When you move from a big city to your uncle's mansion in a seaside town called "Mihate", you hope to start a new life. But then you meet five mysterious girls and start to notice strange incidents occurring. Depending on how you spend the summer with your new friends, the world will significantly change...
World End Syndrome, developed by Toybox Games and published by Arc System Works (best known for the Guilty Gear series), is a Slice of Life Horror Mystery Fiction visual novel that follows a high school student trying to escape his troubled past. As you navigate your new life at a new school with a colorful cast of new friends, a student at Mihate High suddenly dies. The murder sends shockwaves through the idyllic town as you investigate the Urban Legend of the "Yomibito", an event occurring every 100 years where corpses rise from the dead and rampage across the land. During the summer, you find yourself caught in a string of strange incidents, romance, and unforgettable summer experiences...
World End Syndrome was released on the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 across 2018 and 2019. A sequel, World End Phenomenon, has been announced, though no details have been revealed as of 2021.
This game provides examples of:
- Accidental Pervert: The protagonist finds himself in more than one of these situations.
- ASMR Radio: Hikaru Tsukioka's nightly broadcasts.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Mibu. Dear God, Mibu.
- Brother–Sister Incest: Played with. Yukino does have a route, and you and her have some arguably romantic moments, but it's never overt like with the other heroines and there's a reason the protagonist rebuffs her at the end of her route when she asks for a kiss.
- Dead All Along: Kaori and Yukino, with both of them having Ghost Amnesia.
- Demon Slaying: The Amana clan, which includes Yamato, Miu, and Ryoko.
- Extremely Short Timespan: Most of the game takes place over a 30-day time period, of which only about 27 or so are playable.
- Mistaken for Undead: Yukino initially thinks that the protagonist is an undead, but it turns out that she's the yomibito.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Rei as “Hanako”.
- Secret Identity: Maimi is actually Hikaru Tsukioka. Also, the protagonist's real name is revealed to be "Sora Otonashi".
- Starting a New Life: You, the protagonist, moved to Mihate Town in order to start a new life. "You" are in actuality Sora Otonashi, Yukino's brother, who fled to Mihate to start a new life after causing his sister's death.
- Wham Line: "He's dead, isn't he?"
- "It's you...you're the yomibito."
