It's me. For so many years, I had been asked the question of what is my favorite art piece, the best creation on the planet, what had changed my life the most...

For so many years, I could never answer this question.

That was, until you came along.

I had known of you for so many years. Seen your name around the Internet, seen people's praise of you in print, and online, heard about the wondrous following you had. I had wanted to join the community surrounding you for so long, but I always forgot about you.

Until three years ago, that is.

Easter morning. I woke up, began the hunt for my Easter basket that I had done for so many years before, knowing that some sort of small gift would be there among the candies.

And there you were.

I was thrilled. I had waited to meet you for so long. And finally, you were in my hands, all for me.

What are you, exactly? Well, of course, you are this wonderful little game.

Jumping the narrative ship to the readers of this article, you likely took a double take. Probably became confused, having never heard of this game, or even thinking I was talking about a game in the first place.

There is also a personal discrepancy. You thought I was talking about art. Talking about some form of the arts. How can some little video game be considered ART? Especially one that isn't popular or is a cultural icon.

But here, dear reader, is where I hope to educate you.

Over the years, video games have been scrutinized over and over again for their status. Mainly popular with younger adults, teenagers, and children, the mass market of video games has made millions of dollars, even more than some other forms of media, such as newspapers and magazines. People everywhere are jumping ship from entertaining themselves with the older media, to video games.

So why, have after all these years, do video games still get so much scrutiny?

Games are some of the most diverse forms of entertainment out there. So many genres of games exist, such as 3D fighters, MMORPGS, first-person shooters, and point and click, just to name a few. Even when a game can be put into a singular genre, gameplay and styles of titles are so different that it can be difficult to compare them. Each game has a completely unique experience.

Art style and story lines are also a major factor. No two games have the same art style and storyline, even those in the same series, such as Mario. Just look at the difference between Super Mario Galaxy and Paper Mario. Like movies and music, video games are incredibly diverse, and can be critically acclaimed, or panned.

Video games also have unique musical styles, with multiple different composers working on various games. Hundreds of songs can be created for a game's soundtrack, using multiple kinds of instruments, or keyboard settings.

Let's not even begin to discuss gaming as a cultural icon. Millions, billions of people can recognize the face of Mario or Pikachu, and the profits made from collectible items and clothing add even more to the power of the gaming industry. And with the amount of jobs created by gaming companies, it is so clear that video games are here to stay.

So, are video games art? Yes, definitely, in my opinion. Each game has a story to be told through pictures, accompanied by sounds and colors, that so many people poured their heart into to make a statement. Think about the time it took before modern movies could be considered art. The story of video games parallels this emergence into art forms. If movies, which are so similar to games in so many ways, can be considered art, then games can too.

Then, what is The World Ends With You?

The World Ends With You, or TWEWY, is an action role-playing game released for the Nintendo DS in 2007 by Square Enix, the company known for Final Fantasy. Loosely, the game follows a youth as he learns to love the world around him, while he, and the player, are taught about the human condition, redemption, sacrifice, and most of all love. Borrowing aspects of Japanese youth culture in Tokyo, questions of life and death are prominent, as the player goes through a three week journey where the youth and his cohorts attempt to win back their most precious possession: They are all dead, and trying to gain back their lives.

The World Ends With You is one of gaming's most critically acclaimed titles. GameFaqs ranked it as one of the best games of all time, and Nintendo Power (may you rest in peace, NP) said it was the tenth best game of the 2000s released on a Nintendo platform. On Metacritic, the game has 58 positive critical reviews, and only one mixed one, said review giving it a 70. Which is still a pretty good score!

Critical reviews aside, the cult following that TWEWY has made, myself included, is one of the most devoted I know. Fans everywhere have praised the game, and I have never met a person who disliked it. Praises have been given for so many things about TWEWY, including the character development, art style, soundtrack, storyline, and gameplay. What is so clear is that TWEWY, in its obscure glory, developed a complex entity that has been so gloriously praised, so many fans have been clamoring for a sequel for the past nine years.

Everyone's story with how The World Ends With You has affected them is different. The scale of stories I have heard about how TWEWY has affected various people is long, and each individual has such a different experience with how the game made them feel. But each one tells of nothing but praise to this small game, created by one of the most critically acclaimed video game developers in the world.

I don't particularly wish to go into how much TWEWY changed my life as a person. But what I will say, is that it turned my life around completely, and is, without a doubt in my mind, mankind's greatest creation. Beautifully written, aesthetically pleasing, and overall, epic, it is a story that I will take with me forever. It is pure art, in its finest form.

Thank you.