Today sees the arrival of NEO: The World Ends With You on the Nintendo Switch. As you likely already know, it's the long-awaited sequel to the cult hit DS title, The World Ends With You.
There's a lot of hype around the follow-up, so what's the verdict so far? You've probably already seen the Nintendo Life review, so now we've rounded up some other media impressions.
Of course, if you haven't read (or watched) our review yet, here it is (we gave it nine out of ten stars):
And so, without further ado, here are some other critic scores so far:
Australian Nintendo website Vooks.net gave the game 4.5 out of 5:
"Fourteen years later, TWEWY's still got it, defying all expectations as an exciting, enthralling, and genuinely enjoyable follow-up worthy of the title it holds."
Siliconera also had high praise for the game, awarding it 9 out of 10:
"NEO The World Ends with You is both the game returning fans waited and hoped for and a captivating RPG for newcomers.. somehow Square Enix managed to meet the challenge of creating a game that paid tribute to and can stand alongside its predecessor."
RPG Site awarded it 9 out of 10 and noted how it had something many other RPGs didn't:
"It’s not a perfect game, nor was the original, but it has a spirit and energy to it you just don’t see from other RPGs available."
Destructoid gave it an eight and also mentioned how much more accessible it was even if it did lack the "genius" of its predecessor:
"It brings together many of the best concepts from the DS original but in a more approachable and accessible experience."
Less impressed than the rest was IGN, awarding it 7/10:
"NEO feels like it’s here to finish what The World Ends With You started, and it does that well enough. I just wish it hadn’t sacrificed its own story and characters to do so."
Will you be picking up NEO: The World Ends With You? Leave a comment down below.
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Comments 40
4.5/10 from Vooks?🧐 glad to hear the game is a success overall!
It looks just as good as the original but I am not buying it at the moment, maybe at a discount
IGN as per always with the worst reviews possible for any game that isn't a visual showcase...
If Zion reviewed the game when he was blacked out drunk, just crashed his car into a telephone poll and had a concussion so serious it caused permanent brain damage, I would still trust his review 1000% more than anything IGN publishes.
@Rika_Yoshitake
What do you mean, they gave it 9/10?
OH, you don't know the IGN rule? You just add two to whatever number they give any game that isn't a PlayStation exclusive. That's the REAL review score.
It does not look like the type of game I would want to play, I am not be impressed or tempted by the score. 🙃
@Varkster MHS2 is on PC and Switch.
Ign: too much noise
Yep, getting it. I’d pretty much decided about halfway through the demo to be honest but good to see the reviews are positive too. Still kind of hard to believe this exists after waiting so long for a sequel.
Missed the original on DS - do I need to play that before this, or can it be played as a standalone?
@Cheez That's why he said "console exclusive"...
NLife's sister site Push Square also reviewed the (PS version of the game) at https://www.pushsquare.com/reviews/ps4/neo_the_world_ends_with_you; I'm not sure which is worse about it, though, their 7/10 score or their byline bizzarely characterizing the series as "Kingdom Hearts' little brother."
Either way, I can see why it was left off this list.
The characters are little annoying to me and I feel really old playing this. Maybe its targeted towards younger audience which is fine. TWEWY on ds was my absolute favourite. This one just hits different.
@Rika_Yoshitake I tried to listen to the IGN reviewer and had to quit after a minute so I didn't know they gave it 7/10. The quality of review was just so much worse than Zion's.
Still can't forgive IGN for their terrible Xenoblade Chronicles DE review.. will never watch and read their reviews again after that.
@dmcc0 From what I can tell, you can play this without knowledge of the original but there is some references to the original (and even a certain character that makes a return).
@Fath
yep. found that a terrible and badly writen review, think i will avoid the reviewer from now on.
@Valkian24 Thanks for the info.
@dmcc0 No worries!
So if you’re trying to paint IGN as being “not as impressed”, you should at least pull a quotation from their review that supports a more balanced view. The first 3 minutes of the review was literally showering the game with praise, but the reviewer knocked the game down due to game-breaking bugs that occurred towards the end-game, and the plot doing a poor job of explaining itself to newcomers to the series and that it leaned too hard into nostalgia instead of exploring the new characters. Did you....read or listen to the review?
Good job cherry picking!
@BloodNinja It’s not cherry picking, it’s knowing that IGN is full of Fools who have no business talking about video games. The review made no sense as it was full of praise and then it became a crap fest with no consistency in the writing or the transition of the review, they can’t write. But hey you are the guy who thinks NINJA APPROVE is some of witty phrase or you being clever and it’s not. And how do you know those criticisms are valid? Have you played the game? Beaten it? Sounds like you are sheep who thinks IGN is always right.
I think they would appreciate your dumb tag line on there, as the intelligence level really matches such simplistic humor there.
@roboshort Exactly, I don’t like many sites,(Nintendo Life I like) but man IGN is proof that most gaming journalists don’t know what they are talking about.
@Varkster
Why would Nintendo spend any time or money promoting a game they didn't make that you can buy on PlayStation?
As for Square ... they game is being promoted just as much as any in resent memory ... In Japan.
As for NA ... given the cult standing of the last game contrasted with the lack of broad appeal, I think they are just counting on word of mouth driving people to play the demo driving people to buy the game. TWEWY was re-released, what, like 7 times in NA? I think they figure that bring new people to the series at this point isn't going to happen though ads.
Can't say I disagree, from a marketing perspective.
