Do you ever find times in your life when you just seem to be surrounded by noise? Maybe you can't even put your finger on the source of the noise, but it's just some kind of intangible stress. Wouldn't it be great if you could push a button, visualize the noise, and just erase the noise from existence? Parents can probably identify with this, as can most teens, who often put on their music just to block out all the noise of the world and their confusing lives. Square Enix has taken this metaphor, made it literal, and turned it into a game that's not getting nearly the press it should be.

This sleeper hit from the makers of the Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy series departs from the familiar franchises with a whole new setting, gameplay mechanic, and set of characters to bring us one of the best RPG's the DS has yet seen.

In this anime-style game, you play as Neku, a headphone-wearing teen everyman who finds himself in a parallel Japan. While he's familiar with locations and cultures, his own identity and past are lost to him. He finds himself being hunted by unknown "Reapers" and quickly finds a partner, a chatty and style-focused girl named Shiki who serves as a comrade in arms, a source of exposition to explain the plot, and a tutorial.

Probably the first thing you'll notice about this game are the cutscenes. In classic Square Enix style, this game offers a lot of cutscenes, some with voice acting, and some with only text. These cutscenes come in the form of an animated slideshow, not actual motion video. While well done and necessary to the game, they can get rather long at times for those itching to scratch out some noise.

TWEWY uses an in-game tutorial system that you don't even realize is a tutorial, walking you through each new technique when you get to it instead of all at the beginning, so the tutorial comes across as more of a series of unlockables than an instruction book, which you won't likely need to read, thick as it is.

Unlockables take us to the combat system. Most of the enemies you face will take the form of tattooed animals, and by "tattooed," I mean they have tatoos for appendages. You fight these enemies, the "noise", by using buttons that you get from defeating other noise. Buttons can increase in power by using them, or can increase or decrease in power depending which neighborhood you're fighting in, since different fashion brand names are "in" in different neighborhoods. (Buttons can also increase and "evolve" simply by exiting the game for a few hours or days--I've never seen a game that rewards players for playing something else!) Items and food can also augment your characters. Combat mainly uses the stylus, each button using a different method like tapping or dragging. To control both Neku and Shiki at the same time, you can use the stylus to control Neku and either the D-Pad or the buttons (depending on your hand preference) to control Shiki at the same time, a daunting task that will leave most players thankful that Shiki can be left on autopilot.

The game also features a multiplayer minigame called "Tin Pin Slammer," which resembles the classic Marbles game, but with power-ups. It's a lot of fun and a nice diversion, but it requires multicard, so for a family, it doesn't make sense to buy multiple copies of the game just to play this minigame unless more than one person wants to play, since it can only store one profile/game at a time.

The mood of the game is one of the more foreboding that I've seen on the DS. Even though you can generally pick your battles, choose the difficulty of the battle (a slider controls the difficulty of the enemies, but they drop more buttons at higher levels--slide it easier if you get stuck on a tough boss character), and string battles together for greater rewards, the sense of urgency and paranoia runs through the story, and while the player knows more than the character thanks to cutscenes, this only adds to the fear factor of the game. That said, the other running theme in the game is the value of friendship, loyalty, and the need to help each other out.

The game is rated "T", and based on the difficulty and subject matter, I would recommend this game for about age 12 and up. It will be of particular interest to many teens, but the story and variety of gameplay will keep adults interested, too. If you like a good story, compelling gameplay, and many hours of intrigue, pick up this game. You won't regret it.