Holy Effing Ess!

I've finally gotten into The World Ends With You, the game that sold me on the DS. It's by Japanese powerhouse publisher Square Enix (of Final Fantasy fame). It uses the dual screens to unique advantage. It has a compelling, emotionally resonant storyline -- something unusual in games.

Now that I'm into it, all I can say is (earmuffs!) holy fucking shit! The game is good, but the combat is so insanely complex that I'd like to meet the 14-year-old Japanese Ritalin-popping idiot savant who must have designed it. Then I'd like to donkey punch him. (I think -- I'm not sure what a donkey punch is. If it's something pleasurable, I take it back.)

Consider that in combat you play two characters at once. One fights on the touch screen by means of specific motions of the stylus. The one on top fights in a sort of rhythm game where you guide an arrow through a three-prong maze towards a certain symbol. You try to match the symbol at the end of one of the prongs with the same symbol on a card at the top of that screen. Sound confusing? Try playing it and suffer the consequences.

I suppose there must be someone out there, someone born in the nineties, who is really good at this game. I should probably look on YouTube for a video, and stare in awe at someone whose brain revs a helluva lot faster than mine.

It's things like this that make me realize that I'm ... not young anymore.