yuck", "Ew!" or "Eeew! Take it away!" |
| 739 | * VisualPun: Another Day features the [[BossInMookClothing Fifenfrog]], which absorbs almost every attack the player can throw at it.[[note]]Partners, neutral psychs, and (in the Solo Remix) Cross Combos can still affect it.[[/note]] [[spoiler:It's a (mostly) white Noise.]] |
| 740 | * VoiceGrunting: The opening and ending scenes have full voicing, however. |
| 741 | ** As does the cutscene with [[spoiler:Joshua]]'s last words. |
| 742 | * WakeUpCallBoss: |
| 743 | ** InvokedTrope. [[spoiler:Game Masters are meant to ensure that Players (the in-universe kind) don't survive the week, and you conclude the first week by fighting one.]] What does this mean for players (the... out-of-universe kind)? A boss with very strong, spammable attacks, and '''''several times''' more HP'' than any previous boss. |
| 744 | ** Before that, there's the boss of Day 5. While not quite on the level of the above entry, it still has much more health than previous bosses, has very high attack for the point you fight ''and'' can buff that attack once it gets damaged enough. |
| 745 | * WarriorTherapist: [[spoiler: Hanekoma]] sure as hell tries to play the part during his boss fight, spouting out inspirational phrases ("DON'T LET LIMITS SLOW YOU!", "ENJOY THE MOMENT!", "OPEN UP YOUR WORLD!") while he kicks your ass six ways to Sunday. |
| 746 | * WelcomeToCorneria: Averted. The [=NPCs=] whose minds you read have different thoughts from week to week, and later on in the third week, [[spoiler:they all turn to the same thing because of Kitaniji's plan]]. |
| 747 | * WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:Kitaniji]], in the end, just wants to [[spoiler:save Shibuya from destruction]]. Granted, doing so via [[spoiler:mass brainwashing]] probably isn't the wisest of ideas. Likewise, Beat's motives for [[spoiler:becoming a Reaper and agreeing to kill Neku]] and later for [[spoiler:trying to become the Composer via KlingonPromotion]] are to bring his friends and particularly [[spoiler:his sister Rhyme]] back. |
| 748 | ** [[spoiler:Joshua]] is also a WellIntentionedExtremist. His reason for [[spoiler:wanting to destroy Shibuya]] is to prevent it from corrupting the rest of the world. |
| 749 | * WhamEpisode: |
| 750 | ** The first one occurs during Day 4 when [[spoiler:Rhyme is killed by a Noise]], and they keep building from there, sometimes with one new Wham every day. Especially Day 7 when [[spoiler:Neku discovers he's forced to play the Game for ''another'' seven days]]. |
| 751 | *** Special mention goes to Day 5, where Neku finds out [[spoiler: that he and [[DeadToBeginWith all the other Players are dead]], and the Reapers' Game is a competition for a chance at resurrection.]] |
| 752 | *** Day 4 [[spoiler: of Week 2]] reveals that [[spoiler: Joshua apparently shot Neku dead]]. And the very next day reveals [[spoiler: not only is he much more powerful than he let on at first, but he's not a Player (which is why he can be Scanned), and he's not even dead.]] |
| 753 | *** The ending of "A New Day" in ''Final Remix''. [[spoiler:Her plans foiled, Coco ''shoots Neku dead''. Then it turns out that while Neku has been dealing with her crap, ''Shinjuku was erased and Noise are breaching into the RG''. Then Coco ''resurrects Minamimoto to serve as Neku's partner for her plans''.]] |
| 754 | ** In the anime, the mission involving the Red Skull pins takes a dramatic change. [[spoiler:At 3:00 PM when several people are gathered in front of 104, all wearing the pins and staring at the screen, a giant Noise symbol appears in the sky and starts obliterating Players. Neku and Shiki barely survive the ordeal thanks to Joshua's intervention.]] |
| 755 | * WhamLine: |
| 756 | ** Day 1 [[spoiler:of Week 3]] has this exchange between Uzuki and Kariya. |
| 757 | --->'''Uzuki:''' I'll make this week the pinnacle of my Harrier career!\ |
| 758 | '''Kariya:''' 'Atta girl. Now let's just hope we get to the scene [[spoiler:while there's still '''a Player''' to harry.]] |
| 759 | ** In case anyone didn't get why the above exchange is so important, it's spelled out clearly a bit latter: |
| 760 | --->'''Message:''' P.S. [[spoiler: [[UnwinnableByDesign This Game only has one Player]]]]. [[FalseReassurance Best of luck]]. |
| 761 | ** In Week 3, Beat, while talking about Rhyme, says a line that puts his relationship with Rhyme in a completely new light. |
| 762 | --->'''Beat''': [[spoiler:Some brother I make]]. |
| 763 | ** And of course, there's the big one at the end of the game. |
| 764 | --->'''[[spoiler:Joshua]]:''' It's me. I'm the Composer. |
| 765 | ** Another Day has its own, lighter wham to fit the lighter "get back the stolen pins" plot: |
| 766 | --->'''Rhyme''': Friends? [[spoiler:I'm a Black Skuller.]] |
| 767 | * WhamShot: |
| 768 | ** Week 1, Day 6, so you and Shiki are going out helping advertise this strange red pin and...wait a minute: [[spoiler: Why is there ''another'' Shiki hanging around Shibuya?]] |
| 769 | ** On Week 2, Day 7, Neku gets yet another flashback to [[spoiler:his death]], but this time, [[spoiler:after Joshua fires his gun, you see Minamimoto there]]. |
| 770 | ** On Week 3, Day 5, you take photos of [[spoiler:Sho's Taboo Noise sigil]]. The one from four days ago shows [[spoiler:Hanekoma making adjustments to it]]. |
| 771 | * WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Avoided; all of the major bosses [[OneWingedAngel turn into monsters]], but revert to human form before being erased. [[spoiler:This does not keep Megumi Kitaniji from [[ScaledUp directly violating Rule 34]] [[note]][[RuleThirtyFour not that one]][[/note]] [[ScaledUp of the]] EvilOverlordList, although, to be fair, it's not his [[SequentialBoss final form]].]] |
