This is a column by Kat Bailey dedicated to the analysis of the once beloved Japanese RPG sub-genre. Tune in every Wednesday for thoughts on white-haired villains, giant robots, Infinity+1 swords, and everything else the wonderful world of JRPGs has to offer.
In about a week, Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance will feature characters from The World Ends With You - one of my favorite RPGs of the past several years. In some circles, it's considered to be the prelude to a sequel, and a follow-up has been hinted at.

I feel like I should be happier at that prospect than I am. Actually, I was pretty happy to get more The World Ends With You for a while, even if it came in the form of Kingdom Hearts. Now though, I'm feeling a little more ambivalent.

Some of my reticence stems from the fact that The World Ends With You didn't exactly end on a cliffhanger. It is very much a complete, self-contained story, with very little in the way of loose ends. Even the nature of the Director - the all-powerful being that runs the game at the heart of the story - and the fate of Shibuya is pretty much explained. Short of a prequel, or a whole new cast of characters in Kansai or something, there aren't a lot of places that a new The World Ends With You can go.