After 12 years, Square Enix has announced a continuation to their underrated, sleeper hit The World Ends With You with the game NEO: The World Ends With You. Released on the Nintendo DS in 2008, The World Ends With You is one of the best RPG titles to release on the handheld gaming system. The game received praise for its graphics, soundtrack, and unique combat system, and was named Best DS Game of the Year by IGN. An enhanced port of the game was later released in 2018 on the Nintendo Switch to an even better reception than its predecessor. NEO will continue the story of the series, but not in a traditional sense, as the game is technically a remake while also serving as a sequel.
Developed by the creators of Kingdom Hearts, The World Ends With You is set in Japan's Shibuya shopping district and follows a character name Neku Sakuraba. A confused Neku wakes up alone in Shibuya's Scramble Crossing. He learns that he is in another world called the UG, shorthand for the Underground, and is caught in something called the Reaper Games. The Games are a week long competition where dead people compete to prove their worth and earn the right to return to the world of the living. Neku has a week to complete a series of objectives assigned to him while fighting off enemy Reapers who are trying to ensure his failure, and enemy creatures called Noise, or else risk being erased from existence.
There isn't a whole lot that's known about NEO: The World Ends With You, but there's a good bit made clear from the game's announcement trailer. For starters, players will be making their return to the Shibuya shopping district, as NEO takes place in the same location as the original game. Additionally, the graphics have received a complete overhaul. The original game's 2D art style has been replaced with a 3D look that seems reminiscent of Persona 5's art style. Although there are some returning faces, the game seems to feature an entirely new cast of characters, which begs the question, where does NEO take place in relation to the original The World Ends With You game?
NEO is a Sequel to The World Ends With You's Anime
While almost none of NEO's new characters look familiar, The World Ends With You fans will have a chance to get a proper introduction through the game's anime series. Originally set for a January 2021 release date, but since pushed to April, The World Ends With You anime will be an updated retelling of the original game's story. Most of the plot's core elements will still be present in the anime, but there are suppose to be several changes to the story of the original game, like a more modernized setting. The show will help set up the events of NEO, which isn't a sequel to the original game, but rather a sequel to the anime, thus making it a sequel and a remake of the original game.
Details about both the anime and NEO remain pretty cloudy, but the two have a confirmed connection thanks to the Twitter for The World Ends With You anime. The tweet is not generous in of information, but does confirm the game will be a sequel to the anime rather than a sequel to the original DS game. Seeing as the anime is based on the original characters while NEO features a cast of new ones, it'll be interesting to see how the two groups interact with each other in the show and in the game.
Fans eager to get their hands on this sequel/remake will have to wait a little while longer, as NEO: The World Ends With You is set to release on the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in Summer 2021.
