Finished the version that Square leaked a few days back.
Didn't think this game would be that good, but I was pleasantly surprised. The main cast is fantastic, with the characters themselves feeling very realistic (with obvious exceptions like Sho) and most of the cast bounce off each other very well in interactions. Every new member of the cast was developed sufficiently well over the course of the game, with Rindo and Fret's development in particular standing out in my mind. The side characters as well were very good. Returning characters from the original are also very consistent from their characterization there, with some additional development as well that compliments their arcs from the original games and their relationships with the new cast. One thing to note is that character development seems less obvious than Neku because none of the new characters flaws are as pronounced as Neku's in the original, but seeing the conflict and growth they go through in subtle ways through changing sprite expressions, tonal shifts in their dialogue toward one another as the game goes on, and more provides a subtle, yet effective way of development for the cast across the large 40-50 hour playtime.
One thing I was scared of was Shibuya not being a relevant location for the new main character's development, but I was wrong. The way the writers handle Shibuya's status as a loud clashing city of many different people and ideas for Rindo's development is subtle compared to Neku's development, yet is done in a way that you can notice the direction it is going for. All together, Rindo is an amazing protagonist, and his character growth certainly stands up to Neku's in the previous game. The phrase, "The World Ends with You" still applies in full force to the themes of the story.
Voice acting is mostly pretty solid, but with some stinky delivery at certain scenes. Special shout outs to Rindo's voice actor in English for staying consistently great throughout the entire game. He really knocks it out of the park for the major moments. It takes a while for the story to really get going, but when it amps up, it gets really good, and is definitely a worthwhile follow up to the original in terms of themes and character growth. Not much to say without spoiling it, but trust me, it's good.
Combat is very fun, but at first, it might seem almost insultingly easy. But don't be deceived, Week 1 combat is a joke in terms of difficulty but Week 2 onward can give you a run for your money if you brainlessly mash buttons for fights (played primarily on Hard mode). Some noise variants are extremely difficult if you try to mash through them, so be careful. Lots of room for optimization and strategy if you really put your mind to it, and there's a plethora of different pins you can experiment with to help spice combat up. The combat system gradually introduces new mechanics as you continue through the story as well, meaning combat will always feel fresh in some way as you progress through the main story. The new food system and the clothing system are a cool way of handling stat growths, with there being a lot of options and strategy you can do when choosing to use these systems. The postgame is also great, with plenty of things to do once you're done with the main story.
Music as well was for the most part very good, but I think Final Remix's soundtrack was better. There are a lot of new songs I really liked, like Kill the Itch, Breaking Free, bird in the hand, SCRAMBLE, LAST CALL, and more. Unfortunately, the remixes are a bit 50/50, with some being great reimaginings, while others are very iffy and barely hold a candle to the original variants.
My main critiques of the game is that the game did not need to be as long as it should have, with some missions feeling like the game was justifying the 60 dollar price tag by just having padding to let a day last an few hours. The game is around 40-50 hours long, but some of that playtime can feel a bit like nothing is happening because of these padded missions, slowing down pacing of the story at certain points in the game. Also on Switch, the performance can get atrocious at times, and the game crashed more that I would have liked. Loading times between battles and transitions into different areas in Shibuya can feel longer than they should as well, with these issues hopefully being less of a problem on PS4/5 and PC versions.
Besides that, a very worthwhile follow up to the original game that all fans of it should play. Also, that terrible 'A New Day' story from Final Remix is actually justified from this making this automatically amazing just for managing to make that horrible story worthwhile.
Didn't think this game would be that good, but I was pleasantly surprised. The main cast is fantastic, with the characters themselves feeling very realistic (with obvious exceptions like Sho) and most of the cast bounce off each other very well in interactions. Every new member of the cast was developed sufficiently well over the course of the game, with Rindo and Fret's development in particular standing out in my mind. The side characters as well were very good. Returning characters from the original are also very consistent from their characterization there, with some additional development as well that compliments their arcs from the original games and their relationships with the new cast. One thing to note is that character development seems less obvious than Neku because none of the new characters flaws are as pronounced as Neku's in the original, but seeing the conflict and growth they go through in subtle ways through changing sprite expressions, tonal shifts in their dialogue toward one another as the game goes on, and more provides a subtle, yet effective way of development for the cast across the large 40-50 hour playtime.
One thing I was scared of was Shibuya not being a relevant location for the new main character's development, but I was wrong. The way the writers handle Shibuya's status as a loud clashing city of many different people and ideas for Rindo's development is subtle compared to Neku's development, yet is done in a way that you can notice the direction it is going for. All together, Rindo is an amazing protagonist, and his character growth certainly stands up to Neku's in the previous game. The phrase, "The World Ends with You" still applies in full force to the themes of the story.
Voice acting is mostly pretty solid, but with some stinky delivery at certain scenes. Special shout outs to Rindo's voice actor in English for staying consistently great throughout the entire game. He really knocks it out of the park for the major moments. It takes a while for the story to really get going, but when it amps up, it gets really good, and is definitely a worthwhile follow up to the original in terms of themes and character growth. Not much to say without spoiling it, but trust me, it's good.
Combat is very fun, but at first, it might seem almost insultingly easy. But don't be deceived, Week 1 combat is a joke in terms of difficulty but Week 2 onward can give you a run for your money if you brainlessly mash buttons for fights (played primarily on Hard mode). Some noise variants are extremely difficult if you try to mash through them, so be careful. Lots of room for optimization and strategy if you really put your mind to it, and there's a plethora of different pins you can experiment with to help spice combat up. The combat system gradually introduces new mechanics as you continue through the story as well, meaning combat will always feel fresh in some way as you progress through the main story. The new food system and the clothing system are a cool way of handling stat growths, with there being a lot of options and strategy you can do when choosing to use these systems. The postgame is also great, with plenty of things to do once you're done with the main story.
Music as well was for the most part very good, but I think Final Remix's soundtrack was better. There are a lot of new songs I really liked, like Kill the Itch, Breaking Free, bird in the hand, SCRAMBLE, LAST CALL, and more. Unfortunately, the remixes are a bit 50/50, with some being great reimaginings, while others are very iffy and barely hold a candle to the original variants.
My main critiques of the game is that the game did not need to be as long as it should have, with some missions feeling like the game was justifying the 60 dollar price tag by just having padding to let a day last an few hours. The game is around 40-50 hours long, but some of that playtime can feel a bit like nothing is happening because of these padded missions, slowing down pacing of the story at certain points in the game. Also on Switch, the performance can get atrocious at times, and the game crashed more that I would have liked. Loading times between battles and transitions into different areas in Shibuya can feel longer than they should as well, with these issues hopefully being less of a problem on PS4/5 and PC versions.
Besides that, a very worthwhile follow up to the original game that all fans of it should play. Also, that terrible 'A New Day' story from Final Remix is actually justified from this making this automatically amazing just for managing to make that horrible story worthwhile.