NEO: The World Ends With You (It really is a Wonderful World)

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NEO: The World Ends with You transports players to the streets of the Shibuya, where they will take part in the “Reapers’ Game,” a life-or-death battle for survival. Players will take on the role of Rindo as they explore the heart of Tokyo to uncover the mysteries behind the sinister Game in which they have been forced to take part.      

NEO: The World Ends with You brings a re-creation of modern Shibuya to life in a unique and comic-inspired style. Players can explore and enjoy the sights, sounds, and culture of this bustling city, fight monsters alongside their ally companions in fast-paced action battles, and complete missions as they seek to change the fate they’ve been handed.

Somewhere, right now, Jay is screaming his head off.  I'm excited too!  TWEWY on Switch was bad because it wasn't made with the Switch in mind, and because its newness, so key to it being strong on DS, had gone.  This has neither problem, and it looks top in 3D too.  Please be good!

This has renewed my desire to play the original. As someone with zero experience of the game, is the Switch version worth playing? I can't remember if it was legit bad or just disappointing to people who played on DS.

As I said elsewhere I'm keen on this and it being made for PS4 and Switch will translate better than the DS one.

Buskalilly wrote:

This has renewed my desire to play the original. As someone with zero experience of the game, is the Switch version worth playing? I can't remember if it was legit bad or just disappointing to people who played on DS.

Tough to say. A big part of how good it was, was due to how fresh it felt at the time. If you've not played it then that might still be there. Another big part was how well it used the DS' features, and obviously that didn't translate so well. So, er... dunno. Sorry.

Think I wanted to hop onto the Switch release and remember Jay saying the controls really weren't the best for it and that the DS version is absolutely the way to go. Great to hear about this announcement anyhow.

I just don't think I can be arsed to get into that kind of experience on my poor battered old 3DS right now. Also, there's the issue of tracking it down. I reckon I'll go for the Switch one at some point.

After my initial reaction of "YES GET THE FUCK IN LADS YASSSSS", I simply felt relieved that Squeenix didn't fake us out with yet another mobile port announcement after a countdown teaser.

Much like Balla said, I'm far more hyped for this than I was for the Switch port of the original. This looks like it'll be designed ground up for this hardware rather than stripping back what made the DS version so cool to play for a console port. I'm insanely interested from a story standpoint how Sho plays into things - I know he's meant to feature in the new epilogue content of Final Remix so maybe I ought to go back to that at some point.

Buskalilly wrote:

This has renewed my desire to play the original. As someone with zero experience of the game, is the Switch version worth playing? I can't remember if it was legit bad or just disappointing to people who played on DS.

It definitely loses something on Switch. It doesn't feel like the special game I fell in love with back on DS as by stripping away the combat system, you're left with something much less. Granted, it still has the same great soundtrack and the story still plays out in much the same way, but the combat system is such a pivotal part of the experience that I really encourage you to find a DS copy if you can. It doesn't help that the Switch touchscreen isn't a responsive as the DS's.

I've heard that playing in people call "Solo Co-Op" mode on Switch where you use the second Joycon normally meant for a literal second player to control the AI partner captures some of that magic from DS, but I've not tried it myself.

JayMoyles wrote:

Much like Balla said, I'm far more hyped for this than I was for the Switch port of the original. This looks like it'll be designed ground up for this hardware rather than stripping back what made the DS version so cool to play for a console port. I'm insanely interested from a story standpoint how Sho plays into things - I know he's meant to feature in the new epilogue content of Final Remix so maybe I ought to go back to that at some point.

Wait what? I'm not sure I can struggle through the entire game to find out what this is, but... should I look it up? Argh, decisions...

Yeah, I fear it'll play heavily into TWEWY 2 so I really ought to go back to it... argh.

Interesting hopefully just a small cameo or tease for a sequel, which is here now.

I would have been insanely excited for this had it been announced like 5 years ago. Now I'm just in a state of disbelief that it's actually happening.

Still, it's looking like a pretty cool game regardless. Will probably check it out on PS4 since I read it's coming out on there.

I loved the original back in the day and played it to death. Bit afraid of going back to it in case I don't like it as much.

I went back and played the DS original a few years back, before the Switch port was even announced, and I can safely say that I still really fucking love that game. In fact, I almost appreciate it more after playing the Switch version, which is odd.

I'm worried that a big chunk of the reason why I got on so well with the first one (and it's not like it was my favourite DS RPG or anything!) was because it was fresh and new and used the DS' features so well. By dual-releasing it on PS4 they've already said that it won't have the latter point. I'm still excited, but I don't want to touch the original and am... not concerned about the sequel exactly, but wary maybe.

Whilst the combat system might not be as revolutionary or creative as the DS original, I'm still confident they'll capture the tone and include some unique mechanics to keep things fresh. I'm not worried.

July for this one

I'm really hoping they have Japanese voice acting! I dealt okay with the voices in the original, but this is a whole new level of nope.

