It’s been a long road to Neo: The World Ends With You. The original came out on the DS in Japan in 2007 followed by its Western release a year later. It eventually got mobile ports as well as a Switch version. While those ports reviewed just as well as the original, it wasn’t the same as getting a new game.
With the sequel finally here, some fans may be wondering if the wait was worth it. Right now, Neo: The World Ends With You is getting great praise from various outlets; therefore, the easy answer is yes. However, there are a few things that Square Enix could do in order to make it a better experience through patches or DLC.
8 Add Co-Op
The World Ends With You on the DS did not have co-op and neither did the mobile ports. The Switch version of the game did add co-op support, and it was great. It seemed natural that the sequel would have co-op given that there are now four playable characters on screen at one time.
That’s only in the battles, which may sound weird for co-op to be delegated to just battles if implemented. However, this is how it is handled in the Tales franchise so it’s not out of the realm of possibilities.
7 Fix Character AI In Battle
If Square Enix doesn’t want to add co-op into the game then there is another thing they could do to characters to make battles easier. It would be great if they gave the other characters AI. Currently, they pretty much just stand around waiting for the player to call upon them.
They will not attack on their own. They might run or dodge, but that’s it. Kingdom Hearts has some of the best crossover characters but the AI is questionable at times. Having characters control themselves was better than nothing. Square Enix should try to emulate those games.
6 Add Another Map
There are two maps in the game. One is a mini-map displayed in the corner of the screen that is great but small. Another shows the district of Shibuya that the party is in. This map isn’t as detailed as the mini-map but it has its uses such as showing what stores are around.
It would be great if the mini-map could be blown up. This would make navigating through the confusing streets of Shibuya easier. Most games allow players to blow up the mini-map so the fact that this feature is missing from the game is confusing.
5 Add Fast Travel
There is kind of a fast travel system in Neo: The World Ends With You but not in the way most players want. A few hours into the game, Rindo will unlock the ability to travel through time. This is not uncommon for Square Enix RPGs.
So, this is a way to fast travel to the past in order to, for example, finish missions that were missed before. There is no way to fast travel around Shibuya to new districts in the present though.
4 Add A Jump Button
There is a skill tree in the game that is referred to as the social network. The more people Rindo meets, the more nodes will unlock in the social network. Each node, or character, has a special ability to buy such as new difficulties or the ability to instantly cash in Yen Pins.
There is also a character named Yusei who helps unlock the ability to jump over fences. This is great in theory, but fences or ledges that look like they can be crossed, can’t. Either this ability should be expanded upon or Square Enix should add an actual jump button.
3 Remove The Watermarks
The 1.0 version of this game allowed players to take screenshots on the Switch without watermarks. Then, on launch day, Square Enix released the 1.01 version of the game via a patch that added watermarks.
Patch 1.02 should revert these changes to remove the watermarks again. Titles that add watermarks nowadays look tacky. There simply is no reason for it.
2 Add More Voice Acting
Unlike The World Ends With You, the sequel has voice acting. The original game's character had previously found a voice in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. The added voice work in Neo: The World Ends With You is also good. There are a few wonky acting choices but overall it is solid.
The only major problem is that only about 30% of the game is voiced with the rest being text-based. That’s being generous too. It makes the game feel dated by today’s standards. Square Enix should have enough resources to add in more voice support. It would understandably be a mighty task to tackle but it would be a great patch for this game.
1 Showcase New Clothes In-Game
Another seemingly impossible ask would be to have Square Enix implement clothing updates. Fashion is a huge part of this game as it was in The World Ends With You. However, just like that game, characters do not change costumes when equipping a new hat, pair of shoes, or whatever. It was understandable on the DS as that platform had limitations.
It is less understandable on platforms like the Nintendo Switch or the PlayStation 4. Many games reflect costume or weapon changes, especially in RPGs, so it is not an unreasonable request. It would take a lot of time to do this though so maybe this is more like a note Square Enix should take to heart for a sequel.