NEO: The World Ends with You is finally releasing worldwide on Nintendo Switch and PS4 in a few weeks. The original The World Ends with You was a unique experience on Nintendo DS and it has been ported to mobile and Nintendo Switch since but neither of the ports have felt as good as the original so I was a bit skeptical about NEO: The World Ends with You’s gameplay. Considering it has been built for PS4 and Nintendo Switch right from the get go with no control changes needed or features removed, I was hoping it would feel great to play. NEO: The World Ends with You’s demo is available on all platforms. I’ve now played it on PS4 Pro, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch Lite, and PS5 via backward compatibility and it has been a joy to experience with its great aesthetic and awesome music. A lot of people are wondering what to buy the game on so this feature should help decide where to buy the sequel no one thought we would ever get.
NEO: The World Ends with You PS4 vs Nintendo Switch graphics
NEO: The World Ends with You looks great on Nintendo Switch for the most part. The 3D gameplay portions on Nintendo Switch, while nice looking handheld (and less so docked), lack good post-processing, so there are a lot of aliased elements. It also doesn’t help that the main character’s 3D model doesn’t look crisp enough (even in the PS4 version). The 2D elements and transitions on Nintendo Switch look very good. Even in combat, the Nintendo Switch version is visually pleasing.
On PS4 Pro and PS5, the PS4 version is gorgeous almost across the board. The only downside is the main character model should’ve been higher resolution or have better anti-aliasing. This reminds me of how character models look in Persona 5 Strikers when played on console versus the cleaned up look on PC at a higher resolution and with good anti-aliasing.
For visuals, the Nintendo Switch version is good overall and while I am impressed with how well it holds up handheld, the PS4 version is the one to get for playing on TV.
NEO: The World Ends with You PS4 vs Nintendo Switch frame rate
When it comes to performance, the gap between the Nintendo Switch and PS4 versions is pretty wide. I expected the Nintendo Switch version to target 30fps but it actually has an uncapped frame rate. It goes above and below 30fps depending on the action on screen. During exploration, most of the drops occur when you’re scanning or when the camera pans and there are a lot of things on screen. During combat, it usually feels good but certain skills and particle effects cause the frame rate to drop below 30fps. I feel like an option to cap the frame rate would’ve been nice for those who prefer less variance in performance.
On PS4 Pro and PS5, NEO: The World Ends with You targets 60fps and on PS5, I haven’t had a single drop. On PS4 Pro, it felt like the frame rate dropped a bit during some transitions but it feels great during gameplay and exploration. If you have a PS5 or PS4 Pro, NEO: The World Ends with You shines with smooth performance and even better load times.
For frame rate and performance, NEO: The World Ends with You on PS4 is a lot better than the Nintendo Switch version and later portions of the game with more particle effects and busier battles might see the difference grow larger between both platforms. I will check those out when the full game is available.
NEO: The World Ends with You PS4 vs Nintendo Switch load times and performance
Having tested NEO: The World Ends with You on PS4 Pro’s internal hard drive, PS5 SSD (PS4 game running in backward compatibility), and Nintendo Switch, the load time differences aren’t much in-game. The initial load from the dashboard sees the biggest difference with Nintendo Switch also having some transition delays between areas or scenes while those are instant on PlayStation. Overall, the Nintendo Switch version is a lot better than I expected here.
Initial load from dashboard to title screen
- PS5 internal: 32 seconds
- PS4 Pro internal: 38 seconds
- Nintendo Switch: 43 seconds
Loading a save to having control in-game
- PS5 internal: 8-9 seconds
- PS4 Pro internal: 8-9 seconds
- Nintendo Switch: 14 seconds
NEO: The World Ends with You PS4 vs Nintendo Switch what to buy
Overall, NEO: The World Ends with You so far has been a lot better than expected on Nintendo Switch when it comes to visuals. It looks great handheld and while not as great docked, the animations and 2D portions shine. On PS4 Pro and PS5, it looks better overall but the character models sometimes feel like they could’ve been better to match the higher quality of the rest of the scene. This reminds e While NEO: The World Ends with You isn’t as polished on Nintendo Switch as The World Ends with You: Final Remix, it is better than many third party ports to the system.
For visuals, PS4 Pro and PS5 are better overall with better post-processing and a more polished look but the performance and frame rate is where those platforms shine versus Nintendo Switch. On Nintendo Switch NEO: The World Ends with You has an uncapped frame rate that fluctuates both above and below 30fps depending on what is happening on screen. It also helps that the load times are better in the PS4 version especially when played on a PS5 through backward compatibility.
Overall, if you want the best version of NEO: The World Ends with You, the demo has shown that it is on PS4 Pro and PS5. If you are ok with fluctuating performance and don’t mind giving up 60fps for playing in handheld, the Nintendo Switch version looks good in handheld but it should’ve been better when it comes to performance stability. Hopefully this can be improved in future updates on Nintendo Switch because it is a step down from The World Ends with You: Final Remix on Nintendo’s hybrid system.
While this feature was based on the demo builds for both and the full game on Nintendo Switch (through Square Enix’s store sending out a code early for my pre-order), hopefully Square Enix can address the performance issues on Nintendo Switch in future updates. I will be playing the full game on PS4 as well and will add any new information when available.
NEO: The World Ends with You releases on July 27 for Nintendo Switch and PS4 worldwide. It will be released in Summer 2021 for PC via the Epic Games Store.
Updated on July 26, 2021 – Added new information.
