Just one month remains until the launch of Neo: The World Ends with You on Nintendo Switch, and it sounds like players will have plenty of content to enjoy when that date finally comes around.
A sequel to the Nintendo DS classic, The World Ends With You, NEO will have players exploring the sights, sounds, and culture of the bustling Shibuya. It's said to be a larger, more content-packed experience that the original game, as explained by game director Hiroyuki Ito and series director Tatsuya Kando in conversation with 4gamer (translation via Nintendo Everything):
Ito: There’s a lot more to do in this game, especially compared to the original game. I think reaching the ending alone will take around 50 hours.
Kando: If you’re the type of player to do everything a game has to offer, expect your hour count to reach the triple digits. There’s a lot to collect in the game, everything from character profiles to pins, with some challenging fights thrown in as well. Clearing certain milestones in the game allow players to receive graffitied stickers, which you can decorate the backstreets of Udagawa with.
According to data over at HowLongToBeat, where players submit their game completion times, the original DS game takes an average of 25 hours to beat the main story, going up to a whopping 136 hours for those who attempt a 100% completion.
If simply reaching the ending has practically doubled in time in this new release, we dread to think how long it'll take to see and do everything the game has to offer. Still, if you're the sort who enjoys long playtimes, this one sounds like it should be right up your comic-book-style street.
[source 4gamer.net, via nintendoeverything.com]
Comments 38
man and just when i grabbed the original as well, looks like i'm gonna be on da world ends with you grind for a while
I've really been enjoying the demo over the weekend! The soundtrack is so amazing! (Maybe a little too amazing because sometimes I get distracted by it when I'm trying to read the dialogue lol!) I might have to hold off a little bit before I pick this game up though. Currently working full-time and part-time, so I don't think I can squeeze in that much time lmao.
Only 100 hours?
::laughs in Everquest::
The first one took me well over a hundred hours to 100% too. Kind of a fun grind though.
So the world ends after 100 hours? * books spot at the restaurant at the end of the universe *
@DomGC I think you get to equip multiple pins per party member later on? I saw a tutorial window in the demo indicated this. I am not sure how the combat works in this game either. I try pulling off combos unsuccessfully because my party member keeps targeting a different enemy when I summon them. Might be doing it incorrectly or maybe it is just not my cup of tea. Gonna play more of the demo later to see if I can get the groove of things. I really like the world style and theme of this game but still unsure if I will enjoy the combat.
The question is: Are those 100+ hours fun?
Some people seem to judge games based in how long they take to beat, as in the longer, the better. But I'd rather take a memorable 4 hour game over a 100+ hour grindfest.
So, until we have better indication of whether these particular 100+ hours are well spent, I'll reserve judgement.
Awesome, I was watching my bro play the demo last night and I really liked what I saw, looks very true to the first game, instead of getting Mario Golf I may get this one instead and I am glad to know that when I do there is more than enough bang for your buck.
Just completed the first week in the original DS game.
@Kreko I agree with you. Just a small joke
I never even try to 100% a game. If the story is engaging and makes me really feel the sense of urgency, I move as quickly as I can!
@DomGC There's confirmation of multiple attacks, plus I'm sure once you get to use the higher difficulties (which were locked in the demo), you'll need to make much stronger use of the dash and the groove mechanics to win.
Original TWEWY was also basically spam whatever you want on normal difficulty for most fights, so I'm not too worried.
I gotta say, after playing the demo I am glad to see this. This game might do well with a long run time. You can soak in the world building more.
Wow, I thought the first game was a good length, though it lacked side content in favor of shuffling you from plot even to plot event (or leaving you bewildered in a single place.) Having more to "do" in the world would be welcome, and being able to find things off the path that you could miss if you just followed the main quest would be nice, but I hope they didn't pad it too much.
Nintendo's been missing the mark a lot lately but the Japanese third parties sure are nailing it on Switch this year! No way I get through all these RPG releases in one year.
@Kochambra There's a balance. A 100 hour grindy game is obnoxious and loses my interest before the half way point. Yet a 10 hour game, no matter how great and memorable feels like a dearth of content. Games being interactive need to have enough agency to spend a fair amount of time getting lost in what you can do in its world. Anything shorter is a glorified movie, at best. But anything longer is filler, padding and time wasting.
