Beginners Guide
Below are some useful information for new players in NEO: The World Ends With You. Included are details on the game’s characters, exploration, main story and side quests, scanning, combat system, equipment (Pins and Threads), food, and collectibles.
Characters
NEO: The World Ends With You follows the story of the Wicked Twisters, a newly-formed team of Players chosen to participate in the mysterious Reapers’ Game. Each of member of the Wicked Twisters possesses a unique Reaper Pin, giving them a special ability (Psych) to help them hold their own against enemies called Noise and even against other Players in the Reapers’ Game.
Rindo
Rindo is the game’s main protagonist who is granted the special Psych called Replay. This enables him to travel back in time. Replay is an incredibly powerful Psych in the world of the Reapers’ Game, allowing Rindo to alter the outcome of events by changing his actions on a given day in the past.
Fret
Fret, Rindo’s best friend, possesses the special Psych called Remind that enables him to awaken memories of those around him. By piecing together fragments of a person’s memories, Fret can make them remember important details to complete various objectives in the game.
Nagi
Nagi, a highly-intelligent girl that Rindo and Fret befriend in the Reapers’ Game, is granted the special Psych called Dive. This ability allows Nagi to enter a person’s thoughts and purge the influence of Noise within them, freeing them from its negative effects.
Exploration
NEO: The World Ends With You takes place in Shibuya which you can explore throughout the game’s main story. You can visit various locations while meeting new friends and foes and helping the residents of the city with their problems.
Main Story
The game’s main story is divided into Weeks that consist of Days. Each Day requires you to complete various objectives to progress to the next. At the end of certain Days, you will need to take on bosses which can be either Noise enemies or hostile Players in the Reapers’ Game.
Side Quests
Side quests are optional missions where you can help the citizens of Shibuya but have no effect on your progress in the main story. Clearing side quests, however, rewards you with useful items and money. In some cases, you may need to use special abilities like Fret’s Remind or Nagi’s Dive skills to complete side quests and receive their rewards.
Scanning
One of your key abilities as a Player in the Reapers’ Game is to scan your environment, displaying the thoughts of people around Shibuya as well as making Noise symbols visible.
Approach a person with a thought bubble to read their suits which can give you clues on your current objective.
Imprinting Keywords
Players in the Reapers’ Game cannot talk to people in Shibuya directly but can help them by “imprinting” keywords on their thoughts. You can obtain keywords fragments by talking to your friends or reading the thoughts of other people.
Initiating Combat
Interacting with Noise symbols, meanwhile, initiates combat against enemies called Noise. You will encounter a multitude of different Noise throughout the main story, each with their own unique abilities, behavior, strengths, and weaknesses that you can use to your advantage in battle.
Combat System
Action-style Team Battles
NEO: The World Ends With You features an action role-playing combat system where you take control of a team of up to four characters against Noise and enemy Players. Instead of each character in the party having their own HP gauge, a Team HP gauge is implemented which is reduced whenever any ally takes damage.
To fight enemies in the game, each character in your team can equip a Pin that grants them one ability in battle. The Pin’s ability can then be activated by a character through command buttons. This streamlined combat system turns the Team into one coordinated unit, using each member’s individual ability granted by the Pin as part of the team’s entire toolkit.
Groove Meter and Mashup
Upon landing a heavy attack or full combo on an enemy, a “Drop the Beat!” indicator will appear. When this happens, follow-up with an attack using a different character to increase the Groove meter shown at the top of the screen. Once the Groove meter is at 100 percent, press the ○ button to unleash use a powerful Mashup ability to deal massive damage on enemies or activate a powerful support buff for allies.
Social Network
The Social Network is an in-game chart that tracks your relationship with various characters you meet in the Reapers’ Game. As you build your connections with different people, you will be able to useful unlock items, abilities, and other useful features in the game.
Equipment
Pins
Pins are a form of collectible resource that allow characters to use various skills and abilities called Psychs. Only one Pin can be equipped on a character at a time so careful consideration on Pin loadouts for the Team is important, especially against tough enemies such as bosses. Try to experiment with as many Pin combinations as possible and find out which setups you are most comfortable using.
There are more than 300 Pins that are obtained throughout the game. Some are received as rewards for meeting certain objectives during the main story while others are dropped by defeated enemies. Other more powerful Pins are acquired through evolution by accumulating Pin Points (PP) and using them to improve the effects of weaker Pins.
Threads (Fashion Items)
Threads (fashion items) are pieces of equipment you can use to your character’s attack power, defense, and maximum HP. Each character has five equipment slots for wearing different types of threads which are hats, tops, bottoms, shoes, and accessories.
Threads can be bought at shops found throughout Shibuya. Be sure to save up on money to be able to purchase new Threads when you get the chance.
Food
Going to the various restaurants and food shops around Shibuya lets you eat different types of food that increase your stats in battle. In order to stay competitive in the Reapers’ Game, you will need to eat meals regularly so try as many dishes as you can while exploring the city.
Collectibles
A variety of collectible items can be found in NEO: The World Ends With You. Aside from Pins, Threads, and Food, you can collect and sample different books, music CDs, and Graffiti as you go through the game’s main story.
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