That aside... hm, fully 3D combat. It looks interesting, but it's definitely not going to be as revolutionary as the original. Doesn't look like you control your teammates either.

And - Neku's back, or is he?

I see the anime has started, but it's Sub at the moment

Balladeer wrote:

I'm really hoping they have Japanese voice acting!  I dealt okay with the voices in the original, but this is a whole new level of nope.

There's a JP trailer out there, so you'd imagine the game will ship with the option to use Japanese voice acting.

I'm a bit nervous about this one, if I'm honest. It'd be quite sad to see this game be Just Another JRPG and not try to break new ground like the original did back on DS, but the gameplay footage in that trailer didn't suggest it'd be going down that road. Still, I'll likely enjoy this, but I'm not optimistic about it topping my favourite games list like its predecessor.

There's a demo. out for this that emerged on Friday, so I had a crack - and now I wish I hadn't. Not because I didn't like it, you understand, but because it's really very good and I wish I'd preserved it for when I got the full game.

First things first: it's very clear that NEOTWEWY isn't trying to break new ground like the original did back on DS. Go in expecting that and you'll be disappointed, but it doesn't read like Jay or anyone was. Instead, it feels like... well, more of the same, but prettier. And that's okay! It's easy to forget, and I did, that TWEWY had a really solid and very stylish RPG underneath all the innovation. None of that's gone anywhere. NEOTWEWY feels on the surface like the natural evolution of the original, and that's good. The aesthetics are stylish, the music is really good.

As for the battling... I only did two, but dare I say I prefer it to the original's? What with the dual screen malarkey, TWEWY's battle system felt like was innovative at the expense of being playable sometimes - especially for me who cannot multi-task. Anyway, it's clear it's going to get more complex, but so far using ranged and mêlée pins to take down Noise is possibly more fun, and certainly more visually impressive, than it was in the original.

So yep, I'm sold. I won't be buying this day one because like all good Switch owners I'll be busy playing Ace Attorney (DIGRESSION ALERT: is 27th July 2021 the most Jay day for releases in all ever? I'm half expecting them to stealth-release a Mother 3 remake), but I've asked for it as a birthday present for August.

I've also just played the demo, I have NEO on pre-order based on what I've seen before the demo.

As I've now started seeing some iffy things on Twitter along with one of the first things a mate at work said to me yesterday was had I played the demo as his girlfriend had played and cancelled her pre-order, I then went about MHS2 demo and how she should try that.

I thought I better get to the demo today, which also in turn after Balla's post, meaning went into it after playing 3.5hrs of MHS2 which is another RPG, seen some negative views and positive ones.

I have to say I enjoyed the demo and looking forward to playing it come late July.

I never played the original, do you get the impression that matters?

I've not really play TWEWY, and I'm unsure as from what I've played just feels like a new reapers game is taking part with a new cast, but we've seen trailers with Neku in that maybe does tie in more than it seems.

I dunno Muss. I think to some extent we'll all be slightly in the dark, since the story seems to take elements of the Another Day finale of the Switch ports of TWEWY which I don't think any of us finished. It certainly starts off as if the player knows nothing about it all.

Very late demo thoughts from ya boy, but here we are!

Much like Balla, I wish I hadn't played it.... because I wanted it to keep going.

I think there's potential here for this to usurp the original. A lot of the appeal from the original came from the aesthetics of the game and they've nailed it once again with this sequel. I was concerned how a move away from the neat spritework of the original would hold up, but the Noise feel more otherworldly and threatening in 3D than in 2D and I had no qualms with how the characters looked either. The only slight issue I had with the game's visuals was in the attack animations, but it's not a dealbreaker or anything.

The combat system was my biggest concern prior to playing the demo as I thought the uniqueness of the DS original would be lost and a somewhat bog standard action-JRPG would take its place. Thankfully, I was wrong! Whilst it's certainly not as revolutionary as TWEWY was on the DS, there was something moreish about NEO's combat system. That core design of your party working in tandem is still there and once you were in full flow of alternating attacks between your party members, it really clicked. It felt almost rhythmic at points. I think once you get more tools in your arsenal and more party members to control that it'll feel very satisfying indeed.

So yeah, I'll be the reverse of Balla in that I'll be holding off on Ace Attorney but picking this up on launch.

Muss: Hmmm, I think there's going to be some pretty clear references to the original and I think there's an expectation that you know what the Reaper's Game is and how the world works. I don't think the story will land as well without knowledge of how the original pans out.

Balla: I read a summary of the Another Day finale to prep for NEO.

I might do the same then. Good to get support for my views on the demo. from somebody who's generally correct and knowledgeable about... hang on a minute.

JayMoyles wrote:

...I'll be the reverse of Balla in that I'll be holding off on Ace Attorney but picking this up on launch.

YOU CAN DO ONE MOYLES