Overview – developed by Red Entertainment and published by PQube Games, Our World is Ended is a Visual Novel where the lines between fantasy and reality are blurred. Judgement 7, a team of game developers find that their creations are bleeding into reality, threatening to destroy Tokyo. This title is available for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation and Steam, with a link to each version of the game at the bottom of this review.
Disclaimer: before I get into the review, I would like to thank the rep who provided the copy of Our World is Ended that was used for this piece, via the Keymailer service. The provision of this software has not influenced the contents of this review, all thoughts and opinions contained within are my own.
Mature Content Warning: please be aware, this title is intended for mature audiences, as it contains strong language, sexual themes and depictions of violence. If you are under the recommended age for this, or find any of the content types listed offensive, please check out the other content available on the site.
Now with the introductions out of the way, let’s get into the review, starting with the story.
Story – Judgement 7, a small team of independent game developers set in Asakusa, are working on a new type of game. This new Augmented Reality game called W.O.R.L.D Program, changes the landscape the user sees in real time. When Reiji is testing the headset, he sees an unsettling cityscape and questions if it is a glitch in the programming. When this is brought up, there is scepticism of what he saw.
However, after a series of unusual events that involved members of Judgement 7, Reiji gets his answer. The members of Judgement 7 have found themselves trapped, stuck between the real world and the new reality that they created. In this strange new world, the characters and monsters from their games risk becoming reality, piercing the veil and entering reality. Now they must find a way to stop this, or the city may be lost forever.
Gameplay – as this is a visual novel, the vast majority of the content will be observing the narrative, seeing the story play out from the perspective of Reiji. The experience is split into chapters, with a prologue and epilogue. Each of the story chapters features special CG scenes, which give additional impact to moments of key points in the story. Between chapters, there will be a splash screen, showing the name of the chapter.
As this is an interactive visual novel, there is more to it than just reading the text that occurs. At set points during the chapters, a special mechanic will occur called Selection of Soul (Shortened to S.O.S). When this occurs the player must make a selection from responses that scroll across the screen, or if they choose, they can simply give no response. These responses can be positive or negative, leading to some interesting interactions.
But the S.O.S system isn’t the only way that players can impact the narrative. There will also be traditional choices that the player can use, with multiple choices that will pop up on screen. All of the choices made through both the S.O.S and normal dialogue choices, will have an impact on the dialogue that plays out. In general, the choices the player makes have little true impact on the narrative, but only during the first playthrough.
To get the full narrative experience, players will need to play through the game multiple times. This is due to the first playthrough resulting in the normal ending. When playing through the game again after the first clear, there will be more endings to obtain with each subsequent attempt. In each subsequent run, the player can find themselves on a set character route, which may lead to a character specific ending.
This title has a tremendous amount of replay value. This is due to the character specific routes that the player can get, as the player will find themselves on different routes. Each of the routes will give the player an insight into the characters, giving them more depth. When playing the game, the player will be able to freely save and load, allowing players to change decisions and making it easier to get the desired route/ending.
Last to cover is the side content for the game. There is a gallery and special section, which will fill up as the player makes their way through the experience. The gallery is unlocked upon completing the game for the first time, containing music, event images and the in game animation sequences. Then there is special, which contains details of the endings that have been achieved, as well as bonus content that is unlocked by fulfilling special conditions.
Now with the gameplay covered, it is time to discuss the other aspects of this release, starting with the controls.
Controls – there is a super easy to use control system, with the player only needing to use the D-Pad and action button for the vast majority of the experience. For those who want a more hands-off experience, the player can use the auto feature making text auto advance, stopping at the decision points. The menus are nice and easy to navigate, with all of the controls working well, making for a comfortable experience.
Difficulty – there is little if any difficulty for this release, as there are no challenging segments during the experience. Some players may have some difficulty with some words and text, as this is a visual novel, it does get very wordy in some sections. Aside from that, this is a pretty relaxed gameplay experience.
Presentation – as this is a visual novel, the game uses an anime style for the artwork and CG events, which is very pleasing to the eye. The characters are distinct, with effective use of expressions to give them life. The environments, UI assets and animations are vibrant and tie the visuals together. When it comes to sound, there is an excellent soundtrack which further enhances the experience, alongside fully voiced dialogue exclusively in Japanese.
Final Thoughts – I do enjoy visual novels, having covered many games in the genre or that use elements of it for storytelling. So when I was given the chance to experience this game, I was more than happy to jump onto it. My time with Our World is Ended was very entertaining, with a charming cast of characters and story that kept me invested. I experienced a few endings during my time playing, while looking forward to getting more of them.
There is a lot of humor that I enjoyed quite a lot, with fanservice as a key element to a lot of the experience. I will say, that this may not be to the tastes of some player, so it may not be for you if you don’t like sex jokes or fanservice. But if you are into the Ecchi style of Japanese humor, then you will get a lot of enjoyment out of this game. The only issue I had was there were some typos, which sadly haven’t been fixed.
In the end, I give Our World is Ended a final score of 4.75/5. This is a charming and entertaining visual novel, with gorgeous artwork, a cast of memorable characters, a lot of fanservice and a narrative that kept me invested through multiple ending routes. If you want to check this game out for yourself, a link to each version of the game will be below.
Link to Nintendo Switch version (HERE)
Link to PlayStation version (HERE)
Link to Steam version (HERE)
W.Kohaku Media 