Neo: The World Ends with You — what to know before you play

(Image credit: Square Enix)

Neo: The World Ends with You will exist available shortly, and that alone is cause for fans of the series to celebrate. For those who didn't play the original The Earth Ends with You back in 2007, this inventive action/RPG for the Nintendo DS speedily won a cult following for its quirky story and artistic gameplay.

Considering the game was hardly a smash striking, leading fans ended that TWEWY would exist a ane-and-done experiment. Fourteen years later on, though, we are indeed getting a sequel, entitled Neo: The World Ends with You.

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The setup seems fairly similar, as you'll take control of a high school student in the trendy Tokyo district of Shibuya, fighting for his life in the mortiferous Reaper Games.

As it's been more than a decade since the original game came out, nosotros look that Neo: TWEWY will accept either a standalone story, or plenty of exposition to assistance newcomers catch up. Notwithstanding, Tom'south Guide wanted to provide a brief recap of what'south happened so far in this short-but-dearest series. This way, newbies can hitting the basis running, and veterans tin can remember what happened in the circuitous story.

The Earth Ends with You: How to play

Commencement and foremost: Y'all don't have to read our recap of the starting time The ` game. If you'd prefer to play information technology yourself, information technology'south easily available, and non crushingly long, as Japanese RPGs go about 25 hours for the main story, and another 25 for all the optional postgame content.

If you still have a Nintendo DS (or a backwards-uniform 3DS) hanging around, you can still grab a cartridge for $15 to $30, if y'all're non too picky virtually getting it with a case or an pedagogy manual. Some fans fence that this is still the all-time version of the game, although combat can be a bit hard, as you lot do have to monitor real-time combat on two screens at the same time.

If you take an Android or iOS device with a large screen, you can as well option upwardly The World Ends with You lot: Solo Remix for $eighteen on Google Play and Apple tree App Store. Compatibility tin can be a scrap wonky, depending on your version of Android/iOS, however, so be sure to check the description earlier yous purchase.

In that location's also The World Ends with You lot: Final Remix on Nintendo Switch for $l, which is arguably the easiest mode to play the game on a mod platform. Final Remix comes with a new story affiliate; whether this affiliate will have much bearing on Neo: The Earth Ends with You, we'll have to wait and meet.

Your final option, if you but don't have the fourth dimension or inclination to play through a whole JRPG, is to spotter the TWEWY anime, which is currently available on Hulu and Funimation. It'southward a pretty faithful adaptation of the game, simply naturally cuts some important details and subplots for time.

The Globe Ends with You lot: Story summary

The World Ends with You begins with Neku Sakuraba, an aloof loftier schooler who discovers that he'due south died under mysterious circumstances. He has one shot at coming back to life: participating in the enigmatic Reaper Games. A grouping of villains called the Reapers and monsters called the Noise attack the participants in the Reaper Games, whittling down their numbers over the course of a week. The entirety of the Reaper Games accept place in Shibuya: Tokyo's real-life fashion district. Neku and visitor explore many existent-globe landmarks (and consume a lot of authentic Japanese fast food) during their quest to regain their bloodshed.

Neku participates in the Reaper Games for three grueling weeks, partnering up with a different teammate each time. In the outset calendar week, Neku teams upwards with Shiki Misaki: a haughty girl who forms an unlikely bond with the antisocial Neku. In the second week, Neku befriends Joshua, a blond boy with much more power than he initially lets on. In the final week, Neku joins forces with Crush: a old retainer of the Reapers, who will go to any lengths to save his sis, Rhyme.

The plot goes through a number of twists and turns along the mode, especially since each week features a different Reaper as the master villain. Forth the way, Neku and his allies cross paths with the gruff Yodai Higashizawa and the ambitious Mitsuki Konishi, each of whom oversees 1 calendar week of the Reaper Games as a "Game Main."

However, the 3 important villains to proceed in mind are Megumi Kitaniji, Sho Minamimoto and the Conductor. Kitaniji is the game's main adversary, standing in Neku and Crush's way every bit they complete their final week in the Reaper Games.

Nevertheless, Minamimoto (and his terrible, terrible math puns) is arguably an even more than of import character. In improver to harrying the protagonists even after his defeat in the 2nd week, he volition besides return in Neo: TWEWY every bit an ally. Any business he had in the original TWEWY has clearly non yet concluded.

Finally, at that place's the Conductor, who coordinates the Reaper Games. In the end, Neku discovers that this mysterious overseer is none other than Joshua: his friend from the 2nd week. Joshua claims that a place similar Shibuya reveals how shallow and vapid nigh people are, and that the brutality of the Reaper Games is simply a reflection of human nature. At the same time, he does seem to have a real soft spot for Neku, Shiki and Beat.

In the end, Neku and his friends defeat Kitaniji and return to life, while Joshua watches from distant, seemingly satisfied with how the Reaper Games ended.

Neo: TWEWY picks up a few years later, and features a similar setup. A loftier school student named Rindo Kanade finds himself as a participant in the Reaper Games. This time around, however, the Reapers accept divided into two dissever factions: the Shibuya Reapers and the Shinjuku Reapers. Rindo and his allies volition square off against these ii antagonistic groups every bit he tries to win the mortiferous games.

The Globe Ends with You: Kingdom Hearts

While information technology's not a mainline The World Ends with You game, it'south worth pointing out that the TWEWY cast has shown up in one other favorite Foursquare Enix series: Kingdom Hearts. In Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance (which debuted on the 3DS, and has since come out for PS4, Xbox One and PC), series protagonists Sora and Riku encounter Neku, Joshua, Beat and Rhyme in Traverse Town, and learn a thing or ii about the importance of having a partner on an adventure.

The inclusion of The World Ends with Y'all characters in Kingdom Hearts is thematically relevant, since Dream Drib Altitude features Sora and Riku on parallel story paths, and highlights how each ane feels a footling incomplete without the other. Story-wise, nonetheless, there's non much here that wasn't already nowadays in TWEWY. Still, it's a fun way to revisit the characters.

How to play Neo: The World Ends with You

If you're all caught up on The Earth Ends with You, the side by side step is figuring out how to play Neo: The World Ends with You. Thankfully, this part is extremely piece of cake. The game will be out on July 27 for PS4 and Switch, and later this year on PC. It costs $60 on either platform. Better yet: You can play a demo on PS4 or Switch right now, and transfer your progress to the total game once it comes out.

Tom's Guide will have a full review of Neo: TWEWY once it's out. Until so, yous tin can always listen to the first game's incredible soundtrack on echo.

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Marshall Honorof is a senior editor for Tom's Guide, overseeing the site's coverage of gaming hardware and software. He comes from a science writing background, having studied paleomammalogy, biological anthropology, and the history of science and technology. Afterwards hours, you can notice him practicing taekwondo or doing deep dives on classic sci-fi.