The World Ends With You was a drastic, but excellent departure for Square Enix. So with this in mind, they chose Takeharu Ishimoto to do the music for the game (who also did the music for Crisis Core) since he is a newcomer on the rise. I was a fan of what he did with Crisis Core, and I am continually impressed with this soundtrack as well. It isn’t what people expect from a Square Enix soundtrack, and I think that’s why people don’t like it as much. It does fit the style of the game incredibly well though, which is a bigger feat than some give the soundtrack credit for.
Much like the Persona series, this soundtrack is primarily J-pop songs and craziness that most of us here in the US just aren’t used to, but I don’t think that is a bad thing. I find the music very catchy and it was stuck in my mind for quite awhile after listening to it. I guess you could say that the butchered lyrics might ruin it for some, but I hardly noticed it while listening to this cd and playing the game. You know whether or not you are into this stuff, and if you are then this soundtrack is going to be a worthwhile purchase. Even if you already bought the original soundtrack, the new arranged songs may make it a worthwhile purchase. If you didn’t buy the first soundtrack and know this isn’t your style of music, just skip it and just go play the game if you haven’t already done so, because this game needs to be supported by as many people as possible so that Square Enix green lights another one.