Sadly, few games seem to get the balance right.
I know someone wants that... I'm not someone
i guess it would take me 136 hours . i am a completionist. i always 100% all my games. this looks like a fun title.
I still need to play the first one; I bought the Switch version during a sale but I'm working through the backlog (currently playing Axiom Verge). I'll have time to wait for a sale on the sequel
I loved the demo, so I'm totally in.
This and Monster Hunter Stories 2 will come home on day 1.
I can see that. TWEWY is my favorite game of all time, I've beaten it a few times and tried to 100% it twice but both times when I got into the 99%+ range I didn't quite make it (the second time my son unintentionally deleted my game...) I had a blast playing the demo this weekend. Seems to translate well so far, although my old brain is slowing down I can't process everything that's happening in fights.
@Gamer_Griff I'd say by the demo that there's no need to play the first one. It's probably better to come "fresh" to this experience, actually, to this world. And if you like it, you can play the other one later on (in the DS, if possible; it's the best version).
@Kochambra Agreed. A good game is a good game despite how long it is. Nothing wrong with long games, mind you. Compare diablo 2 to hellblade, I've put thousands of hours into the former and only six or seven into the latter and yet both are remarkable experiences and well worth your time and money.
I appreciate so much content... but the length is sort of intimidating for the time starved player. Like, I LOVE Dragon Quest. I haven't gotten DQ11 (even though I want it) because I don't know how much time I'll have to get to it.
Good option for a backlog of games to play through.
To me game finishing isn't the what I want - the grinding is the challenge and how much stuff you can get.
Wait so
I don’t need to play the first game for this right?
I'm actually very okay with this.
I grinded the DS version for pigs and higher drop rates because I wanted more. I can see myself picking this up for a quick fix after beating it, but time will tell.
@DomGC
I played the original on the ds like crazy. Must’ve put in at least a hundred hours. What made that game so amazing was the tactile sensation of using the stylus to evoke all your pins’ powers. Certain pins required quickly drawing a zig-zag symbol while others were circles (some were as simple as drawing a straight line or tapping). Regardless, it worked and played flawlessly and was truly unique. You felt like a bad-ass Harry Potter in a way since you were casting all these different “spells.” Taking that away from the combat I felt would be an issue. The demo proved that to me. Not to sound negative, but there’s no way this follow up will capture the magic of the first.
Certainly looking forward to this one, though that's mostly based off of my experience with the first game. Nearing the home stretch in Final Remix now; I'm currently on Week 3, Day 5, and needless to say things just became VERY interesting.
I'll try out the demo for Neo at some point too.
@NEStalgia Sure, there are games that just introduce game mechanics but don't do nearly enough with them (Limbo comes to mind), feeling kind of half-baked, in the end. But there are also plenty of short and sweet games that take just the time they need. A game like To The Moon took me like three hours to complete and it didn't need to be a single minute longer. It was just the perfect length for what it was trying to do.
Long games, on the other hand, are much likely to have some padding thrown in, because of that false equivalency "more hours=more worth", among other things.
@Kochambra Don't talk about Ubisoft that way!
Yeah, I know that feeling. I do enjoy the padding if it's a game I'm really into (speaking of Ubi, Fenyx was just plain fun and I tried to find even more things to do in there), but Watch Dogs Legion was kind of a drag filled with limitless padding. I cringed when Sony's Jim Ryan justified higher prices by how many hours they provide compared to movies. It was instantly "uh oh, here comes the padded grind!"
Me, still on W1D2 after many hours in the first game: "Oh, cool"
So do I need to play the first game or no?
@CactusMan so no need to play the first game right?
@CactusMan ok thanks
@CactusMan oh my gosh you really hate yourself that much that sounds miserable
In my opinion the first one was the perfect length. I didn't 100% it but I finished the story and then some. That is about as far as I go for most games. TWEWY felt like it could have been longer, but didn't need to.
But I'm not saying this is bad. More is always nice if the game is up to it, and I'm pretty confident in this game.
I know it's supposed to be great, but I've tried to finish the original 3 times. Everytime I wander off bc I get so sick of the supposedly best part: the combat. Nothing wrong as far as being buggy or difficult, it just got OLD. Fast. I've never before or since wished an RPG had god mode just so I could blow through the story and be done w it.
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