NEO: The World Ends With You is an action RPG with addictive combat. Fans of the game can spend many hours fighting battle after battle to farm up powerful pins. As with most games, NEO: The World Ends With You provides difficulty options that allow players to enjoy the story more casually or give a more satisfying challenge to those who want it. Cranking up the difficulty is also worthwhile for increasing the drop rate of rare pins. This guide will help players figure out exactly how to change difficulty in NEO: The World Ends With You and how to unlock the higher difficulty levels.
It should go without saying that changing the difficulty only affects the strength of Noise faced in combat. Puzzle-solving and exploration are just as important to the experience as the battle system. Players will spend a lot of time deciphering riddles and figuring out quiz answers in NEO: The World Ends With You. Gamers who are more interested in story or puzzle aspects than combat may just decide to leave the game on the default Normal difficulty.
RELATED: NEO: The World Ends With You Playtime Revealed
Players can access the difficulty menu at any time during exploration by pressing the touchpad on PS4 or the + button on Switch. In the beginning, gamers will only have a Normal difficulty option. Before starting NEO: The World Ends With You, casual fans should be aware that Easy difficulty is not immediately available.
Difficulty can also be adjusted by way of decreasing one's own level in the difficulty menu. Decreasing the level reduces the party's HP but increases the drop rate of pins. Players will still retain their max level, which they can revert to again at any time. Any experience points earned with a decreased level will continue to contribute to the party's max level.
Players who want to change to a difficulty setting other than Normal will have to unlock other options. This is done through the Social Network, a new feature in NEO: TWEWY. The Social Network is essentially a skill tree system. New nodes are unlocked on the Network by interacting with other characters and completing their quests. Some of these nodes offer new difficulty options for purchase.
Difficulty in NEO: TWEWY is highly customizable. With basic difficulty options and a more complex level modifier, it's possible for fans to really push themselves to the limits for the sake of making important loot more accessible. Pins are one of the best things about The World Ends With You, so hardcore fans should do whatever it takes to collect a lot of them.
NEO: The World Ends With You is available now for PS4 and Switch. A PC version is currently in development.