Fans of Square Enix’s The World Ends with You have been awaiting the announcement of a follow-up for over a decade, with the original title first releasing on the Nintendo DS in 2007. The World Ends with You has amassed a major cult following in the years since its original release. The game later saw a Nintendo Switch remaster in the form of The World Ends with You: Final Remix in 2018, as well as an anime adaptation coming in 2021. Now, Square Enix has officially announced a follow up to the original DS game in the form of NEO: The World Ends With You.
Announced on the game’s official website after a seven-day countdown, NEO: The World Ends with You is a direct follow-up to the 2007 original, featuring a new cast of characters as they participate in the “Reapers’ Game,” a week long battle for survival. The game follows new protagonist Rindo, who awakens in Shibuya to find himself trapped in the death game, as well as party members Fret, Nagi, and returning character from the first game, Minamimoto.
The biggest difference between NEO and the first title is the change in visual style. While characters are seemingly still designed by Kingdom Hearts creator Tetsuya Nomura, the gameplay has switched from 2D side-scrolling to fully-rendered 3D characters and environments. While some may be put off by this approach, the gameplay clips shown imply that this change in perspective and art direction may shake up The World Ends with You‘s approach to action-RPG combat. The game’s fully rendered Shibuya also seems reminiscent of Persona 5‘s approach to representing the Tokyo hotspot in an RPG.
Producer Tetsuya Nomura has openly discussed wanting to return to The World Ends with You since the game’s release, with the possibility raising even more upon the release of the Nintendo Switch remaster in 2018. However these discussions seemed to stop after the Nintendo Switch version sold rather poorly upon release. The announcement of an anime adaptation in June 2020 caught many fans by surprise, as it demonstrated that Square Enix was still interested in keeping the series alive, and now it seems this anime will be a last effort to introduce newcomers to the storyline of the first game as NEO: The World Ends with You gears up for release in summer 2021.
‘The trailer, which has been released in English by Square Enix, confirming that it will receive a worldwide release in 2021, features English subtitles with the Japanese audio, implying that either the game’s English dub is still in production or it will not be receiving one at launch. While the original game did feature voice acting, it was rarely used due to the Nintendo DS’ limitations. The upcoming anime adaptation has also been acquired by Funimation for streaming, however no dub has been announced.
NEO: The World Ends with You will release on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in summer 2021.
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