Worldend Syndrome

Genre: Visual Novel

Players: 1

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Review:

Worldend Syndrome is a Visual Novel released on the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch in 2019. This game’s anime-esque story focuses on a group of classmates in a small rural town whose strange legends about death, already a point of obsession for the locals, become an even greater focal point after a few tragic deaths in the area.

To clarify, even though Worldend Syndrome is a game that is very fixated on the topic of death, it’s not really a Horror game, although there are a few mildly tense moments here and there. Rather, much of the game seems like a “slice of life” sort of story, focusing on the students, their interactions with each other, with their families, and with their favorite teacher.

As such, the game is a bit slow paced, and even though the topic of death is often close at hand, the stakes are generally speaking pretty low – these are, after all, high school kids, and what seems of monumental importance to them (the dating scene, celebrity gossip, a group barbecue, just to name a few examples) is hardly any sort of… er… world-ending situation.

Having said that, it’s nice to just sit back and partake in the interactions of the characters, though I will say I’m a bit annoyed that many of these characters are pretty tired anime tropes. The quiet standoffish girl, the loud girl with swift moodswings, the annoying kid that’s always ogling every girl he sees. Even you, playing the protagonist, don’t get to break free from the cliches – you play the timid guy, because of course you do.

At the very least, the presentation here is quite excellent. The character art and background art are both absolutely gorgeous, and the backgrounds often have some really wonderful animations that bring them alive. Meanwhile, all of the characters (except the protagonist) are fully-voiced (well, in Japanese), and the music here is nice too.

The game doesn’t support touchscreen controls, but doesn’t really need to – there’s very little interaction with the game beyond pressing a button for the next line of text, pressing a button to confirm a save, and on very rare occasion, pressing a button to choose a response to a question. However, it doesn’t really feel like you’re participating in this story, so much as making tiny choices that don’t really seem to affect the narrative.

In the end, I like Worldend Syndrome, but I don’t love it. The anime-esque story it tells is exactly the sort of story you can just sit back and relax while you allow to play out, and while its familiar tropes and character archetypes make it feel pretty predictable, it is still nevertheless well done and well-presented, even if it’s a bit slow-paced. Fans of anime who have the patience for a low-stakes, slow-paced story may find Worldend Syndrome to be worth a look. However, those looking for a tighter story, or one in which they have more utility, are better off looking elsewhere.

tl;dr – Worldend Syndrome is an anime-style Visual Novel about high school kids in a small rural town whose superstitions gain prominence after a few tragic deaths. This game’s story is a bit predictable and uses a lot of tired tropes and character archetypes, and not everyone will like its low-stakes slow-paced story. Also, those hoping for some good decision-making gameplay won’t find much here. But fans of anime looking for something lighter to sit back and relax to as it plays out will find this game’s wonderful presentation and familiarity makes it pretty appealing.

Grade: C+

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