After a 13-year hiatus, Square Enix revealedNEO: The World Ends With Youis in development for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4. Longtime fans have eagerly anticipated a sequel for the cult classic DS title, but a lot has changed in the long interim between titles. Square Enix would do well to look to the examples Atlus set withPersona 5andPersona 5 Royalfor delivering a modern, JRPG classic.
The originalThe World Ends With Youglistens with style, has an amazing soundtrack, and a tells an engaging story. It is also full of compelling mechanics, including a few features that were ahead of its time, so as long-awaited sequels go, the core formula will likely require little modernization. But seeing wherePersona 5succeeded—and taking note of where the game could be improved—is a surefire way to deliver a memorable experience.
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It did not take long for people todraw parallels betweenNEO: TWEWYandPersona 5, with many accusing Square Enix of ripping off Atlus. To begin with, drawing influence from successful titles is rarely a bad thing, but it is also important to keep in mind that the originalTWEWYpredatedPersona 4,to say nothing ofPersona 5orRoyal. It seems possible, therefore, thatTWEWY’saesthetic influenced thePersonaseries in subtle ways, not the other way around.Persona 4and5’s use of comic panel-like character portraits to represent all-out attacks are similar toTWEWY’s animated manga aesthetic, andPersona 5’s portrayal of Tokyo likely took some notes fromTWEWY’s stylized portrayal of Shibuya.
Now, the time is right forPersona 5to repay the favor in kind, providing examples and areas for potential improvement that could helpNEO: TWEWYlive up to years of desperate anticipation and reignited hype. And even if Atlus did not useTWEWYas an influence, Square Enix would be foolish not to take heed of some ofPersona 5’s best ideas, especially sincethe title is making a jump to brand new platformsthat play by different rules than the original Nintendo DS.
Sights to See
The originalTWEWYbrought the vibrant, fashion-forward culture of Shibuya to life on the DS. The neighborhood’s vibe suffuses the game’s visuals and genre-bending soundtrack byTakeharu Ishimoto, who is fortunately returning to scoreNEO: TWEWY. But asPersona 5demonstrated, Tokyo has so much more to offer gamers than a single special ward.TWEWYcould use some extra ground to cover as well. The original game’s map is fairly small, and involves a near-excessive amount of backtracking, even if each area is ripe with things to do.
NEOalso has the opportunity to improve on its use of Tokyo’s distinct locales. While many of the destinations Joker can visit inPersona 5andRoyalhave intriguing activities, shops, and sub-quests, others are essentially dating destinations that serve little other purpose. IfNEOexpands its offerings to include a few other areas, bringing the same level of meticulous detail as the original game, players will have a truly rich world to explore. At the very least, the sequel will need to expand Shibuya and Square Enix would do well to followPersona 5’s faithful recreation of Tokyo’s notable landmarks.
A Focused Experience
Persona 5offers players a staggering amount of contentin even the most expedient playthroughs. In fact, one could argue that the title istoobig, especially since it was designed with multiple playthroughs in mind. Part of this is due to the game’s extremely complex scheduling system. Even thoughTWEWYwould lend itself to a scheduling system fairly easily given the Reapers' Game’s use of time limits and countdowns,NEOshould take the opportunity to deliver a slightly more linear, focused experience thanPersona 5’s sprawling narrative.
This will not only help distinguishTWEWY’s identity fromPersona; it will make repeated playthroughs more feasible, which could enable the developers to come up with a wider variety of endings based on player choice thanPersona5has to offer.
Kindred Spirits
Even though it was released over a decade ago, many ofTWEWY’s characters still have a following and enjoy fairly wide-recognition for a niche title. AndNEO: TWEWY’s new addition,Nagi, already has a legion of fans on social media. Early reactions to the cast so far are similar to the reception the Phantom Thieves received when they were first unveiled, and now Joker & co. are among the most widely recognized JRPG characters in the world, landing guest appearances inSuper Smash Bros.and spin-off titles to capitalize on their success.
The best way for Square Enix to pour fuel on the fires of super-fandom would be to allow players to interact with those characters in mechanically meaningful ways. And fortunately, the game lends itself well to that system already. BothTWEWYand thePersonaseries have a strong emphasis on the power of relationships. Neku requires the cooperation of partners to compete in the Reapers' Game, andPersonaprotagonists must establish meaningful bonds to summon more powerful personas.
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While The originalTWEWYcaptured the spirit of teamwork through it’s frenetic, dual-screen gameplay,NEOseems to be trading that system for party-based 3D battles. Therefore, another system is necessary to mechanically convey cooperation. Allowing players to “level up” their bonds to other characters would be a welcome addition, and it providesTWEWYwith an opportunity to distinguish itself fromPersona. Rather than using dating-sim like choices to define relationships,NEOcan allow parties to level up by completing successful combos in the context of combat.
The Anime Connection
There are even more parallels betweenTWEWYandPersonathat present opportunities for refinement and divergent evolution. Just asPersona 5was adapted into an anime,an anime adaptation of the originalTWEWYwas announcedjust prior to the reveal ofNEO.
UnlikePersona 5’s anime, which is a fairly straightforward adaptation of the game’s content, theTWEWYanime has the opportunity to interact with the game franchise in a novel way.NEOis supposedly a sequel to the TWEWY anime, which means the anime creators have the opportunity to foreshadow the events of the second game, or raise interesting questions about what players thought they knew of the original rather than a more straightforward retelling.
Persona 5is a brilliant game that providesNEO: TWEWYwith countless other ideas to draw from, and it will be exciting to see what Square Enix does with those opportunities.
NEO: The World Ends With Youis currently in-development for the Switch and PlayStation 4, due to release next summer.
