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

My 2007 Neku avatar persona inside me would never forgive me if I didn't buy this on launch.

What about your current avatar?  Now every time you see it, Miles's finger will be pointing at and shaming you.  Harrumph.

(I'm guessing financial things don't allow you to buy both.)

I've finally got the full game, and it's a lot of fun. A lot of simple, stylish fun. Understanding how the battle system works came in handy, funnily enough, and now I'm smacking enemies away like no tomorrow - although the first boss had me on the ropes because using the default slashy pin doesn't work so well.

Not sure whether to go for Japanese or American voices at the moment. It rests on Fret: I haven't made my mind up if he's fun or annoying or both.

You'll be stunned to read that I've finished this in my absence from the forum.

So, here I come with THOUGHTS.

I'll get my gripes out of the way first. I was actually pretty disappointed by the story of this game as a whole. There were some really fun fanservice moments - one early in Week 2 genuinely had me grinning - but the story as a whole fell flat in my humble opinion. It felt rushed and didn't have a good sense of structure that was definitely present in the original. Key plot points felt like they came out of nowhere rather than being built up steadily across the course of the game and I felt pretty unsatisfied with the narrative as a result of that. I'm happy to expand on that with some spoiler-tagged chat if folks are interested.

Whilst I liked the new cast as a whole and none of them actively annoyed me or anything, none of them really left a huge impression on me like the cast from the original did. I think that's a flaw of how the game relies on an ensemble cast as opposed to the original's more intimate focus on Neku and his partner in each week. The original game's structure lent itself well to really developing each character and giving them room to develop and breathe, whereas I didn't get that same impression from NTWEWY.

But, story and character gripes aside, I still had a really great time with NTWEWY. I mentioned this in my demo thoughts, but they did a really great job of capturing the feel of the original game's combat system without needlessly overcomplicating things. For as much as I love the original, I can definitely understand how its combat system could prove overwhelming and potentially turn players away by asking too much of them too early. I think NTWEWY did a much better job in that regard by steadily building up the complexity by introducing new party members whilst still retaining that core loop of keeping a rhythm up between attacks. I had a great time getting my teeth stuck into the battle system in this game.

The overall aesthetic and feel of Shibuya is still a big selling point for the game too. I did have concerns about how the move towards 3D models would work in putting across the style of the game's world, but I had no issues with that at all whilst playing through the game. The soundtrack was on point, as to be expected, and some of the remixes of the original game's tracks have taken pride of place in my VGM playlist.

So yeah, some issues with how the story was told aside, I really had a good time with NTWEWY and I'd love to see some folks get their teeth stuck into it so we can get some chatter going about it.

Speaking of... how's your time in Shibuya treated you Balla?

Can it be?  Has the day finally arrived?  The day when I like a TWEWY game more than Jay!?

The story...  I'll be honest, stories in games don't matter that much to me.  Characters certainly do, and dialogue, and how the story's told, but the story as a whole is very low down my list of priorities unless it does something very right or very wrong.  I will call you out on characters though: apart from Nagi and the mysterious last cast member I thought the main bunch were all pretty good and did a lot right.  What's more, I got hopelessly lost in the story of the original: youth and stupidity strike again possibly, but I had to read a Wikipedia article several times to get what was going on.  So this is an area where I don't think the game needed to do much to beat its predecessor.

Otherwise, yep, agreed.  Combat's great, aesthetic's great, music's great.  You'll have seen my review by now, but I didn't mention there that it's currently sitting in my Top 25 Games Of Ever, and jostling for Best Switch RPG.  I really love it and I'd love to discuss it more.  Spoiler tag time!

Story spoilers for the whole game basically:

Pigs are flying, hell is frozen over, yadda yadda...

I suppose my love for the first game's story could be enhanced by the fact I've replayed it several times and I'm intimately familiar with the story beats (no pun intended) and how they lend themselves to developing the main cast. Perhaps I'll grow to rate this game's story as highly as the original when I inevitably replay it down the line. I've still yet to do my post-game Secret Report runthrough, to be fair...

