NEO: The World Ends With You – A True Return to a Favorite Series

The World Ends With You is one of my favorite games, and I waited over a decade for a sequel.

Since this is the year of incredible unexpected sequels, NEO: The World Ends With You came out (on the same day as The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, no less) to finally return us to Shibuya and the UG.

I actually played the main game in between the two Great Ace Attorney games, then came back afterwards to finish up the post-game content.

(…or rather, some of the post-game content, since I decided not to grind as much as I’d need to finish everything.)

NEO: The World Ends With You is a sequel following a largely new cast of characters who find themselves caught up in the Reaper’s Game. It’s quickly apparent that things are different this time around, with Players split into teams to compete against each other, and my knowledge of the original really added to the sense of mystery for me.

Like I mentioned back when I played the demo, NEO does an impressive job of capturing the original’s feel despite being a 3D game with more standard combat controls. Controlling multiple characters at once by using their equipped pins, alternating attacks to build up the Groove meter to unleash a special attack, eating food to increase stats… it really does feel like TWEWY.

The soundtrack is incredible, too, just like in the original. There are a lot of great remixes, along with entirely new tracks, and so many of them are fantastic.

The story didn’t carry quite the same impact that the original did for me, but I still loved it. It had some good humor, too. My only regret is that some of the trailers spoiled major details I wish I hadn’t known ahead of time. I’ve learned my lesson. I will stop watching trailers earlier from now on.

It has a lot of cool twists, and I thought it found a nice balancing point between building on what the first game did and creating a new story. Of course, I don’t know how certain aspects of the story feel to someone who hadn’t played the first one, but as a returning fan, I was pleased with most parts.

Best of all, this universe is back. It’s not just a one-off game anymore. This could become a series.

Now, reports came out not too long ago that NEO didn’t sell well. That disappointed me, because it’s a great game and deserves to do well. A lack of marketing might be the culprit, since I saw a lot of people expressing surprise that the game existed – even some fans of the original who simply didn’t know a sequel had come out. That report ironically drew attention to it, so here’s hoping the sales situation improves enough to keep the series alive.

NEO: The World Ends With You is not as incredible as the original The World Ends With You, but it’s still a fantastic JRPG. For the sequel to one of my all-time favorites, that’s exactly what I’d hoped for.