NEO: The World Ends with You doesn't have as strong a narrative as its predecessor. However, that is already such a high bar to clear and it still has a good narrative and fairly likable characters. In the first week or two the game struggles a little bit with all of its characters as bit of a nitpick.

The music in this game is just top tier. I love the soundtrack from these two games it's insane. I slightly prefer NEO's soundtrack just because I prefer rock and metal as my music preferences.

Where this game shines over the original is its game play. World Map for those who don't live in Shibuya, buffing characters with food instead of stickers and how it controls etc. I absolutely adored the new combat systems and there are so many options for how you build your squad of characters throughout the game with the new pin system.

HOWEVER, this game has no Tin Pin Slammer at all. I'm left devastated. /j

I'm gonna start off this review by saying, I don't think NEO has the same level of thematic cohesion as the first game, and that's disappointing. It's sorta difficult to do things like give EXP for having the game off while you go outside on console. I think there was a missed opportunity to integrate online elements to fill that gap, especially since social media plays a big role in the arcs of these characters. I also just, don't enjoy the combat as much? There is less enemy and ability variety, and battles can take an overly long time.

All that being said, the only reason I didn't put NEO in my favorites on this site is that I prefer the first game's box art.

The message of the first TWEWY resonates, I praised the hell out of it in my review, but it's also, in a way, sort of easy? Like, Neku is an obviously flawed character you do not want to be like. NEO's protagonist Rindo is much more subtlely flawed, and I think that makes the point his arc makes hit a wider range of people more directly, particularly myself. Where Neku was perhaps too individualistic, rejecting connection with others, Rindo isn't enough of his own being. He defers to others for hard decisions, he's quick to jump to his phone under stress, he lives his life according to trite, motivational instagram memes. Rindo doesn't outright reject the world around him, but he lets it glaze by him while he's playing Pokemon Go. Once again, the critique is balanced. Games and the internet are wonderful and create connections, but they are not a replacement for real life.

In a way, NEO being delayed for 15 years ended up working to its benefit. It's able to tell a similar story, but geared to a generation distant enough from the mid 2000s that a new message is needed. I love TWEWY, but it didn't make reasses my life. NEO did. After the Covid-19 Pandemic I'd become a bit of a NEET, spending her whole day on Twitter or Discord, talking to people who did not make me happy, at the cost of the rest of my life. It's NEO that inspired me, once I restarted my education, put my phone away in class and force myself to talk to other people, reach out for leadership positions, make new friends, go and really see the wonderful world that's out there.

I'm genuinely amazed they managed to make a sequel 14 years later while still capturing the same vibes from the first game.

I played this on PC and on Switch. Don't play it on Switch, the load times absolutely kill the mood.

Also the replay mechanic makes replaying this game a lot more tedious, and missing FP are not tracked properly, so I'm docking a few points off. Minor QoL stuff, the game is still an amazing sequel.

It's a shame I can't recommend this game more because it's a lot better when you've played the first one, and that one is hard to get your hands on.

Good God.

If TWEWY was going to have a sequel (it did), I'm glad it'd be this (it is). In every way this is the follow-up to TWEWY that I wanted and I'm sad I was so late jumping on board.

The ost, the story, the characters, the writing, like all of it's just. I'm really glad this happened.

Rockin' Rockin's my favorite btw, the whole OST's good tho