#also an excuse to talk about the breaking of cycles in twewy since i don't see it mentioned much

[lapinparka]

Yes to all these tags! (And the rest but I just wanted to respond to these particular ones.)

I feel the fact that the choice being paralleled in a more palatable way in NEO is possibly a reason for the increase in people misunderstanding the original after NEO's release, since people are viewing it retroactively through that lens (similarly to how people will paste Hazuki's role as an outsider and general personality back onto Joshua, because while Hazuki may have gone through with destroying his city which was actually one of the districts Joshua was trying to protect from what he perceived as Shibuya's toxic influence, it's easier for people to deal with a guy who's seemingly easy going and detached from the RG and appears for 5 minutes, than it is with Joshua's messiness and painful proximity to his own humanity and the fact that he's scattered himself across TWEWY's narrative and you really have to dig to find the parts of himself he's trying to hide.)

And yes to the Composer thing as well! Before the reveal, Neku had stepped into that room prepared to take down the Composer (who he thought was Hanekoma at the time). Ultimately, he was still hurtling down the same path Joshua walked, despite his development. And if he'd pulled the trigger and been forced into that same position of isolation and perpetual loneliness, then he would've ended up just like Joshua did. The cycle would've repeated. But he cared about Joshua and broke that cycle. Enough that he offers Joshua the thing Composerhood should have eternally denied him via a simple invitation at the end.

One of the things I really love about Neku is how I feel he's written as person first and a playable character second.

This is obviously clear in the beginning, where a lot of his actions or thoughts will end up frustrating the player, or outright making them hate him. But I think it comes back at the end too, during the final duel, at the point where his development has made a lot of people forget the kind of person he was at the start.

There's a lot of cases where people don't understand why Neku lowers the gun, or complain about him doing it. I've actually seen instances of people either mad that he doesn't shoot, try to rationalise it by believing his final entry fee is the bullets in his gun (despite this contradicting the outcome of the scene), or at one point, in the comments of a YouTube video, claim that the scene should've had two choices, which allows the player to pick whether he pulls the trigger or not.

These kind of reactions fundamentally miss the fact that Neku is not the player. He is not a self-insert character. There are points in the game when he is conflicted, where you can choose between two things and he'll do either - but when he's truly set on something, there's nothing you can do to make him stray from that path. He won't abandon Sota. He won't join Megumi. And he won't shoot Joshua. You're not even given a choice in the last situation, because it was never about you.

Many other games would have the option to shoot, and moreover, would have the choice to lower the gun result in the Bad Ending. This is why people are fine with him aiding Sota or turning down Megumi - because those are the classically "heroic" options. Choosing one boy over a city of people - the same boy who just revealed he caused Neku's death - is not generically, universally relatable, or feel good, and the scene itself reflects this too. It's sombre, painful, accompanied by tears. It's Neku making a choice that he believes will result in Shibuya's destruction, a choice the average player absolutely would not make, and that's what causes the confusion or anger. It also really serves to reinforce how Neku understands Joshua in a way both people in Joshua's own life and people watching him through the screen don't.

Neku will connect with people you dislike. Neku will make choices you disapprove of. Neku won't shoot Joshua, ever. The game itself asks you to try and understand why he does this, like Neku himself tries to understand those around him, but some players just won't make that effort.

Neku is such a good character because you can relate to him, you can try to understand him, but he isn't and will never be you.