Neo: The World Ends with You Coming to PS4/5 and Switch | July 27th 2021

[Wraith]

 

 

 

The World Ends with You is back, reimagined as a new 3D action game that keeps the series trademark sense of style. Coming 2021

[KHCast]

This looks all kinda awesome. Didn’t expect the sequel to go in a 3D action direction, but hey, I’m not complaining. Definitely will be picking this up 

[Salamander]

I'm cautiously interested... but only cautiously.  The original was astonishingly good and quite unique - but that was a long time ago in very different circumstances.  The trailer certainly fills me with more confidence than what I've heard about the sequel-tease storyline in Final Remix, but I'm still worried about this sequel being more about convoluted continuity shenanigans rather than telling a strong stand-alone story.  It's hard to shake the feeling that a better sequel would have been one made years ago.

[RadicalLaRuby]

The art style is exactly what I expected. Reminds me of Jet Set Radio now that it's in 3D (and also takes place in Shibuya I think).

[Remy]

This game being announced took me back to high (grade? middle?) school so I decided to post about it here to complete the feeling! I don't remember jack about the first game's plot other than badges, shibuya, death games and grim reapers, but it sure was nostalgic seeing the DS screens of Shibuya/Harujuku again in 3d in this trailer.

I hope they keep some kind of variation of the controlling 2 characters thing. Playing Astral Chain made me realise how much I like that particular game idea. The footage is kinda ambiguous over how it might play. I also hope they keep that dope system where you can level down to make the game harder and get higher drop rates. Pretty much every RPG where I get ahead of the level curve for some reason or another could use that system. 

[KHCast]

Bump

 

So has there been any updates on this game and it’s release date? Cause we’re nearing the end of March, and the games due out in summer supposedly, and the game isn’t even up for pre-order yet. I haven’t been keeping up with this, so am not sure if there have been any announcements about this 

[Echidna Adventurer CC14]

Nothing except yesterday's update that Australia rated it. Getting pretty antsy, honestly. All we got was the first trailer and a release window and I'm CRAVING to know more. 

[KHCast]

Knowing Square, it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s gonna see a delay once or twice lol. I think the last time we had this much of a dry period for a Square Enix game was with FF7R. Or maybe Bravery Default 2.
 

Maybe they’ll tie an announcement to the anime somehow? Cause I feel E3 being the next time we hear something is cutting it pretty close 

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

So, Square's typical brand of pace in development and advertising, got it.

[Echidna Adventurer CC14]

We're FINALLY going to get more information a few hours before the anime debuts. Hopefully it includes a release month.

[KHCast]

So just a heads up, episode 1 of anime for TWEWY will officially release tomorrow, so expect some announcement for NEO fairly soon

https://www.dualshockers.com/the-world-ends-with-you-anime-1-funimation-release-time/

 

Idk if they mean japan time, cause in that case, we might get an announcement in a few hours lol

there’s been a last second chance to the anime’s opening theme due to an arrest of one of the band members 

https://www.nintendoenthusiast.com/the-world-ends-with-you-anime-opening-theme-changed-due-to-ali-band-members-arrest/

 

[Nix]

New trailer. Release date is July 27th for consoles; also coming to PC via Epic Games Store in the Summer.

Spoiler

YO MY BOY NEKU

 

[KHCast]

Looks hype as fuck, but fuck square and this epic store exclusive bs

[Bobnik]

As much as I like TWEWY, I'll probably wait it out before wearing clown shoes again. Yeah, this exclusivity shit sucks, especially to a platform that can lock you out of playing the game if the login system stops working (because offline mode doesn't work as well).

That said, the game does look pretty hype. The music is already pretty great, and if these 3 tracks from JP website are to go by, it's gonna be a hell of a treat.

[Salamander]

Okay, they might be sucking me back in.

[KHCast]

Weirdly enough, no retailers still have the game up for pre order on their stores. (Or even have it listed) if you want physical right now, only place to do that is Square Enix’s store itself 

[RadicalLaRuby]

I never get tired of Twister, no matter what form it presents itself in.

[KHCast]

Ngl, I don’t get this argument people are using in saying “Well, these PC ports wouldn’t have happened probably if not for epic” it feels like massive guessing/assumption making, especially when we‘ve HAD Japanese Square Enix games on the PC platforms pre-Epic for awhile. A good chunk of FF games, and Balan to name a few. Not to mention most of Square Enix Europe’s titles. That company has had a decent relationship with PC for awhile now, so I don’t think it’d be hard to think games like NEO: TWEWY or KH would have eventually come to the platform. 

