01/11/2020

World End Syndrome: Tips, tricks and a Route Walkthrough (spoiler-free!)

 


Writing walkthroughs is not something I fancy doing; but I felt it was totally mandatory this time, to spare me the hassle of playing the game seven darn times again before tackling the Routes. And since I went through the trouble of writing and proof-testing that walkthrough, I might as well publish it for all my fellow gamers to use — all the more so as WES walkthroughs are indeed quite rare on the internet. I'll include the links to the individual Routes at the end of that post; but first, let's start with a bunch of tips, tricks and useful info about the game. Enjoy!

Routes and endings: WES operates on a flag system, with no affection meter whatsoever — neither visible nor hidden. Clearing a route is entirely a matter of hitting the right milestones, and there is but a single ending per character. This makes seven endings total: the five character endings, the true ending (which is actually separate from the main story) and the so-called "Worst End", which will pop up every time you're not engaged on a character route. Once you polish off all five girls' Routes, you'll be automatically set on the Miu Route if you restart the game from the 'Chapter' point. If you want to revisit any of the other Routes, just replay said Route as usual — but AVOID going to school until the AM Club Meeting on the 05/08, even if your girl of choice lounges there. You won't miss any flag doing so; on the other hand, it will kick you out of Miu's Route, leaving you free to replay your Route of choice.

The Aura Meter: Although it may look very much like an affection meter, it's not. As a matter of fact, you can fill it entirely while witnessing regular, non-flag scenes — which is exactly what I did during my first seven runs of the game. What the Aura meter does is give access to a couple of extra scenes that take place in the protagonists' dreams. On top of the five Aura colours featured in the Meter, you can also gain White Aura from NPCs and unlock two extra Dream scenes. The Aura Meter features five circles, each circle representing ten 'Aura Boosts' — i.e. scenes where Aura is granted. The first Dream scene is unlocked after 25 Aura Boosts (2,5 circles), while the second is unlocked after 40 Aura Boosts (4 circles). Last but not least, although the Aura Meter is here and active at all times, you actually need to go to the Cafe Interior in the Suburbs on the 9th at Night to get the Student Handbook and be able to check your Aura.

The dialogue choices: Let's cut to the chase: the vast majority of dialogue choices don't matter in the grand scheme of things. Since there is no affection meter, the answer you pick ultimately boils down to the personality you want to don as an MC and the kind of reaction you want to elicit in your lady du jour. The few choices that do matter will either lead you straight to the Worst End or kick you out of a girl's route. Needless to say, I'll indicate of those crucial choices in my walkthrough.

The Missions and Items: Let's cut to the chase again: none of the Missions or Items are mandatory to finish any Route. They're mere breathers, a little treat that's here to compel curious players and completionists to explore the game's every nook and cranny. You need to fulfill/find them only once, after which they'll be recorded in the game's save data for good, saving you the trouble of fulfilling/finding them in every route. I decided not to expand on them, since data about them is easy to find on the internet — I recommend that guide from my fellow gamer Yvonne's LadiesGamers blog.

The Worldend Syndrome radio shows: Those are part of the non-mandatory yet interesting WES lore; and I'd highly recommend listening to them, as they can deepen understanding and appreciation of events. They can be listened to at Night in your Room in the Mansion, on the 1st, 2nd, 5th, 6th, 8th, 9th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 20th, 21st, 22nd and 23rd of august.

The Worldend book: The same thing goes for Miss Yamashiro's novel: although reading it is not mandatory by any means, it provides interesting clues and insights into later events — not to mention White Aura Boosts. It takes ten reading sessions to go through the book, and those sessions can be tackled by going to My Room in the morning or afternoon. However, for some reason, not every visit there at such times will result in a reading. To save yourself some hassle, go to My Room on the 02/08 AM and PM, 03/08 PM, 05/08 PM, 06/08 PM, 07/08 AM and PM, 08/08 PM, 10/08 AM and PM, and you should be done with Worldend. 

 

Save & Load Abuse: To crown that list of run-easing goodness, here come what is probably the single most useful feature in WES, and one that will make your play immensely sweeter and smoother. Here's how it goes: every witnessed event is recorded into the game's save data, even though you reload a previous save file or go back to the title screen right after. Practically, this means that you rack up Aura by replaying the same scene over and over, play a mission before going back to the route you're playing and witnessing the scenes you'd have missed otherwise, listen to the radio shows and read Worldend, or do whatever you fancy doing without altering your laser-sharp focus on the Routes. If this is not the ultimate tool against fake longevity, I don't know what is.

As promised, here come the links to the walkthroughs; you'll also find them right below that post. I'll take my leave now, dear fellow gamers; until next time, keep playing and take care!

