NEO: The World Ends with You

NEO: The World Ends With You successfully captures much about what made its predecessor so special, but it does so at the expense of its newer characters and stories.

NEO TWEWY is an eccentric action-RPG with an endearing youthful attitude, though its narrative lulls can obstruct its best moments.

Come for the virtual tourism and stay for a deliriously satisfying battle system.

If you're a fan of the franchise, there's a lot here for you specifically. If you're coming in fresh, the game is going to throw a lot of jargon at you in a very short amount of time, and then it's going to hit you with references to prior events with which you won't be familiar. You don't need to play the previous game or watch its anime adaptation, but doing so might help with context. If none of the narrative stuff interests you, there's plenty of in-game stuff to collect: I'm currently working on completing my pin collection, whittling down my Noisepedia and hunting down graffiti (the game's version of achievements). When this game shines, it really shines, even if maybe too much of that shine is refracted by its past.

Neo: The World Ends With You faithfully mirrors its predecessor, offering entertaining combat, endearing characters, and a fabulous world to explore

NEO: The World Ends with You is a sequel worth waiting for. It brings together many of the best concepts from the DS original but in a more approachable and accessible experience. It may lack the lightning-in-a-bottle genius of its predecessor, but the 40+ hours I spent exploring Shibuya showed me this world doesn’t have to be complicated to be worthwhile.

All gripes aside, if you're a fan of JRPGs in general, particularly the urban sprawl and social checklists of Persona, you will absolutely love NEO: The World Ends With You. This property deserves a series as expansive as its Disney-sponsored big brother, and hopefully, this sequel and the connected anime series will justify a true current-gen instalment at some point in the future.

NEO: The World Ends With You impresses in all the categories we were terrified it could fail in. The game boasts an energetic soundtrack that feeds off the energy of the original, a deep and rewarding combat system that makes a successful leap to 3D, an inspiring cast of characters that stand tall on their own, and importantly, a world that begs you to come back even after you've finished the 40+ hour campaign. After 13 long years, many fans lost hope we'd ever see a sequel to that first Reapers Game, but we're so pleased to see these talented developers never lost their calling.

NEO: The World Ends With You does a wonderful job recapturing what made this formula work so well on the DS, but in a more approachable way.

Dedicated fans will likely disappointed, while newcomers will be left wondering why people love this universe.