NEO: The World Ends with You
Attention, sheeple of Shibuya: a new Game has finally begun!
This is the first entry in my "Games I've Played" series. I'll come up with a better name for it, probably. It's an attempt to document every game I've played from 2025 onward. These will be mostly spoiler-free.
In October 2014, I purchased a game that would forever change my life. That game was "The World Ends With You". The first time I heard of the game was back in 2013 when I picked up "Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance" for the 3DS.
Ever since I was a little kid I was a fan of the "Kingdom Hearts" series. I've played almost every game in the series and 100%'d all of them. It's a franchise that's near and dear to my heart, and you can read a bit about that in my previous post.
One of the first things you do in Dream Drop Distance is visit a staple location of the series, Traverse Town. Immediately you'll encounter the protagonist of "The World Ends With You", Neku. After beating the game, I was left wondering who were those characters.
So a year later I dove into Shibuya and began the Reaper's Game.
"The World Ends With You" is a game filled with twists and turns that will make your head spin and your heart break. With one of the most insane soundtracks you'll ever hear in a video game, you'll be sucked into a world of noise.
I've probably listened to the soundtrack more times than anyone in the world. It was on regular rotation for me back in high school and I even made one of the songs my ringtone. That ringtone has followed me for over 10 years now, so I don't think I'll give it up anytime soon. My best friend gifted me a copy of the OST on CD shortly after I beat the game and I've treasured it since. Lucky for me, Square Enix has the soundtrack on Spotify. I'll also leave my ringtone here in case you'd want it.
So what's "The World Ends With You" about? The story revolves around Neku Sakuraba, a 15-year-old boy. He finds himself in a twisted version of Shibuya where he must compete in a game for his life. One of the main themes of the game is living life to the fullest and making the best of it. As the game progresses, we see Neku opening up as a person and we see him quickly grow as a person.
Neku and his partner, Shiki Misaki, compete over the course of a week to win the "Reaper's Game". They encounter "Noise" which are the main enemies in the game. They're the negative emotions of people from the "real" version of the world.
Minor spoilers for The World Ends With You
You'll quickly learn that the themes of life and death are all too important. Neku and the other players are competing in a game for their lives because they're dead. All the players of the "Reaper's Game" are dead, and are competing for another chance at life.
If you die in the game, you're erased from existence. The cost of playing the game also changes from person to person, but it's whatever is most important to you. These can be things like emotions, memories, and pretty much anything you can think of.
The game takes place over the course of a week, but you'll soon find out that there are multiple games you'll need to compete in.
"The World Ends With You" is a cult classic for a reason. The gameplay takes huge advantage of the DS, where you engage in multiple forms of combat using the two screens. The bottom screen uses the stylus and you move Neku around while attacking the noise. The game has hundreds of "pins" which are your options for combat. You're able to swap them out and create a setup that works for you. On the top screen, you're using the d-pad to attack. The combat system is incredibly deep and engaging, but the ports of the game change it quite a bit.
The plot is absolutely insane and it escalates every single day. You fall in love with the characters, which makes it all the more heartwrenching when something happens. As the story unravels, you'll soon realize that you're not only competing for your life, but for a better Shibuya.
I think I played this game at the right time because I was 17 years old. I was in a similar place as Neku at the beginning of the game and I think his character's growth over the game did a lot for me.
"The World Ends With You" came out in July 2007 in Japan, and April 2008 in the rest of the world. While it did get mobile ports a few years later, and a Switch port a decade later, no one really expected a sequel. There really wasn't much to get out of a sequel.
And yet, in 2020, Square Enix decided to shock the world. The cult classic was getting a direct sequel in the form of "NEO: The World Ends with You". I was incredibly excited and placed an order as soon as possible. However, despite my excitement for the game, I never got around to playing it. That was until these past few weeks.
As a bit of a refresher, Square Enix released "The World Ends with You: The Animation", an anime adaptation of the titular game. The show manages to squeeze the game's plot into 12 episodes. It does a decent job capturing what makes the game special, and while the pacing is very quick, if you want some background before going into NEO:TWEWY, this is the way to do it. Many of the huge plot points don't hit as hard as they could because of the pacing, but it's a solid show otherwise.
While the original game was in 2D, this game is in 3D. The unique art style manages to work quite well in 3D and the music is full of bangers. It might get a bit repetitive at times, but it's one of the best soundtracks you'll hear in a game. A few tracks return from the original as remixes and the rushes of nostalgia are wonderful.
Once again, everything that made the first game special is here in the sequel. Amazing characters, a story full of twists and turns, and some solid combat.
Every character has such depth to them, that I found myself falling in love with them as I did in the original game. Everything about this game just oozes with style. At first, I didn't think that the combat would work too well in the 3D environment, and while it does boil down to just rapidly mashing buttons on the controller at times, the combat is incredibly engaging. It can get a bit grindy at times, and by the end of the game, I was just kind of rushing through because I was more invested in the story than I was in dealing with the noise.
Speaking of the ending of the game. As the game began to wrap up, I felt shivers running down my spine with every little twist and turn. The plot by the end of the game ramps up and things go from crazy to insane.
I spoke to a few people after beating it and all of them said that it's one of the best games they've played in recent memory.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I had a wonderful time in NEO:TWEWY. It's an excellent sequel that I'm kicking myself over not playing it sooner. I'll be rocking the OST for a few days, and I'll make sure to 100% it as soon as I can.
Game Score: 9/10