Later this month, the long-awaited sequel toThe World Ends With Youwill finally drop, bringing with it a whole host of characters and storylines to tackle. Fans have been waiting forNEO: The World Ends With YousinceTWEWY -Solo Remix-released for iOS in 2012 with a secret teaser image. It’s no wonder fans are in such a frenzy; not only is that a long time to sit with an enigmatic teaser for a sequel to a niche game, but the 2018Final Remixrelease for Switch stoked the flames with an extended epilogue that all-but confirmed a sequel was on it’s way. Now, three years later in both the game world and the real world,NEO: TWEWYlooks to give loyal fans what they want.
However, that’s not the only fanbase that should be paying attention to this release.The World Ends With Youshares a lot of key staff withKingdom Hearts, so much so thatNEOcouldn’t properly begin development untilTWEWY Final Remixwas done and the Xehanort saga was nearing completion in late 2018. Due to that, and becauseNEO: TWEWYhas made the jump to full 3D gameplay, it has a good chance offeeling like an honoraryKingdom Heartsgame.KHfans are going to want to get used to thinking that, because there’s potentially a lot to learn about the nextKingdom Heartsgame fromNEO.
RELATED:Kingdom Hearts Characters Missing in KH3 Who Hopefully Appear in KH4
Shibuya and Kingdom Hearts' Quadratum
Like many Japanese games,NEO: The World Ends With Youtakes place in afictionalized version of the real city of Shibuya. This is marked by the 104 building, Square Enix’s own version of the famous 109 building overlooking the Shibuya Crossing. For reasons yet unknown, this fictional 104 building, surrounded by what seems to be Shibuya’s modern stylings, was also teased as the location for the next majorKingdom Heartsgame. A secret movie can be unlocked at the end ofKH3depicting Sora, Riku, the Master of Masters, and Yozora wandering through one or two parallel versions of Shibuya, complete with the 104 building sitting by its major intersection.
It appears thatQuadratum, the “world of fiction”discussed at the end ofKingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory, contains at least one imitation of Shibuya, which, in the context of the Square Enix and Disney crossover that isKingdom Hearts, immediately bringsTWEWYto mind. The firstTWEWY’s party served as the NPCs forKingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance’s rendition of Traverse Town. It’s possible that they could appear somewhere in Quadratum, but it feels more likely that theNEOcast will get their chance to shine. These versions wouldn’t be the same as those in their home series, but as Neku’s crew are refugees from a destroyed world inKHand there’s a mystery regarding the destruction of Shinjuku inTWEWY, there could still be parallels.
The Reaper’s Game and Kingdom Hearts
One of thoseparallels may beTWEWY’s famous Reaper’s Game. This “game” is a life-or-death struggle set in an afterlife parallel to the real world — so close, in fact, that the two can affect each other. Players complete challenges and sometimes compete with one another (it depends on how a region’s Reapers do things) to make it through a week, at which point they can have a wish granted and be returned to life. There’s a lot of other fine details that are best appreciated by playing theTWEWYgames or watching the recent anime, but that’s the gist.
It seems like Yozora and Riku are going to be performing something similar to this in the nextKingdom Hearts. Sora is essentially dead aftersaving Kairi’s life inKingdom Hearts 3, butReMindimplies that some part of him is sealed inside Quadratum. The forces of light will need to go up against a new villain faction, which will likely be headed by the Foretellers and Master of Masters. The parallels to the conflict between the Game’s Players and Reapers for the promise of life are pretty clear, though it might not be so cut-and-dry in context. Whatever the case, mainlineKingdom Heartsdirector andThe World Ends With Youcreative producer Tetsuya Nomura loves to connect pieces of information across games, soKHfans will want to pay attention toNEO: TWEWYfor any juicyKHclues.
NEO: The World Ends With Youwill release on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 on Jun 20, 2025. The game will release on PC later in summer 2021.
MORE:The World Ends With You Anime Is The Perfect Way To Get Ready For The Game Sequel
