Neo: The World Ends With You is very much like its DS predecessor. The game stars a group of teens who are trapped in Shibuya. They apparently died and only have seven days to win the Reapers‘ game or wise something bad is going to happen. What could that be? Are they really dead? And is it really only seven days?

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Those mysteries will be left alone. What’s important now is dishing out some tips for this new Switch RPG from Square Enix. The battle system is not as complex as the original but there are still a few mechanics Neo: The World Ends With You doesn’t outright teach. Let’s help out with those beginning hours. 

10 What’s New?

For those that played the original game, The World Ends With You, there are a few big changes to be aware of from the DS and Switch versions. Neo: The World Ends With You still uses pins as its main source of attack commands but it is now button-only action. There are no motion controls. It’s also now in 3D which is a huge step up from the 2D viewpoint of the original. Voices are also new so all in all this is everything fans should want a sequel should be. 

9 Download The Demo Before Starting The Game 

This may sound like an odd piece of advice but before playing the actual game, pick up the demo. Players just have to get to the first autosave point which should only take a few minutes. This save file can then be transferred over to the main game so that progress can carry over. That’s cool, but the bigger reward is Neku’s outfit from The World Ends With You. It will give party members a huge boost early on so don’t miss out. 

8 If You Hate Watermarks, Don’t Update Your Game

For players that preordered Neo: The World Ends With You digitally before the launch date, or for players that picked up a physical edition, they will be playing the 1.0 version of the game. There was a day one patch that went live which changed one major thing: it added watermarks to screenshots.

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This is strange in that the launch version was free of this clutter. Why add it after? The 1.0 version is completely playable so if one cares about taking screenshots freely, don’t update Neo: The World Ends With You. 

7 Gather Noise To Level Up Fast

Neo: The World Ends With You tells players that an easy way to boost experience and loot dropped is to gather multiple Noise marks at once. That piece of advice is obvious. What is not clearly stated is that there is a time limit from when the last Noise mark was gathered. If one wants big rewards, look at the map before gathering Noise. Plan a route and stick to it in order to get as much Noise as possible before it auto-starts. 

6 Always Go Into Battle With New Pins

Pins can level up pretty fast early on in Neo: The World Ends With You. It doesn’t take much and their max levels are relatively low around the three to five level mark. After every battle, always make sure these pins aren’t mastered. If they are then switch them out for a new one even if that pin is the same but at level one. There is a reason why leveling up multiple pins of the same type is a good idea. 

5 What To Sell

Monsters do not drop money. In order to earn it players have to sell pins. Some pins are literally marked with Yen and are only good for getting cash. Players will more likely get repeats of the same pin over and over again that they could sell instead.

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The reason why leveling up multiple pins of the same type is a good idea is because mastered pins fetch more money than non-mastered pins. It’s the same as Materia in Final Fantasy VII, another Square Enix RPG. Always be rotating, that’s the motto. 

4 Certain Attacks Can Be Used Simultaneously 

The World Ends With You had players act with one partner. Neku would be controlled using the stylist on the DS while his partner was controlled using the D-Pad and buttons on the top screen. This time around the party has been expanded to four characters and as mentioned earlier commands are tied to buttons. 

Neo: The World Ends With You then isn’t so much based on a typical RPG party so much as characters represent buttons if that makes sense. It may not seem like these attacks can be used together but some can be. Not all of them are easy to do like using a Y attack with a charged R attack. Using L and R attacks at once works very well though. Experiment and test out the limits of the game.

3 Talk To Everyone, Shop Everywhere

After a couple hours of the game players will get access to a skill tree. It’s framed as a social network of people that Rindo has met. This network includes everyone from party members to reapers to store managers. Even though it may not seem worthwhile at first, make sure to talk to every NPC in town and to shop everywhere. Doing so will expand the grid and unlock new abilities for players to buy such as the ability to get an Easy difficulty setting. 

2 Ordering Food Is Easy

One of the best new and improved additions to Neo: The World Ends With You includes leveling up through eating out at restaurants. Leveling up in battles only increases HP. In order to beef up attack and defense stats, for example, food must be consumed. It’s just like the food system in Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game. Players purchase food or items and they permanently increase stats in that game.

There is no limit to how much one consumes in that game but there is in Neo: The World Ends With You. The game explains that certain foods will net better results if a character likes them. In that tutorial it doesn’t explain how but it’s very easy. When ordering out simply pick a food and put it on the character. If the reaction animation is good they will like that food. Players don’t even need to buy anything to test this out. It’s so simple which is great. 

1 Don’t Be Afraid Of Lowering Your Level

While it may seem like a daunting idea to lower a level back to one in the difficulty settings, don’t be afraid. The scale exchanges HP for boosts in item drop rates. If enough equipment is on hand, it won’t even matter that much. Chaining Noise together and lowering levels is such a great way to rack up experience and items quickly. Just make sure to save before testing out a big chain. 

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