NEO: The World Ends With You, previewed the explosive JRPG
NEO
The old The World Ends With You was born out of love at first sight. The first encounter with the Nintendo DS convinced a small group of people in the offices of Square Enix to make a video game designed specifically to use the two screens of the strange handheld console. From that spark was born a cult JRPG, with a flaring artistic style, a unique personality and a gaming experience that, from the combat system to the evolution of the narrative, revolved around the duality of the action that could only be obtained from the console. Nintendo.That's why, after years of fans clamoring for an official follow-up, the announcement of NEO The World Ends With You has left fans thrilled to return to colorful Shibuya. Square Enix, but at the same hesitant about the direction taken. Is it possible to preserve the spirit of the original episode by completely abandoning its explosive 2D graphics and, above all, perhaps the most defining element of its gameplay? For Square Enix it seems so, and to prove it, it allowed us to preview NEO The World Ends With You, the new adventure coming out on July 27 on PlayStation 4 and Switch, and over the summer on PC.
A new Game of Demons
Three years have passed since the events that saw Neku Sakuraba as protagonist (more precisely in the way they were told in The World Ends With You: The Animation) , yet the beginning of this new adventure retraces its incipit in a not too different way. While crossing the "Scramble", the iconic and crowded crossroads of Shibuya, Rindo Kanade and Fret Furesawa suddenly find themselves in the Surreal Plane, a parallel dimension identical to the real one, which is the stage of the Game of Demons. The rules of the Game are exactly as we remembered them: a seven-day team challenge in which you have to complete objectives around Shibuya, as if it were a treasure hunt in which the winning team can make a wish, while the loser one. it is completely wiped off the face of the Earth.Between cinematics and simple dialogues between the characters, the first few minutes are used to introduce the new protagonists (and the player) to the rules of the game, to whisper some element of mystery, but above all they serve to highlight the heterogeneous mood and the lively style of this sequel.
Despite the transition to 3D and the loss of the two screens, the development team has tried to remain faithful to the original combat system. As in the first episode, the background music goes from rock to electronic, from metal to hip hop, while the graphics and menus are full of graffiti and pop-style visual elements; both major and minor characters all have outfits that echo different Tokyo youth fashions, and each team participating in the Game of Demons has a distinctive character and personality.
Susukichi, the chatty colossus of the Ruinbringers team, is immediately met, but later in the game we will be dealing with a colorful circus of characters ranging from a charming fashion enthusiast to an obsessed nerd with drainage channels, passing through an extremely optimistic social media lover. Throw an explosive opening theme in the middle and the message is clear: anyone who adored the style of the old The World Ends With You will find it intact in NEO's Shibuya button.
Back to Shibuya
Even though everyone listens to music from their smartphones, CDs in Shibuya are still going strong Similar to other JRPGs set in Tokyo - such as Persona 5 and Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE - Shibuya can now be explored in three dimensions, from the area of Dogenzaka to the popular Takeshita Street. Finding your way with the mini-map takes a few moments to adjust, but the initial stages give a small taste of the variety of shops that will be possible to visit in the full game, when Fret asks Rindo if he would prefer to have lunch with a bowl of ramen or go to the Indian restaurant behind it. 'angle.According to their tastes, each party character will react differently to the over 90 foods that can be purchased, including ice cream, sandwiches, soups and typically Japanese dishes (who knows if we will also find the infamous " spicy tuna "). Accompanied by a brief description, each food improves the stats of your party in a different way, altering the health, attack and defense of each character, as long as you don't have a full stomach.
In addition to restaurants and supermarkets, the streets of Shibuya are full of little shops where you can buy clothes, badges, books and music CDs; each business has its own style and its own shopkeeper who will tell some personal anecdote from time to time or give gifts to the player if he becomes a loyal customer.