I can definitely see it ranking as the top Switch RPG! I'd personally rate Three Houses higher, but you haven't played that so no qualms with NTWEWY taking that slot for yourself!

Right, let's dig into this spoiler box... I'll probably just put my own thoughts in bold and italic text in this quote:

Balladeer wrote:

Story spoilers for the whole game basically:

The big competitor for that slot is Xenoblade 2, which you haven't played, natch.  They're very difficult to compare because they do different things well.  The Xenoblades are all about the massive open spaces and the exploration thereof, and monsters roaming in them and ecosystems...  basically the world's the focus.  In contrast the combat can feel a little detached, when you're only controlling one person in battle.  2TWEWY 2Furious has a rush job of a world but great combat.  Both have iffy writing in places: I prefer TWEWY's writing but XC2's voiceover, which is... controversial, I imagine. Also I prefer XC2's music but TWEWY's aesthetics.  Argh!

And yep I think we're broadly agreed.

With some exceptions:

We do have broadly similar views, but you like the main character and the main villain less than I do and I didn't get the plot in the original, so our different conclusions differing makes sense!

It's interesting to read your opinions on NTWEWY because I played the demo and enjoyed it, but can't imagine how the battle system progresses to the point where it's shit-yourself-amazing. I have also never played the original, so have no prequel to compare it to. Coming out of the demo I thought "pretty fun, but not a priority".

That's fair enough! Playing the original was definitely a big motivator for the two of us. The big thing about the battle system is that (a) you get more people to play with and (b) you get more pins to choose your attacks from, so the scale is ramped up a big deal (which lends to the spectacle) and the battling becomes more tactical at the same time. Oh - and (c) the enemy Noise start actually posing a threat. You can't just slash them to death by button-mashing any more.

But yep, no denying that you get more out of it if you've played the original... although with the battle system that's mostly a crashing wave of 'thank God they didn't ruin it'.

Rum: I think the reason I really dug the battle system in NTWEWY is because it's deceptively deep. The demo does a great job at highlighting how it works at its core level and that core idea of keeping a rhythm up between your party members by linking attacks doesn't really change as you progress through the game. What they do instead is add more layers of complexity to that core idea by giving you more party members or different types of attacks. You're still trying to keep a rhythm up between attacks, but you've got more balls to juggle, so to speak. Learning to do that is really satisfying. I think a flaw of the original game's combat system is that for better or worse it threw everything at you at once and didn't steadily introduce new pieces of the puzzle like in NTWEWY, so that gradual deepening complexity and the enjoyment of mastering that combat system steadily wasn't present. Keeping up a rhythm on an enemy in late-game is incredibly satisfying!

Balla: I'm planning on getting through a fair chunk of my Switch games considering I've kicked the arse out my PS5 these past few months, so maybe XC2 will be one of said games...!

Spoilery chats:

Have you tackled any of the post-game content at all yet? I played Another Day and got my arse handed to me by the souped up boss battles present in said chapter, so I decided I'd come back to the game later.

Jay's nailed it on the combat front.

Nah I'll probably leave Another Day.  As mentioned in LGYF, I think it's a big reason I have cooler memories about TWEWY 1 - I left it between a choice of really rock hard bosses, backed up by writing that while decent undermined a lot what I'd grown to like about the characters and the relationships between them... and fantasy Pogs.  Besides, the main game leaves everything, especially Rindo and, er, the best character, in a really nice place.  I'm happy to call it a day there.

...whereas based on what you've just told me, you've got several replays of the main game to go.

Whilst there is a criminal lack of Tin Pin Slammer in NTWEWY's Another Day, that irreverent writing style for the characters is still very much present. So yeah, if that would bother you, best give it a miss!

I fully intend to get the Platinum Trophy for it at some stage, so I'm sure I'll inevitably spend many an hour back in Shibuya at some stage.

