With the impending release of The World Ends With You: Final Remix on Nintendo Switch, Square Enix held a stage event for the game during Tokyo Game Show. During the event Tetsuya Nomura, the producer and character designer of both the original game and Final Remix, was present for a short Q&A. Along with the Q&A there were a host of new details provided on the “New Day” scenario being added into Final Remix.
After completing the main game, New Day will open up as a sort of new game plus scenario. Coco Atarashi, the new Reaper character added into the smartphone versions will be fully fleshed out as a prominent character, and the difficulty is significantly amped up from the base experience. At the same time, apparently map transitions will be all messed up in this scenario, meaning you don’t really know where you’ll end up.
Following the new info, here’s the short Q&A with Nomura which covers a few different topics, like the inspiration behind the New Day scenario. We’ll post the Q&A below.
Q: It’s been 11 years since the game originally launched on Nintendo DS. What made you release the “Final Remix” version after all this time?
A: No matter whom I interviewed with, everyone all over the world always said to me, “Please do something with this series!” So I knew I had to give the fans what they wanted. Before I knew it, though, 11 years really had gone by! Once Nintendo Switch came out, I knew that this game console was the perfect fit for my vision- this was our chance to release the “Final Remix”.
Q: When did you come up with the concept for “A New Day” and how it would fall into the timeline of events?
A: We talked a lot about this kind of story scenario way back when we originally developed the game 11 years ago. “What would happen next?,” we thought. Once we decided to develop this new version of the game, we knew it was our opportunity to make those original plans come to life, but we didn’t want the addition just to be a little stinger at the end of game. Rather, we wanted to create a full, playable story scenario that really stands on its own and connects to, or hints at, the original story. And as for the placement, it definitely takes place after the ending and is a continuation of the story.
Tetsuya Nomura’s Final Statement
“This release, 11 years later, is entirely thanks to the dedicated fans of ‘The World Ends With You’. Rather than call this a ‘remaster’, I like to think of this version of the game as a ‘new beginning!’ I will be working hard on future development that will make you glad that you supported this game so passionately for so long.”
The World Ends With You: Final Remix launches on Oct. 12 for Nintendo Switch. You can also take a look at the most recent trailer for the game which shows off a bit of the characters and the New Day scenario.