[KHCast]

Not a lot of news or advertising for this game, not wtf is going through Square’s mind with this things marketing, didn’t even get a presence at E3 despite it releasing next month. Ugh

 

anyway, GameStop has a pre order bonus up for the game, you’ll get a magnet set. Ehhh. 

 

I think I’ll just pre order from the Square store, I get an exclusive remix of twister I can use in the game if I order there 

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

4 hours ago, KHCast said:

Not a lot of news or advertising for this game, not wtf is going through Square’s mind with this things marketing, didn’t even get a presence at E3 despite it releasing next month. Ugh

On-and-off again marketing and bad prioritization are key principles at Square Enix. They are legit, the wacky grandpa company of the industry. Still capable of hits, but also doing blatantly stupid things that hurt sales when such could have easily been avoided. SMH

[KHCast]

The games getting a demo!

 

 

 

We got the final trailer now

 

[Salamander]

Is it standard practice to release a "final" trailer over a month before the game comes out?  Well, regardless, that's quite a trailer!  Sure expands the scope of events.

More exciting in the immediate future is the prospect of that demo - with save data carryover to the full game!  Now that is exactly what I need to determine once and for all if this game is going to live up to the TWEWY that I remember.

[Salamander]

So, I played the demo.  My thoughts:

They've got the vibe right.  I have to applaud them, as that's really the most important thing.  The moment-to-moment game experience plays like how I remember TWEWY - running through the streets of Shibuya, the music, the colour, reading people's thoughts, dropping my level to 1 and chaining multiple Noise to pump up my drop rates.  One thing I've learnt about myself in the past couple of years is that I actually don't like 3D RPGs very much; I tend to find the worlds overwhelming, filled with too much empty space and too much stuff hidden in squirrelly little corners which mean you have to grind it out looking in all of them.  None of that in NEO; the world design is simple and accessible, and it never takes too long to get anywhere, battling purely at your own pace.

As for the battle system - well, it's not the original TWEWY, that was simply impossible.  Reinventing the wheel was something they just had to do.  But it's a viable battle system; frantic, but with rhythm and real strategy once you actually start paying attention to what you're doing.  Pins have different inputs, ranges, effects, and the way you manage them allows you to not only keep up a constant flow of attacks but also to trigger even stronger attacks by the way you finish your combos.  The most important part: It's intensely satisfying; that is, it's fun.  I'm a huge fan of RPGs, but it's hard to deny that a lot of RPGs have totally worthless battles which are nothing but tedious filler.  NEO's battles, though, really get the adrenaline pumping, and have immediately tangible rewards, doling out XP, pin XP, and new pins - meaningful additions to your arsenal.  Just about the only catch (and apply this to the game overall) is that the Switch version is a bit slow in loading them in; but even then, we're still talking only a couple of seconds, just enough to be noticeable without really being annoying.

My one qualm so far is the story.  Not the writing per se; the character writing is convincingly teenage and each character has their own distinct voice.  I'm just a little bit concerned about the plotting; for one thing, as a veteran, it's a bit difficult to come in and have to tap your foot waiting for them to learn the true nature of the Reaper's Game when you already know it - but for a second thing, even once learning the proper stakes of the game, our heroes just... don't seem too fazed.  It's like they aren't taking it seriously.  I appreciate that, for mysterious reasons, they have no idea what is going on and everything is even more surreal to them than it is for everyone else; but I'm not sure that it works.  Still, we can only wait and see on that score.  I will add that there are more mysteries and subtleties than they've revealed in the trailers so far; I think I've caught one potentially very significant early-bird cameo already...

Overall, though: Congratulations to the team, they've sucked me back in.  I was dubious as to whether it was possible or even reasonable, after so many years, to create a proper sequel to TWEWY; I'm still dubious.  But at the very least, this looks like it's going to be fun.

[Sonicka]

Actually really enjoying the Demo for this. Made me go back and revisit the original for good measure which I never completed back in the day because… reasons? I genuinely can’t remember. 

The overall Style, Music and Combat works surprisingly well and I can picture that whilst this starts out simple it will get more complex over time with the types of combos you can chain and pull off. Also surprising is how well the switch version runs - which ultimately will be the version I would want to purchase.

And Despite squares usual off the cuff naming conventions, I am surprised they didn’t slap the game with a number 2 on it. But what does NEO stand for with this games title exactly? Next. Evolution. Of? 

 

[KHCast]

I’m going PS4 since I wanna run this in the best quality I can, and since I have a PS4 Pro, may as well.