You PlayStation gamers and your trophies... Also, I forgot the most important question:

What was your preferred pin layout by the end?:

Oh, and: what was your most annoying Noise? For me the wolves probably edge it ahead of the, er, one you can't see so well - but it's a close call.

I cycled my pin set pretty regularly so I can't say I grew overly attached to any one pin!

Pin Thoughts:

Yeah, the wolves can actually do one. I found it was so easy to get hit by unavoidable combo damage once they started zipping about the screen. They used to be pushovers in the original!

Well obviously I tried to master as many as possible. (Ended up with a big stash of ZRs for some reason.) I'm talking about the fallback set when you're, or I'm, getting pumped by one of the less fair-feeling mind dives.

Pinssssss:

Especially when they start spreading fire about...

Pins for the win:

I also dislike the woolly mammoth noise. They do so much damage and there's no clear way to dodge their huuuuuge AOE attacks.

I think it's okay so long as you have a 'hammer-the-button-to-whale-on-them-while-floating' pin. I found the T-Rexes more irritating, especially the last one and its roar.

I think the giant Noise don't work for the most part, to be honest. Well, apart from the Day 3 boss. He ruled!

In olden times I would've picked this up on day of release, but I fully intend to get this within the next month or so, as the original is one of my favourite DS games. Couldn't decided whether I was bummed or not about the new-look battle system, but it does look very nice and I have avoided 100% of gameplay footage and spoilers, and I'm sure I'll be in for a fun time regardless.

The original game always reminds me of Jay.

I'm on the final day now... of week 1 B)

The combat is really good - it still very much captures the multi-tasking feel of the original, but in giving you complete control over the pin setup you can balance that to a level you are capable of. I'm pretty sure I'm overlevelled though.

stu_the_great wrote:

The original game always reminds me of Jay.

Likewise! No matter how much Miles Edgeworth I see, he'll always be a Neku avatar to me. (And I never played the original game. I literally only know the character because of the avatar.)

OrangeRakoon wrote:

I'm on the final day now... of week 1 B)

The combat is really good - it still very much captures the multi-tasking feel of the original, but in giving you complete control over the pin setup you can balance that to a level you are capable of. I'm pretty sure I'm overlevelled though.

Over-levelling always makes RPGs more fun for me somehow.

OrangeRakoon wrote:

I'm on the final day now... of week 1 B)

The combat is really good - it still very much captures the multi-tasking feel of the original, but in giving you complete control over the pin setup you can balance that to a level you are capable of. I'm pretty sure I'm overlevelled though.

I definitely remember feeling strong at the end of Week 1, but I think there's a section coming up with a bit of a difficulty spike, so you shouldn't feel overlevelled for too long.

Rum wrote:

stu_the_great wrote:

The original game always reminds me of Jay.

Likewise! No matter how much Miles Edgeworth I see, he'll always be a Neku avatar to me. (And I never played the original game. I literally only know the character because of the avatar.)

I don't think I've even got that Neku avatar saved any longer.

I'm in the mood for a change of avatar though, so I'll maybe I'll return to my TWEWY roots.

Yeah week 2 seems to be a big difficulty spike, which I might usually complain about but it fits to the story so it feels very deliberate and well done

Excellent pick of avvy Jay. I'm considering making a change too, but I changed mine not so long ago and he is a marvellous bastard.

I also felt overlevelled at points. Then one of the mind dives would come up and put me in my place.

stu_the_great wrote:

Couldn't decided whether I was bummed or not about the new-look battle system, but it does look very nice and I have avoided 100% of gameplay footage and spoilers, and I'm sure I'll be in for a fun time regardless.

I think it's tremendous, as you may have picked up. I guess if you absolutely mastered it in the original then you might think it's a bit simplistic? Probably not though, Jay also loves it and I think he's mastered every nook and cranny of the original TWEWY.