Just some quick notes for players who may be on the fence about purchasing The World Ends with You – Solo Remix. I’m not going to go all “Should I buy it?” on you. That’s for you to figure out. However, here are some pros and cons for people who may be playing the game for the second time.

Pros:

• The already massive soundtrack has been expanded from 37 songs to 60 songs.
• TWEWY has never looked better than it does with redrawn retina display graphics.
• People turned off by the complex combat of the NDS version may find it less taxing.
• Movement and maps were already intended for a touch-based system.
• Minor social elements can bring your friends into the game.
• Tin Pin Slammer is now available to play wirelessly.
• One screen means you can focus on the action

Do I tell her about “Gangnam Style” or “Foul Bachelor Frog”?

Cons:

• As previously mentioned, the game takes up a massive 2.3 GB of space.
• Load times are unacceptably long with battles taking up to four seconds to load.
• People who loved the original combat may not like the simplified combat system.
• Tiny minigames have been needlessly added to the Fusion attacks, taking you out of the game for a bit
• The new partner system input gets confused with other pin input often.
• Menu icons did not get redrawn and look awful compared to the smooth menus.
• The iPad version isn’t universal which is no longer okay since, oh, two years ago.
• The iPhone version is locked from 2x pixel mode on iPad.
• Neither version is compatible with any model of the iPod Touch due to RAM issues.
• Mingle Mode requires Bluetooth and is not well explained. I have no idea how to get Mingle PP.

Mind you, I’m only on Day Three Six. Other problems may rear up over time and, if they do, I’ll update them then. As it stands, it’s an admirable port of a terrific game, but some code optimization is badly needed to reduce file sizes and load times. I was in love with the stylized art before and mesmerized by how good it looks now.

Note that I did not include the price in either category. However, after playing so many flash in the pan and throwaway titles over the past 2 years, I’ll happily fork over a hefty sum if it means I never have to see in-app purchases and get a full game experience.

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