By continuing to shop, you can become a VIP of a certain store and get rewards in return. Once again, a big job has been done on clothing and accessory brands: lovers of leather jackets and studded bracelets will see the "edgy" brand Tigre PUNKS return from the first episode, alongside new brands such as Joli bécot - specialized in clothes for women - or Top o 'Topo, with her baby pink skirts and shoes.
Every outfit and every accessory can be freely worn by each party member, but some of these will grant bonuses only to certain characters: in addition to health, attack and defense, Rindo and his companions will also have a level of Style, which if high enough allows you to unlock additional skills related to equipment. Fans of the first The World Ends With You will know, however, that the most important gadgets of all are the badges, collectible items once again at the center of the combat system.
Combat pins
Through a simple minigame in which to orient the two analog sticks in the right direction, Fret helps people remember things they have forgotten. As in the previous episode, also in NEO The World Ends With You the pins can be equipped to the characters to give them particular attacks or psychic powers. There is one that allows you to launch energy projectiles from a distance, another creates a giant boulder out of thin air, one detonates an eruption at your opponent's feet, and so on. A very large arsenal to make your way through the Noises, the creatures that represent the main enemies of the game.The development team has tried to preserve as much as possible the characteristics of the original combat system, but after the clumsy attempt of adaptation seen with The World Ends with You: Final Remix, it was decided this time to try an approach simpler, certainly less interesting but undoubtedly better suited to be enjoyed on PC and consoles through the use of traditional controls.
Exactly like in real Tokyo, the 104 (109 in real Shibuya) sports a brand new logo. pins at your disposal: each member of the party can be equipped with only one pin, and therefore only one attack, marking the actions that can be performed through simple cooldowns.
A system of resistances and weaknesses makes some pins more or less effective against certain Noises, with the shared energy and the possibility to level up the pins to obtain new and more powerful abilities. The idea of controlling two characters at the same time clearly fails, but for the team he did everything to translate the combat system of the original into a 3D scenario. During our test we got to the first real boss, a giant gorilla who, like King Kong, climbs the tower of Shibuya 104 to crash into the party with a violent dive.
The formula is always the same: avoid enemy attacks and alternate the use of pins in order to create simple combinations that allow you to charge a special indicator and, at a certain point, perform a devastating special attack .
The colors of the signs around Shibuya refer to chains that really exist in tokyo, such as the FamilyMart supermarkets or the Yoshinoya fast-food chain. However, there is no shortage of shops that use real names, such as Tower Records, the Tsutaya shopping center or the Taiseido bookshop. Who knows if the more advanced chapters will be able to add some more interesting ideas to the clashes, but those who want a more intense challenge can - before the start of the fight - attract the attention of more groups of Noises and create "chains" of battles. In this way it will be necessary to eliminate all the waves, the level of difficulty increases and the enemies will gradually become more aggressive, but at the same time the reward will become more greedy.
The fighting against the Noises will not be the only challenges of the new The World Ends With You. In our game session we have completed small missions, such as finding graffiti around Shibuya or helping people to to recover the memory through a simple minigame, but among the news that we have not yet had the opportunity to explore there are the Scramble Slams, competitions between the different teams for those who hold territorial control of Shibuya. The Wicked Twisters - this is the name of Rindo's team - will compete against the Ruinbringers, the Variabeauties, the Deep Rivers Society and the Purehearts, for a points match.
By eliminating particular noises of orange color, or by beating the members of the rival team, the territory is conquered and Scramble Points are obtained that decree the position in the ranking: the three teams in the highest positions will receive special pins and others awards.
If the systems and mechanics of NEO The World Ends With You appear clear enough, even more decisive than the first episode will be the quality of the writing and the characters, with a story that promises to be chock full of twists, but which obviously cannot count on the novelty effect of the Nintendo DS game. In the first two hours, only part of what will be a large and varied cast is introduced, with old acquaintances such as the unusual Minamimoto and new faces just as crazy. It is still early to say whether it has been worth waiting all these years for a sequel, but one thing is certain: a return to Shibuya overflowing with style awaits us.