@Themagusx1 The review from IGN was balanced and well-written. It was essentially a pros and cons list, and it was written by someone who played the original game, to top things off. Why did you think it turned into a crap fest?
And you legitimately think NINJA APPROVED is written for WIT? Sir, are you daft?
@dmcc0
There is no information within the first game that you're going to need to play this one. In fact given a lot of this game is based of the JP localization of the game (which was very different from the NA one) and the JP Anime, most people are going to be right about where you are even if the played the original.
Sure if you played the last game your might be like "OH HE WAS IN THE LAST GAME!!" a few times and that's always neat, but anything reused is explained quite well. Haha, better then the first game for the most parts.
Also keep in mind that watching the plot and cut scenes from a game with no gameplay or commentary on YouTube is ... totally a thing.
@BloodNinja No I think you are making an unfunny joke to justify your name. also, if you have not played the game how do you know it’s fair and balanced? You are a sheep, and it’s sad to see people like you on this website that have a such lack of knowledge gaming. I highly doubt you know what games like Crystal dragon or portopia are. It’s too far advanced for you.
Go to IGN, I think you will fit in. NOT NINJA APPROVED, Such a stupid quote
@Themagusx1 I said the review was fair and balanced. I then asked you why you thought the review “turned into a crap fest,” so I was asking you for further clarification. Is it so hard for people with giant egos to answer even a small question, without resorting to anger, insults and grammatical errors?
@BloodNinja You are the one who’s attacked everyone in the first place about the review. Who has the go huh? NINJA FAILED!
P.S I did mention why the review went downhill, it’s not my Fault your reading comprehension is not up to snuff today.
@Themagusx1 You’re the only person I have replied to in this thread. You only said, “the review didn’t make sense,” “IGN is filled with fools,” and “they can’t write.” I was trying to look past your infantile comments to try and find a real reason why you think the review was crappy. Because you are out of control of your emotions, you can’t even answer a simple question about your own opinion. I’ll try again, but I already know what you will do. Why do you think the review was crap?
Because it was inconsistent. The reviewer prairies than contradicts it and than craps on the game. Nah I find it amusing getting a rise out of you. Never answered my question about Crystal Dragon or Portopia? Do you know what those are? Also are he other reviews invalidated by IGNorance?
I believe Nintendo's YT channel got a bunch of the trailers, not much need for them to do anything beyond that, Square Enix seems to be pushing it pretty heavily themselves
@Fath Yeah, at least NL is nice enough not to drag it's sister site in the mud for it's review. I can only assume the score was lower because it's the first time TWEWY has been on a Sony console so some of the charm was lost on those who weren't able to play the original.
Side Note: How's the PC version handle.... Oh wait, it's on Epic, gotta wait six more months. Never mind then.
@BloodNinja Because it's IGN. The stigma of their reviews have been known for nearly two decades now. Even if the review was "fair and balanced" the review is marred by the content of the rest of the site. (Not unlike a certain TV Network that also claims to be "Fair and Balanced")
@dmcc0 You don't, but it helps. TWEWY: Final Remix is also on the Switch, which while it is the best version, it's not completely a replacement for the DS because of the later's unique control scheme.
@NatiaAdamo I see where you are coming from, but if you are talking about two decades, that means they have cycled through many writers. The review for this game was fair and educated me on the game, so it was fine. I know in the past some of their writers have made huge missteps, such as downright plagiarizing other people's work. But when I check back in every now and then to sites like IGN and Gamespot, they seem fine enough. Perhaps not as "friendly" as this site, but even that is changing! Heh.
I can see why people wouldn't like the score of 7. If we look at the scoring policy at nintendolife.com/scoring we can see it all...
7 - Abysmal
This game is a shambling mockery of a game. If you ever see a rating of a seven DO NOT even consider buying this game. RUN for your life!
...Wait a minute...
I’ve always wanted to play the original, but this will do nicely instead. Glad to hear it has reviewed well.
Also glad that a less favorable review was included; I like to read those to get a different perspective on a game before buying when on the fence.
Less happy to see such a trading of insults on here, what’s up with that… come on peeps. First what I personally feel was overly harsh criticism of the writer of the article and the IGN quote (I think it is an OK quote to sum up the IGN view, and a 7/10 does imply the reviewer was indeed less impressed overall), and then a retort that was overly defensive. Nothing wrong with “standing up for the writer/article” on here, but hey keep it nice please
And while I normally try to steer clear of commenting on such: calling out if someone knows of a game from 1983, influential game or not, is not a mark of “being a gamer” to me. To place such importance on it in a conversation like this feels misplaced, and not to be rude but feels more “gamer snob” than inclusive of all gamers.
Hope to see us all play more “nice” in other threads
@Themagusx1 The review just came off like a review from a high schooler to me rather than a professional so I couldn't even make it far into the review.
The problem with IGN, I think, is they heavily rely on freelancers because they have to review so many games. Nintendo Life does too somewhat, but Nintendo Life's core team is quite good, I think.
My only beef with Nintendo Life is that they need to spread out the scoring more. I think they give out too many 8s.. They should give out more 7s and 6s. And bad games should be below 5.
@NatiaAdamo Yeah, I'd read mixed reviews on the Switch version of Final Remix - mainly control issues - which is understandable given it was originally a DS game. One of those games that I never got around to playing on DS and it goes for more than I'm willing to pay used. I'll definitely pick up NEO at some point, but still might skip the original if its not essential.
I never played the original but I tried the demo out last night. I ended up playing the entire demo and really enjoyed it. Enough that I went ahead and downloaded the full version.
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