After being tortured for nine years of silence following a pointless tease, fans of Square Enix’s cult hit RPG NEO: The World Ends with You can finally enjoy the game when it launches on PS4 and Nintendo Switch on July 27 for $59.99. Meanwhile, the PC version of NEO: The World Ends with You will launch as an Epic Games Store exclusive sometime “this summer.” The deal with Epic shouldn’t come as a shock considering what happens with Kingdom Hearts, but here’s hoping that other upcoming Square Enix releases won’t be exclusives.
Purchasing the game through the Square Enix Store or e-Store by August 26 will give you a bonus Reapers’ Game Survival Set DLC pack, which includes three items:
- Mutation (Badge) – Effect: Gradually restores Team HP while holding the button.
- Koumokuten (Fashion Item) – Ability: Significantly increases HP.
- Twister -NEO MIX- (CD) – Effect: Can set the background music of the menu screen to Twister -NEO MIX-.
There’s a bonus for pre-ordering via PlayStation Store or Nintendo eShop before August 26 too. It will give you the Legendary Threads Set DLC, which unlocks Neku’s old equipment early:
- Legendary Headphones – Ability: Increases damage dealt to enemies with less damage taken.
- Legendary Off Turtleneck – Ability: Significantly increases damage dealt by attacks.
- Legendary Shorts – Ability: Shortens downtime.
- Legendary Sneakers – Ability: Increases movement speed in battle.
- Legendary Audio Player – Ability: Hugely increases HP.
Acting as a direct sequel to the Nintendo and mobile-exclusive The World Ends with You, this time you’re taking control of a young man named Rindo. Meeting a mysterious girl that identifies herself as a so-called Reaper, Rindo decides to play along with her invitation into the Reapers’ Game. After going into the Shibuya Underground, knowing the existence of peculiar pins that grant superpowers, and battling against monsters called the Noise, it isn’t long until Rindo starts to have second thoughts on his decision.
Although the first game’s 2D visual was a perfect fit for Tetsuya Nomura’s art style, I think NEO: The World Ends with You‘s cartoonish 3D graphics managed to capture the soul of its predecessor and the overall feel of Shibuya’s anime-heavy subculture as well. What do you think about it yourself? Was the Epic Store exclusive announcement surprises you? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
