Set in Shibuya ward in Tokyo, you play a character called Rindo, who is part of a street crew called The Wicked Twisters. Your job is to uncover “the mysteries behind the sinister Reapers’ Game,” a week-long competition to save your soul. As you proceed you’ll take on other crews and deal with the Shibuya and Shinjuku Reapers in the process.
A big part of the game will be scanning and fighting Noise, nefarious manifestations of negative emotions that appear throughout Shibuya. When Rindo scans for Noise they will also be able to see the thoughts of the everyday people of Shibuya.
Much like the first game, players will assign pins to their party members that change their attack mechanics in combat. In Neo, you’ll be able to control multiple party members during battle, and each teammate will hold one of the 300 available pins, which can be activated to unleash a special attack.
Pins and threads can be purchased from a variety of shops in Shibuya to upgrade a character’s stats and abilities, and you’ll have to figure out a good combination of pins and threads for your team to fit the way you like to play. The composer of the original game Takeharu Ishimoto is back for Neo, and so is the protagonist of the first game, Neku. A hooded Neku with a new outfit is revealed at the end of the latest trailer for the game.
Players who preorder the game on the PlayStation Store will get access to a Legendary Threads Set that boosts stats in battle, as well as a special set of Avatars. Neo: The World Ends With You launches on July 27 later this year for PS4 and Nintendo Switch. It will also come to the Epic Games Store in Summer 2021.
Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.