The Ballad(s) of the Wicked Twisters (MAJOR SPOILERS)
NEO The World Ends With You is an anomaly. As a game partly about believing in the power of possibility, it is itself a testament to long-held faith receiving a just reward. Despite middling sales and controversial ports of the original The World Ends With You, NEO finally releases as both a strong followup and a thoughtful reshaping of its themes; and no less than fourteen years later.
SPOLER WARNING: There are major, endgame spoilers in this post!
NEO returns players to its fictional depiction of Shibuya. Here, they once again participate in the deadly Reapers’ Game, where the recently deceased fight in limbo for a new chance at life. But while the original game imparted lessons about living life to its fullest and learning how to form connections with other people, NEO considers the nuances and challenges of doing the same in a more modern, post-social media context.
In NEO, you play as Rindo Kanade. Rindo and his best friend Fret find themselves new entrants in the Reapers’ Game, despite no recollection of either of them dying. Rindo is quiet, introspective, and typically indecisive. He’s thoughtful and cares for his friends; particularly Fret and an online friend of three years that goes by “Swallow”, despite the fact he and the latter have never met. But the rules in Shibuya have changed; the Reapers’ Game is no longer played as a competition between groups of two (as in the original TWEWY), but now between full-on street teams with branding and designated captains. And as the leader of The Wicked Twisters, Rindo’s indecision is his greatest challenge to overcome.
Tosai “Fret” Furosawa is Rindo’s aforementioned best friend. Fret is affable and jovial — he makes a great foil to the more reserved Rindo. Their interactions are as believable as they are entertaining and almost certainly familiar to anyone with a friend they know as closely. Their differences certainly compliment each other, but they aren’t actually polar opposites. For all his jokes and his ability to make friends quickly, Fret struggles to express himself truly.
One of the rival team leaders, Kanon Tachibana of the Variabeauties, is receptive to Fret’s flirtations whenever she and the Twisters bump into each other, but she notes at one point that they don’t seem genuine. And by not being genuine, Fret stunts his relationships and his ability to impress upon people how he really feels, Kanon included. Fret does overcome this, but tragically it’s only upon Kanon losing a round of the Reapers’ Game — she’s erased, losing her shot at a new life and her presence in limbo with the other Players. Fret mourns Kanon and explains that the reason he struggles to be more genuine with her and his friends is the result of a previous loss. He tried to support a friend in need as best as possible, but things still ended with them passing, and Fret still carries that pain, terrified of something similar occurring.
Nagi Usui is the third member of The Wicked Twisters. A college student otaku obsessed with a popular strategy game, she has the ability to dive into the minds of others, assuaging their fears or anxieties. While she’s deferential to Rindo as team captain and equally cordial with the other Twisters, she particularly struggles to acknowledge Fret in casual conversations between the team. However, it’s progressively revealed that Nagi is the most empathetic of the team. She observes her team mates temperaments (obvious or less-so though they may be), worries for them, and tries to encourage them in her own way. She does this because she feels that even though she may struggle to get along with certain personalities (like Fret), making the effort to understand the emotions and attitudes of other people is simply a part of being a human being.
Shoka Sakurane is one of the last characters to join the Wicked Twisters. Initially a Reaper herself, Shoka antagonizes Rindo and the Twisters and monitors the game at large until a plot twist finds her on the outs with her now-former fellow Reapers, and inserted into the game as a Player herself. Shoka has a caustic wit, but a kind heart. She worries for her close friend and Reaper, Ayano Kamachi, laments her former co-workers slide from more neutral work into outright villainy, and helps the Twisters gain advantage in the Game — unbeknownst to them until later. In the game’s final hours we learn that Shoka was Swallow the entire time and it’s this revelation that most greatly represents the nuance and authenticity in the portrayal of this cast and their inner/outer struggles.
Who we are online vs how we present in real life — they can be very different. This speaks not to dishonesty, but duality; something we all posess. Some of us end too many texts with a “lol”. We cover our pain with humor. Our anxieties manifest as “quirks” in social interactions. Sometimes the only way to really be ourselves is through a screen name and an avatar. But what matters is that we work to overcome these things, growing beyond these obstacles and hopefully helping others do the same.
Late in the game, Rindo manages to make it out of the Reapers’ Game and back to real life in Shibuya. But he’s alone. None of his team mates have returned with him and he’s plunged into hopelessness. A deity commanding an even higher power than that of the Reapers offers him the power to go back, redo his last bout of the Reapers’ Game, and save everyone. He might fail, but the catch is: It’s his choice to actually go back and try or not. He can live out his life in peace, grow up, make new friends — or risk it all to save the ones he loves. Rindo rises to that challenge, works with his team, and everyone makes it back after all.
The world begins with us; It’s the friends we make and the relationships we build. The effort we put in, even at the risk of it being all for naught. In the face of that possibility, we hold on to hope for another, better future and work towards it.
In the game’s ending, Rindo finally comes face to face with Shoka, now in the real world. She’s lost access to her old “Swallow” account, but she’s been searching for Rindo online and off. They’re finally free from the Reapers’ Game, able to build a friendship in person. It’s the last challenge for The Wicked Twisters — and this one’s in the bag.
Big thanks as always to Andrea Shearon of The Gamer for editing this. Read her work there or follow her on twitter!
