Re: It's a Wonderful World
Just some tips for when you guys gets this great game.
Abilities (What you would call spells, magic, special attacks, etc.) are called "Psychs" in this game, and these "Psychs" are in embedded in "Pins" that you find and collect throughout the game.
Anyway, your Pins level up independantly from Neku, and all have their own Damages, Effects, Terms of Use, Touch-Motions to Activate, Elemental properties, and even how fast/slow they level up. If you've played Final Fantasy X-2, it's a similar system to that of how the Dress Sphere's many abilities leveled up based on how much you use them, and eventually get "Mastered" (I know Finla Fantasy X-2 was admittedly a mediocre game, but the level up mechanics of the game were legitimately a good idea)
So moving on, when you look at the description of a Pin it'll tell you either "This Pin can Evolve" or that the Pin cannot Evolve. So, certain Pins through certain means actually evolve into more Powerful Pins.
The way Pins Evolve is through specific types of EXP in the game, for a Pin to evolve it will want that the majority of the EXP it's gained to have been from 1 of 3 types of EXP. So for Example, the Psych "Aqua Ghost" requires that the majority (More than 50%) of it's total EXP be from Battle EXP (EXP gained from using the Pin in Battle), if more than 50% of it's EXP s from Battle and you Master that Pin, suddenly it'll start glowing and Evolve into "Aqua Demon", a much more powerful Pin for you to use and level up some more.
The 3 Types of EXP are:
Battle EXP (EXP gained from using that Pin in Battle)
Shut-Down EXP (EXP gained from not playing the game)
Mingle EXP (EXP gained from using the Pin in Multiplayer)
What's this? Shut Down EXP? I'm not sure I mentioned that before, but yes, The World Ends With You gives you EXP for not playing the game! Early on in the Game the tutorial states "We know that life can be busy and you don't want to worry or feel guilty about not playing your Game, so the game automatically rewards you with Shut-Down- EXP, where your character and your equipped Pins gradually gain EXP over the course of the day you've spent not playing the game, so you can leave the game at home worry free, and be excited for the Prize waiting for you when you can finally start playing again"
So yes, certain Pins' evolutions suggest that you equip them and then just leave the game for awhile, and then the game will automatically award them with Shut-Down EXP towards their Evolution.
Also, don't worry about not knowing what % of a Pin's EXP was gained from a certain type, when you click on a Pin's description, there'll be a helpful Meter there that tells you what % of it's EXP came from where, and it's color coded. (Red: Mingle, Blue: Battle, Green: Shut Down). So, just make sure that 1/2 that Bar is the right color, and when you Master that Pin it'll evolve.