VideoGame Shibuya without its soul: a disappointing follow-up to TWEWY with its shallow cast and story.
This is focused on the story and characters because of the 3k character limit. I found the gameplay and music suitable in my path to 100% completion otherwise, though a friend took issue with the combat, citing camera issues, the auto-lockon, lack of precision in the jump to 3D, certain pin types being unviable, and lack of individuality between party members so YMMV.
To start, the game should've been standalone; all the returning characters have little impact on the plot and could've easily been written out with their role as nostalgia bait for marketing purposes quite evident. From the growing importance of Shibuya in the Secret Reports, it wouldn't be a shock to hear of Executive Meddling thinking NEO, and any future sequels, wouldn't sell unless set in the same city as a direct sequel.
As for the plot threads from A New Day? It can be summed up in a small paragraph found stapled onto the back half of a Day. The bonus scenario should've stayed the bad fanfic that it was.
Now for the characters, it's a bloated cast with one-note personalities aside from when they have dedicated Character Development moments. Most of the new Reapers are one role plot devices and most of the other Player teams don't matter. The main party is a little hard to care about due to lack of depth. Why is Nagi so invested in Ele Stra? Because that's her character 95% of the time. Why are Rindo and Fret friends when Rindo would ditch him in a heartbeat to text Swallow some more? How they met or what they do to hang out doesn't matter because a Social Network buff calls them "Best Buds" even if Rindo is annoyed at him half the time and doesn't even speak when Fret is up against Kanon's imitation. There's just no downtime where they talk about themselves.
As for the story, it falls apart on observation. The first 2 weeks contribute nothing of value with no good reason for why Shiba didn't enact his plan sooner and minimal character development to cover up the lack of plot progression. On the start of the 3rd week, the fate of Shibuya is openly declared to hang in the balance simply because it's the final week. The motive of the Big Bad is almost laughable compared to the original: he's under More Than Mind Control from the true Big Bad whose motive is... he's evil. That's it. Compared to the original's character focus and constant intrigue, NEO is badly paced and almost bland in presentation.
The difference in quality between games is clear when comparing their Another Day scenarios. Neku had dialogue for talking to every NPC before and after the Molco Slam-off, not to mention an actual plot and more insight into his character from Pork City. NEO only has 4 bosses and 3 bonus fights with obvious sequel baiting for the latter.
Even knowing the dip in quality from A New Day and the anime, I played NEO hoping it'd surprise me and it didn't. If this was the best they could manage, I'd rather they leave the TWEWY name alone than try to milk it.
VideoGame Not quite as good as the original, but still worth your time and money
Having played and enjoyed the original The World Ends With You on the DS, I was a bit skeptical of how the sequel, NEO, would live up to the original, especially after the demo got off to a slow start. I later gave the game a chance, and found that while NEO isn't quite as original as TWEWY, it's still a good sequel and an enjoyable game in its own right.
The story takes place in another Reaper's Game three years after TWEWY, in which players are competing for a chance to return to life- this time in teams rather than pairs. Without spoiling too much, not everything is as it seems. The plot involves a fair amount of characters with competing schemes and surprising plot twists, but overall isn't as compelling as TWEWY.
One thing that NEO does better than TWEWY story-wise is its missions. While most of TWEWY's missions involved getting from Point A to Point B or erasing a Noise, TWEWY has more variety in its objectives. There are also some sidequests you can do, which grant you Friendship Points that allow you to unlock abilities.
NEO's characters aren't quite as interesting as TWEWY's, in part because the cast is much larger and there's less time to develop each one. New protagonist Rindo has a decent character arc, but it isn't as well-done as Neku, who's a good example of a protagonist who starts off unlikeable but becomes more sympathetic over time. That said, it's nice to see the other player teams play more of a role in the plot than in TWEWY, in which most of the time, Neku and his partner were the only ones doing anything.
Unlike TWEWY, in which you control Neku with the stylus and his partner with the buttons, each party member uses a separate pin(i.e. weapon), which is tied to its unique buttons. Instead of alternating between Neku and his partner to pass the light puck, you time attacks to unleash Beat Drops, which build up your Groove and allow you to unleash special attacks. This means that none of NEO's party members have unique playstyles(but they have non-combat abilities) but it still provides fast-paced and fluid combat.
NEO has some gameplay improvements that make things a bit more intuitive, such as with food(the way you increase stats). The game tells you whether a character likes a dish before you order, you get the stat gains immediately and while you still have to digest the food by fighting battles, there's no limit to the amount you can eat in real-time day. As for your threads(i.e. armor), your Style stat is no longer required to equip items, but to unlock the special ability, which helps in the early game.
The graphics are fairly good, but the game really shines in its art style and character designs. The music is as good as ever, featuring remixes of old favorites and many new songs.
All in all, NEO isn't quite as original as TWEWY and unfavorably compares to the original in a few regards. Despite this, it still makes some improvements over TWEWY and is enjoyable in its own right, so it's worth your time if you liked TWEWY.