| 772 | * WhatTheHellHero: Neku tries to [[spoiler:''kill his own partner'']]; luckily, Hanekoma is there to stop him and call him out for it. Later, Neku blames himself [[spoiler:for Joshua's death]] because he didn't trust his partner enough, although [[spoiler:he turns out to be fully justified in that regard]]. |
| 773 | * WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer: This is how the Reaper's Game usually works; each Player has one pin whose psych works for them, giving them exactly one way to fight the Noise (for example, Beat's "Respect" [[ImplausibleBoardingSkills gives him finer control over his skateboard]] while Shiki's "Groove Pawn" lets her control Mr. Mew). Neku is an anomaly in the UG because this trope ''doesn't'' apply to him. |
| 774 | * WhiteAndGreyMorality: With the exception of [[spoiler: Mitsuki Konishi]], there's not a lot of evil in the game. Either side is just doing what they can in order to get by. Aside from that, [[spoiler: Joshua]] only wants to better humanity, and [[spoiler: Kitaniji and Mr. H]] just plain ''love'' Shibuya. Another exception could be Minamimoto, but he may or may not be on BlueAndOrangeMorality. |
| 775 | * WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: Twisted; [[spoiler:the Great Power was a ruse intended to cause [[AssimilationPlot the Great Insanity]] among the Reapers just when it started with the civilians.]] |
| 776 | * WildCard: Hanekoma helps both [[spoiler: Kitaniji and Joshua accomplish their completely opposite goals. However, this could be because the Producer's job is to keep things equal.]] |
| 777 | * WillfullyWeak: You can adjust your level at any time, so you could play the entire game at level 1[[note]]unless you level up in the middle of a battle, anyway[[/note]] if you so wished. There's also [[spoiler:Joshua, who has his power ratcheted down so that he can go unnoticed]]. |
| 778 | ** {{Downplayed}} in that changing the level only affects your health, while leaving all of your other stats untouched. Playing at level 1 near the latter stages of the game essentially makes you a OneHitPointWonder. |
| 779 | * WordSaladLyrics: "Twister". Boy howdy. |
| 780 | * WorldsSmallestViolin: After Neku explains what happened in the previous week and how [[spoiler:his new friend Shiki]] became his entry fee for the second week(which is why Neku can't afford to lose and has little patience for anything that might hurt his chances of completing the missions), Joshua quotes this trope by name and then tells Neku that he isn't the only player who has something important riding on winning the Game. |
| 781 | * YaoiFangirl: Shiki in [[AffectionateParody Another Day]]. |
| 782 | * YouAreNotAlone: In the ending theme of the original DS game and part of the overall theme for the whole game. |
| 783 | -->A lullaby for you\ |
| 784 | Stars will always gracefully watch over 'till it's bright\ |
| 785 | May tomorrow be wonderful too\ |
| 786 | Take my hand and promise me that we'll be alright\ |
| 787 | Even through cloudy days\ |
| 788 | You are not alone! |
| 789 | * YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm: Another Day parodies this. |
| 790 | -->''We all perceive the world around us differently, filtered through the lens of our desired reality.\ |
| 791 | So if you're wondering why [[spoiler: a certain young lady]] still looks like somebody else...it's because [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall you]] refuse to perceive [[spoiler: her as she really is]]\ |
| 792 | The only thing stopping you from seeing [[spoiler: [[TheFaceless what she really looks like...]]]] is you.\ |
| 793 | [[TakeThatAudience So you see, it's your fault.]]'' |
| 794 | ** [[DontExplainTheJoke This is a parody because]] it's a variation of Hanekoma's TitleDrop speech about how the "world ends with you" (see the quote at the top of the page). It's meant to sound like a HandWave, [[spoiler:but reading between the lines (and the fact that it's "Another Day"... AND the fact that it's [[{{Jerkass}} Joshua saying this]]), it's pretty much a roundabout way of saying "the developers didn't bother - for whatever reason - to make new sprites and artwork for just this one character and didn't want to come up with a more plausible in-universe reason for Shiki still looking like Eri, so just deal with it". Neku is understandably confused by this.]] |
| 795 | * YouAreTooLate: [[spoiler:Joshua shows up at Udagawa and shoots Coco in the shoulder, forcing her to flee. However, by this time Neku's already been shot dead, and neither Joshua nor Beat could have changed the outcome.]] |
| 796 | * YouFightLikeACow: Some of the voice clips that talking enemies make mid-battle fit this. |
| 797 | * YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: Congrats! You survived the week and won the Game! That was fast. Hey, how come you never met this guy on the cover? ...oh. |
| 798 | * YouWatchTooMuchX: In Another Day, after an enigmatic conversation with Joshua, Neku thinks, "Kid plays too many video games." |
| 799 | ** Even before Another Day, during the 2nd week Neku says as much about Josh when the latter shows off his knowledge of a kid's anime based off of Tin Pin Slammer. |
| 800 | * {{Zonk}}: In the Japanese version, if you follow the entire Approaching Eden evolution path and then level up the final pin, Eden's Door, incorrectly, it "evolves" (irreversably) into... a one-yen pin. Thankfully this was removed in the US/EU version, where making that mistake merely has it evolve back into the lowest-level Approaching Eden pin. |
| 801 | [[/folder]] |
| 802 | ---- |
| 803 | ->''--You have 7 days.\ |
| 804 | Fail and face Erasure.\ |
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