5 Games You Can Play Now While Waiting for NEO: The World Ends With You

I am very excited for NEO: The World Ends With you, but with a release date of July 27th, there’s still a while before it comes out…..
So what do we do with that remaining time?

How do we fill it?

Well, I did some brainstorming and came up with some games, kind of like The World Ends With You, so you kill time and stay in the same mood.

The World Ends With You

I did say games ‘like’ The World Ends With You, and what’s more ‘like’ a game than the game itself. And what better game to get you in the mood for the sequel than the original title itself?

You already know just how cool the game is! You can always experiment with different pin combos and play the game in new ways as you slaughter the noise in front of you. My personal favorite psychs to use are the velocity attack (dash) or grave marker (warp strike), but you don’t get those until the late game, so until then, I like fast melee strikes like the Jupiter of the Monkey’s shockwave or lance lunge attacks. But it’s always fun to mix it up.

Aegis Rim: 13 Sentinels

Stories with sequences that become much deeper and provide additional elements and meanings when you look over them on a replay or in hindsight are something I really like. I’m not going to tell you how this connects to The World Ends With You, but did you know the game had a bunch of fact-checking sessions to make sure everything was right?

Anyway, 13 protagonists? Who each adds something to an overarching narrative? Is that even possible?

The answer is yes. This crisscross of stories, with protagonists working on their own goals only to all intersect in the end over an alien invasion. It is something extraordinary. And that’s not getting into just how good the music and visuals are or the excellent RTS gameplay filled with extremely satisfying particle effects, perfectly timed voice lines, and an incredibly fine-tuned strategy that keeps the action pumping.

Devil Survivor

Set in Tokyo over a period of seven days, the Devil Survivor games, Overclocked and Record Breaker, are thematically very similar to The World Ends With You. Devil Survivor’s gameplay may be a slower-paced, tile-based strategy requiring a lot of planning. Still, with the urban aesthetic, teenage cast, and strong storytelling, it’s sure to hold your attention even if it goes really off the rails compared to The World Ends With You, as several choices will impact the story in significant ways. Characters will live or die depending on your actions.

I only found these games I love so much because I was looking for games like The World Ends With You in the first place. You can check out our what’s so good about videos on Devil Survivor: Overclocked and Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker to find out a lot more about this duology.

Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors

A visual novel puzzle game hybrid may not be your first guess as to ‘game that is similar to this really cool action RPG, but when I tell you, it involves a group of people trapped in a death game under a strong time limit with a story full of twists and turns.

You get it.

Nine Hours Nine Persons Nine Doors is a gripping story with fun and goofy characters in what would otherwise be an incredibly oppressive atmosphere. Starring a protagonist who far too plucky for the amount of stuff he is going through right now, Junpei has to solve puzzles with various compatriots to escape a slowly sinking titanic replica. Can he outwit the mysterious Zero who put them there in the first place? Or will the cast succumb to the mastermind’s machinations?
You can find some more details in our ‘what’s so good about video on the game.

Final Fantasy Type-0

Yet another Final Fantasy spin-off title, Final Fantasy Type-0, is an action RPG starring a class of high school students embroiled in a bitter war. You select three out of twelve playable characters and undertake various missions to charge into battle and cut down the soldiers in front of you.

While this lacks an urban aesthetic, death games, or major time limits, Final Fantasy Type-0 has its own seriously unique and impressive combat system.
Unlike many other action RPGs, Type-0 will have you getting skill upgrades that will shorten skill end lag, increase invincibility frames instead of your common regular attack or cost upgrades. However, it’s upfront about its focus on the timing, and you’ll want to strategize with your selected units to make the most of their cool abilities that you have full control of.

And that’s not even getting into the in-depth story; that really has way too much jargon for its own good, but it will have you caring for this group of teenagers who could really use a more beneficial school environment. Final Fantasy Type 0‘s soundtrack was also composed by Takeharu Ishimoto, who was responsible for the soundtrack of The World Ends With You, and it’s fun to see what other bangers this guy can make.

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That’s my list of five recommended games you can play while gearing up for NEO: The World Ends With You. If I’ve forgotten something important, let me know what it was. I’m sure there are other games I don’t even know about or didn’t mention.

Although if you mention Persona 5, I’m going to make sure you end up in the next reaper’s game.