Square Enix dropped a bunch of new information regarding the upcoming RPG sequel NEO: The World Ends with You. New character reveals and short introductions for the Shinjuku Reapers, story related screenshots, a closer look at gameplay, and even a special key illustration of The Wicked Twisters by Gen Kobayashi were all showcase in today’s update. All of which you can check out below!

Shinjuku Reapers

The Reapers are the ones who oversee the Game and provide missions to Players. The current Game is run by a particular group of Reapers who arrived in Shibuya around three years ago, after their home was destroyed. However some of the Reapers are native to the Shibuya area, and they have been tasked with monitoring the Players.

Ayano (VA: Erin Yvette) is one of the elite Reapers managing the Game and appears to be accompanied by an iguana. Though cold and ruthless, she is a highly capable and implicitly trusted by her leader, Shiba, and dotes upon her fellow Reaper, Shoka, in an obsessive manner.

Kubo’s (VA: Xander Mobus) job is to monitor individual Players and determine the outcomes in win-lose situations. Yet, despite his duties, he spends a lot of his time speaking to Rindo and his gang. Not many people like him, as he tends to sound condescending to most people, and shows respect only to Shiba.

Kaie (VA: Josey Montana McCoy) runs a fortune-telling shop on Spain Hill while also handling the digital system behind the Game. Though expressionless and seemingly voiceless, he communicates to the players through text messages, revealing an extremely talkative, cheerful and caring side to him.

Hishima (VA: James Austin Kerr) is a Reaper who rarely gets involved in the Game, often claiming that his heart is simply not in it. His intellectual appearance belies the sarcastic and stubbornness that hides beneath. He is also the “odd Reaper out”, as even his comrades can’t seem to figure out if this mysterious man has an ulterior motive or not.

Gameplay Elements

Rindo and his gang, The Wicked Twisters, can undertake a variety of missions throughout the Game. The objectives you will face will differ from day to day, ranging from solving mysteries, fighting against Boss Noise, or taking part in a turf war against other teams.

Game progress and mission details are all kept under Rindo’s Mental Notes in the Thoughts menu, allowing ease of tracking and a quick refresher when you’re lost or unsure of what to do next. It also keeps track of available side-quests and where to start them.

There is also a Social Network tab under the Thoughts menu, which has information on pretty much everyone Rindo runs into and acts like a friendship chart. You can earn Friendship Points by completing story and side-quest missions, which can be spent for rewards such as helpful items and abilities.

Dive and Combat

Dive is a special psych that Nagi can use to enter people’s minds and engage in Dive Battles. People are afflicted by Noise, and its up to your party to dive into their minds and bring them back to their senses. Noise Battlefields are different in appearance from standard combat, and higher difficulty levels will grant rewards based on your results. You may also encounter Noise with special emotion-based powers.

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The Wicked Twisters are capable of utilizing a wide array of psychs, which depends on the pins they have equipped. Well-timed button taps will result in character’s attacking with the ability their pin grants, allowing for players the option to either time their button presses to string together combos or simply perform simultaneous attacks. There are a lot of psychs to choose from, ranging from launching enemies into the air, pining enemies to the ground, drawing them near, and more.

You can also increase your party’s Groove gauge by coordinating attacks. If you hit an enemy under the right conditions, a Beatdrop gauge will appear. Fighting while the gauge is shown will start a Beatdrop combo, and the Groove gauge will begin to increase. Once your Groove gauge hits 100%, you can unleash a Mashup, which is an incredibly powerful psych with a wide radius that will inflict lots of damage to foes. There are different types of Mashups, and the skill you use will depend on the psychs utilized prior.

Throughout the game, your Groove gauge can increase in size, with 300% as its maximum. Hitting 300% will unlock Killer Remixes that will destroy your enemies with rapid button mashing.

Pins

Utilize the Sugar Beam, Grin Reaper and Marvelous Crash pins to bring down your foes! The colorful Sugar Beam pin allows the wearer to use Force Rounds, which is a ranged psych attack that shoots eight bullets, with the last one being a piercing shot. Grin Reaper grants the psych Heavy Slugger, which if pressed repeatedly, will attack Noise with massive high-speed punching fists of fury. And finally, Marvelous Crash grants Meteor Strike. Hold down the button to summon a giant boulder, then release it to smash it over your enemies!

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Keyart

NEO: The World Ends with You is scheduled to release for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 on July 27, 2021 with a PC (Epic Games) release planned in Summer 2021