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NEO: The World Ends with You is an action role-playing game co-developed by Square Enix and h.a.n.d. and published by Square Enix. This game is a sequel to the 2007 video game The World Ends with You. It was released for the Nintendo Switch in July 2021. The story features a new cast of characters playing the Reapers' Game in Shibuya and, unlike the original game, now features three-dimensional graphics.
Plot[]
High schoolers Rindo Kanade and Tosai "Fret" Furesawa are unexpectedly drawn into the "Reapers' Game", a competition for the recently deceased in which they must battle other teams over the course of a week for their survival. The two form a team called the "Wicked Twisters" and recruit former Reaper Sho Minamimoto and college student Nagi Usui in order to survive. Overseen by Game Master Shiba Miyakaze and several of his subordinates, including Tanzo Kubo and Shoka Sakurane, the group does battle with the other teams and clashes with the Ruinbringers, a powerful team consisting of Kaichi "Susukichi" Susuki and Tsugumi Matsunae, who have won every preceding game and keep choosing to re-enter the next round, thereby trapping the other teams in a never-ending series of game loops. During this time, Rindo discovers he has the ability to rewind time. At the end of the week, the Wicked Twisters battle Susukichi, but are nearly defeated. They are rescued by a masked man presumed to be legendary former Player Neku Sakuraba. Shiba declares the Ruinbringers victorious and erases the last place team, the Reaper's Game is extended another week, and Minamimoto deserts the group.
During the second week, the Wicked Twisters recruit "Neku", revealed to be former Player Daisukenojo "Beat" Bito. They learn that Shiba and his Reapers hail from Shinjuku, which was erased in an event known as Inversion; they plan to do the same to Shibuya. They also learn that Shiba has been using Player Pins to pull living Players into the Reaper's Game, including Rindo, Fret, Nagi and Beat. Shoka defects to the Wicked Twisters near the end of the week after the Reapers learn she was secretly helping the Wicked Twisters, and Shiba subsequently reveals that he is the leader of the Ruinbringers and that Susukichi and Tsugumi are Reapers; he declares victory in the second week and challenges the Wicked Twisters to face him in one last game with Shibuya at stake.
Over the course of the third week, the Wicked Twisters do battle with Shiba's Plague Noise, which can erode the barrier between reality and the afterlife. Due to their aggressive mind-consuming behavior spreading in both planes, victims of those attacked have their psyche warped in different ways, ranging from total apathy dubbed “Shibuya Syndrome” among the living, to more severe cases of aggression as well as amnesia among Players. Minamimoto returns and challenges the group to a fight; they are rescued by the real Neku, who explains that Reaper Coco Atarashi orchestrated his second death in a futile attempt to save Shinjuku from erasure, and that they have since been investigating the incident in the hopes of protecting Shibuya. Coco reveals that Tsugumi is the lone survivor of Shinjuku's erasure and that her soul has been sealed in a stuffed Mr. Mew, revealed to be the original Mr. Mew that Shiki made; the group uses their powers to talk with her and learn that she has been sending visions of the future to Neku and Rindo to try to avert Shibuya's erasure.
The Wicked Twisters battle and erase Shiba, but are confronted by Kubo. Kubo reveals that he has been masquerading as one of Shiba's Reaper subordinates but is in fact an Angel who gave Shiba his powers over Plague Noise and is the true mastermind behind the erasure of Shinjuku. He also gave Rindo his time-traveling powers via his Player Pin, which absorbs the lost thoughts of the timelines he leaves behind in order to fuel a swarm of Noise that Kubo releases to destroy Shibuya. The Wicked Twisters battle Kubo, but all save Rindo are erased before Kubo is annihilated from reality by Shinjuku's Composer, Hazuki "Haz" Mikagi.
Shibuya is saved and Rindo finds himself back in the real world, but all of his teammates have been erased from reality. Haz offers Rindo the chance to go back in time once more to save his friends, although doing so will once again put the city at risk of being destroyed by Kubo's Noise. Rindo rallies all of the survivors and with the help of his friends, overwrites the lost thoughts with the thoughts of present-day Shibuya, which weakens Kubo's Noise swarm. The remaining Noise coalesce into a powerful Noise called Phoenix Cantus, which the Wicked Twisters destroy. In the aftermath, Rindo and his friends all return to reality along with Shoka, who is brought back to life by Yoshiya "Joshua" Kiryu, Shibuya's Composer; the repentant Shiba returns to Shinjuku along with the remaining Shinjuku Reapers to rebuild the city.
Gameplay[]
Unlike the first title in the series, NEO is a fully 3D title. Players can control multiple characters at once during combat and attack opponents with "psych" abilities granted by items called "pins". Each character can equip one pin of the over 300 available, and different pin groupings can create combination attacks. Each pin is assigned to a single button and requires a different input. Wearable "threads" also give a boost to the player characters' abilities. Common game enemies are called "Noise", which are negative emotions that have come to life. The scanning ability the player uses to search for these enemies allows the player to read characters' thoughts.
Leveling up grants the player characters bonus HP; other stats can be upgraded by ordering meals at restaurants in-game, though the player characters can only eat when they are hungry, depicted by a battery meter that depletes after each fight. As the player interacts with more people throughout the story, their "Social Network" expands, allowing them to spend acquired Friendship Points on upgrades such as exclusive shop and food items, expanded pin capacity, and assigning multiple pins to the same button in combat.
Outside of combat, characters can use their abilities to assist people and explore the city - for example, Fret's "Remind" ability will remind all NPCs in an area about a particular topic, and Shoka's "Telewarp" lets the group teleport to previously inaccessible areas. More of these abilities are acquired by progressing through the story. Previous days can be revisited at any time in order to access previously incomplete side missions.
Reception[]
The game got positive reviews.
External links[]
- NEO: The World Ends with You at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- NEO: The World Ends with You at GameFAQs