The game stars Neku, a 15-year-old kid who finds himself in the middle of the Shibuya district of Tokyo, Japan. Early on in the game, he is required to partake in a "game" constructed by the antagonistic group known as the Reapers, and if he doesn't manage to complete this "game" within a total of seven days, then he'll die, or rather be "erased" as the game states. Eventually, he teams up with another character, and the collaborative group is created. Neku battles on the bottom screen of the Nintendo DS while the secondary character battles on the top. The player will have to use both the stylus and the d-pad (or the face buttons depending on if you're a lefty or a righty) - the stylus to control Neku and the d-pad to control the secondary character.