Fans of Square Enix’s experimental Nintendo DS RPG The World Ends With You have long been pleading for a follow-up. Those wishes are finally coming true with NEO: The World Ends With You, a brand new game that’s in development for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch and planned for a mid-2021 release.
NEO: The World Ends With You returns to a stylized re-creation of Shibuya, taking the first game’s comic and street fashion-inspired aesthetic in a 3D direction. From the announcement trailer, it looks like NEO has a rather different combat system—again, emphasising the 3D environment—but you can also see shades of the The World Ends With You‘s unorthodox, touchscreen-driven battles.
From Square Enix’s announcement:
NEO: The World Ends with You transports players to the streets of the Shibuya, where they will take part in the “Reapers’ Game,” a life-or-death battle for survival. Players will take on the role of Rindo as they explore the heart of Tokyo to uncover the mysteries behind the sinister Game in which they have been forced to take part.
NEO: The World Ends with You brings a re-creation of modern Shibuya to life in a unique and comic-inspired style. Players can explore and enjoy the sights, sounds, and culture of this bustling city, fight monsters alongside their ally companions in fast-paced action battles, and complete missions as they seek to change the fate they’ve been handed.
A new trailer unveiled today provides a first look at the title, showcasing the hip visual direction, 3D environments, gameplay and battle sequences, and amped-up soundtrack underscoring the game’s eye-catching art style.
The original The World Ends With You first came out in 2007 for Nintendo DS, receiving much acclaim for its art style, exploration of youth culture, and a battle system that made innovative use of the DS’s two screens. It was later ported to mobile, and then to Switch in 2018 as The World Ends With You: Final Remix. An anime adaptation is also in the works with a planned April 2021 debut in Japan; it’ll be getting an official western release too, but there’s no date on that just yet.
NEO: The World Ends With You is currently in development for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, with an anticipated release in northern summer / southern winter 2021.