The Maimi Route    

The Saya Route

The Hanako Route

The Yukino Route 

The Miu Route

 

Edit: Over time, many fellow gamers have provided extra details to my walkthrough, little quirks of the game I didn't spot despite my extensive runs. I added everything to my posts, without omitting to give credit in the comments. The bottom line is this: WES is a game full of nooks and crannies and mysteries, and we may not have discovered everything yet; but my walkthrough functions regardless of these details, and should bring you safely to the end ^^


29 comments:

  1. Thanks a lot mate, has been really usefull ^^

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    1. Why, you're welcome! ^^ I don't often write walkthroughs, but it's nice to see that the few I produce are appreciated indeed. :D

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  2. just finished my playthrough, thanks for the guide <3 really helped a lot

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    1. You're welcome, and thanks a lot for commenting! I'm glad to know it was useful :D

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  3. Thank you so much. I only got 2 bad ending and dropped this game for a month.
    Thank to your guide, now I will come back and get all ending.

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    1. Nice to read, man ! Glad to know it was useful ^^

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  4. Hello, Thank you so much. This guide was so usefull. I failed to find the Hanako route by myself, now it's ok.

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    1. Glad to read that, and thanks for the kind words ! ^^

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  5. Heyy man this guide is real helpful! Only thing I'm confused about is the Maimi route and how to unlock it. I just finished the Saya route and now I'm on Hanako route. Do you need to follow the steps for the Maimi route if it's your first route or can you get enough aura points with Maimi on the other two routes to unlock her? Thx again

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    1. Thanks a lot for the kind words, mate! I'm really glad this guide is helpful.

      If you wanna play the Maimi route first, you'll definitely need to boost your aura point with her by using the trick I mentioned. I can't remember if playing the Saya and Hanako routes first would give you enough Maimi aura points; still, that may be a good strategic choice.

      Good luck with your run!

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  6. Thank you so much !!! This game would be unplayably frustrating without this walkthrough, glad you made it more accessible to everyone. If World End Phenomenon ever comes out, I hope they'll make the gameplay loop more tolerable.

    I'll be recommending this guide to a friend who's also going to be playing the game. :)

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    1. Thanks a lot for the kind words ! ^^

      Back when I was putting that walkthrough together, I was wondering if it was really worth the hassle. Experience proved that it was indeed, and I'm glad I took the time to write it. It's great to know that my hard work can help my fellow gamers ! :)

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  7. Hey so I wanted to delete one save data is there a way to do that?

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    1. Not from inside the game itself, but you can do it from the Switch menu.

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  8. Thank goodness for this guide! Finally digging into this on Switch after owning the limited edition since last Fall. Can't wait to start on the routes!

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    1. Many thanks for the kind words, my man! Gee, that guide proved much more useful than I ever imagined. I'm glad I took the time to put it together, and glad I can help my fellow gamers! :)

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  9. Thank you for this guide !! It was amazing !

    I wonder if there is another game in this style like romance/murder etc. ?

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  10. Not entirely the same (lees romance) but before this game I finished Ai: Somnium files. Expect plot twists. Loved the game as much as this one. Also a visual novel style (more detective like with more active gameplay)

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    1. Ai: Somnium Files has been in my collection for quite some time, and I just purchased the sequel. I expect to have a seriously good time with that pair, and your comment only makes me more eager to play them :)

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  11. This is my first time playing saya route and can't see saya in the rain he just goes back I even did a separate save file does the same thing

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    1. That Saya affair is a complete mess, and one that confused many a player — starting with myself. I edited my Saya post in the meantime, and here's what I wrote:

      Create a separate save file. Once you get the first Dream Scene with Saya, load that file and go to School to get a Saya cutscene (If you don't know how to get Dream Scenes, check the 'Aura Meter' paragraph here). In the meantime, you get an automatic event with Maimi.

      Hope this helps! :)

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  12. thanks man your guide really helped . hope you have a good day !

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    1. Thanks a lot for the kind words, man. Hope you have a good day too! :)

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  13. You're welcome, mate ! :D I'm honestly glad to know this guide keeps being useful to my fellow gamers ^^

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  14. Thank you for the guide. I finished this game without a guide which take me forever but that was couple of year ago but saw it again in my game group and want to play it again but don’t want to spend many hour doing the same thing over and over again. this guide help me a lot thank you and this is one of my favorite visual novel game

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    1. Thanks a lot for the kind words! ^^ I'm always delighted to see that my guide proves useful to fellow gamers. Hope you had tons of fun replaying WES! :)

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    2. Hi. I'm confused. Is the Mui ending also the true ending. If not how do I get to it? I still have an empty spot in my character profiles

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