NEO: The World Ends with You is a 2021 action RPG from Square Enix and h.a.n.d., and it is the rare sequel that understands what made the original worth returning to. It launched for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in July 2021, then for Windows in September. The first game was a 2007 cult hit. This one is bigger, fully three-dimensional, and far more confident.
Trailer, via Square Enix.
Rindo Kanade and the Wicked Twisters
You play as Rindo Kanade, a high school student pulled into the Reapers’ Game, a battle for survival among the recently deceased in Shibuya. He teams with his classmate Tosai “Fret” Furesawa and college student Nagi Usui to form the Wicked Twisters. Sho Minamimoto, the former Reaper and antagonist from the first game, joins them.
Each character carries a distinct ability. Rindo rewinds time with “Replay.” Fret reminds people of forgotten things with “Remind.” Nagi enters minds with “Dive.”
Pins, Noise, and 300 Ways to Fight
Combat is the strongest thing here. You control multiple characters at once and attack with “psych” abilities granted by pins. Each character can equip one of over 300 pins, and each pin maps to a single button with its own input. Group them and you get combination attacks. Enemies are Noise, negative emotions come to life, and the scanning ability you use to find them also lets you read thoughts.
Shibuya Keeps Its Real Names
The setting is a stylized Shibuya that, unlike the first game, lets real places keep their names — Tower Records and Parco instead of stand-ins. Smartphones replace flip phones. Miyashita Park reflects its 2020 renovation. The 104 building matches the current Shibuya 109.
A Social Network Worth Building
Between fights, the Social Network expands as you meet people, and Friendship Points buy upgrades: exclusive shop and food items, expanded pin capacity, multiple pins on one button. Restaurants boost stats, but only when characters are hungry. Fret’s “Remind” and Shoka’s “Telewarp” open the city in ways combat never does.
The Loops That Trap Everyone
The Ruinbringers, led by Kaichi “Susukichi” Susuki and Tsugumi Matsunae, keep winning and re-entering, trapping every other team in an endless series of loops. Game Master Shiba Miyakaze oversees it all. A masked man presumed to be Neku Sakuraba, the first game’s protagonist, rescues the Wicked Twisters when Susukichi nearly beats them.
Where It Falls Short
The pacing sags. The Reapers’ Game structure repeats, and the early hours spend too long explaining systems the game then barely uses. Takeharu Ishimoto returns to compose, and the soundtrack is the least of the problems — the drag is structural, not sonic.
The Case for Playing It Anyway
NEO: The World Ends with You earns its length. The pin system is deep without being fussy, and the three leads carry real chemistry. Square Enix built a sequel that respects the 2007 original while refusing to just re-run it. That it failed to meet the publisher’s sales expectations says more about the market than the game.
KEY FACTS
– Release: July 2021 (Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4); September 2021 (Windows)
– Developer: Square Enix and h.a.n.d.
– Publisher: Square Enix
– Pins available: over 300
– Score: 8.4 of 10
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