I'm gonna start off this review by saying, I don't think NEO has the same level of thematic cohesion as the first game, and that's disappointing. It's sorta difficult to do things like give EXP for having the game off while you go outside on console. I think there was a missed opportunity to integrate online elements to fill that gap, especially since social media plays a big role in the arcs of these characters. I also just, don't enjoy the combat as much? There is less enemy and ability variety, and battles can take an overly long time.
All that being said, the only reason I didn't put NEO in my favorites on this site is that I prefer the first game's box art.
The message of the first TWEWY resonates, I praised the hell out of it in my review, but it's also, in a way, sort of easy? Like, Neku is an obviously flawed character you do not want to be like. NEO's protagonist Rindo is much more subtlely flawed, and I think that makes the point his arc makes hit a wider range of people more directly, particularly myself. Where Neku was perhaps too individualistic, rejecting connection with others, Rindo isn't enough of his own being. He defers to others for hard decisions, he's quick to jump to his phone under stress, he lives his life according to trite, motivational instagram memes. Rindo doesn't outright reject the world around him, but he lets it glaze by him while he's playing Pokemon Go. Once again, the critique is balanced. Games and the internet are wonderful and create connections, but they are not a replacement for real life.
In a way, NEO being delayed for 15 years ended up working to its benefit. It's able to tell a similar story, but geared to a generation distant enough from the mid 2000s that a new message is needed. I love TWEWY, but it didn't make reasses my life. NEO did. After the Covid-19 Pandemic I'd become a bit of a NEET, spending her whole day on Twitter or Discord, talking to people who did not make me happy, at the cost of the rest of my life. It's NEO that inspired me, once I restarted my education, put my phone away in class and force myself to talk to other people, reach out for leadership positions, make new friends, go and really see the wonderful world that's out there.
All that being said, the only reason I didn't put NEO in my favorites on this site is that I prefer the first game's box art.
The message of the first TWEWY resonates, I praised the hell out of it in my review, but it's also, in a way, sort of easy? Like, Neku is an obviously flawed character you do not want to be like. NEO's protagonist Rindo is much more subtlely flawed, and I think that makes the point his arc makes hit a wider range of people more directly, particularly myself. Where Neku was perhaps too individualistic, rejecting connection with others, Rindo isn't enough of his own being. He defers to others for hard decisions, he's quick to jump to his phone under stress, he lives his life according to trite, motivational instagram memes. Rindo doesn't outright reject the world around him, but he lets it glaze by him while he's playing Pokemon Go. Once again, the critique is balanced. Games and the internet are wonderful and create connections, but they are not a replacement for real life.
In a way, NEO being delayed for 15 years ended up working to its benefit. It's able to tell a similar story, but geared to a generation distant enough from the mid 2000s that a new message is needed. I love TWEWY, but it didn't make reasses my life. NEO did. After the Covid-19 Pandemic I'd become a bit of a NEET, spending her whole day on Twitter or Discord, talking to people who did not make me happy, at the cost of the rest of my life. It's NEO that inspired me, once I restarted my education, put my phone away in class and force myself to talk to other people, reach out for leadership positions, make new friends, go and really see the wonderful world that's out there.