Food is a type of an Item that can be eaten by either Neku or his partner in the first game, as well as Rindo and his teammates in the second. Food is the only way the player can permanently increase their stats such as HP, attack and defense until they reach their cap so it is always important the player be eating something whenever possible.
The World Ends with You[]
See: TWEWY/Food List
A food item is described by:
- number of Bytes required to digest
- immediate effect on sync rate
- effect after digestion is complete
- degree of like/dislike by each character
Eating[]
Once food is eaten, it starts digesting. During this period, each encounter the character wins digests 1 byte of the food. (Note: a chain-4 battle has 4 encounters.) So, if Neku eats a 16-byte item, the digestion will last until he wins 16 battles.
The initial sync bonus takes effect immediately and is affected by the character's likes and dislikes. After digestion is complete, the other bonus takes effect. This can either be a permanent increase of the character's Attack, Defense, Hit Points or Bravery, a permanent increase of the pin Drop Rate, or another temporary sync increase. These bonuses (including the sync increase) are not affected by likes and dislikes.
Once a character digests 18 bytes of food on any given day, they cannot eat any food item larger than 6 bytes until that day ends (at midnight). However, if the player has the Hollow Leg Sticker, the player can eat as many bytes per day as they wish. In either case, a character cannot eat while the previous food is still being digested.
The character's stomach is represented by the 6 x 4 grid below each character's picture in the items menu. Food being digested in shown in green, yellow, and red squares; bytes already digested during the current earth day are shown in gray.
Effects[]
Food effects on characters are described in-game, with one exception: the influence of food likes/dislikes.
The sync gained from a food is merely an approximation. The actual sync gained could be more or less than the number listed depending on a character's like or dislike of that type of food. Every time a character is given a certain type of food, they will make a comment based on their level of like/dislike for it. The kind of food each character likes and dislikes usually reflects their personality/background, such as Beat liking fast-food whereas Shiki dislikes them.
| Level | Multiplier | Neku | Shiki | Joshua | Beat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 50% | "Ugh... Pass." | "You finish it." | "No thank you." | "Ugh, take it away!" |
| 2 | 75% | "Gross!" | "Eugh." | "Whatever doesn't kill me..." | "Ugh! Barf!" |
| 3 | 100% | "It's edible." | "Food's food." | "It'll have to do." | "That hit the spot!" |
| 4 | 150% | "Not bad." | "So yummy!" | "Compliments to the chef." | "This is great!" |
| 5 | 200% | "That's good." | "It's delicious!" | "Mmmm. I'm in paradise." | "It's a party in my mouth!" |
Among the likes and dislikes from the DS version:
- Beat has the most "hates" (1) with 7, with Joshua having the least with 3.
- Shiki and Joshua share the most "dislikes" (2) with 8, whereas Neku has the least with 2.
- Neku champions over the others with the most "neutral" (3) with 18, while Shiki has the least with 6.
- Shiki and Joshua have more "likes" (4) with 13, while comparison Neku and Beat each have 1 fewer at 12.
- Shiki has the most "loves" (5) with 9, while Joshua and Neku share the least with 6.
Remix versions saw these numbers shift due to all foods that boost sync when digested being changed to "normal" (3) for all characters. It also added the Gourmet Rice Ball loved by everyone. As a result of these changes:
- Joshua now only has 2 "hates" followed closely by Neku and Shiki with 3. Beat still has the most with 5.
- Shiki now has the most "dislikes" with 7, while Joshua has dropped to 6.
- Neku now has a whopping 21 "neutral" foods with the new additions, while Shiki still brings up the rear at 12.
- Shiki has dropped to 12 "likes", leaving Joshua in the lead. Beat and Neku have both dropped to 11.
- Shiki still leads with 9 "loves". Neku has climbed from 6 to 7 while Beat dropped from 7 to 6, tying with Joshua.
Among the listed foods:
- Hamburger, Pancakes, Mako Sinnergy, HP Tablets, Miso Ramen, Pumpkin Soup, Corn Chowder, House Blend and Nuggets are all relatively liked by main cast.
- The "Tatsumi" Burger, Definitivo Chili Dog, Mystic Ramen, and Absolute Shadow Ramen are one of their tops, without having a preference of 1, 2 or even 3.
- French Fries, ATK Capsules, Cordyceps, and Royal Jelly Q10 are the most average preference foods on the list, while Hot Dog defines the absolute neutral preference with all 3s.
- Sync Bar is hated by all in the DS version except Joshua who loves it with a 5, while BRAVE+ is disliked by all with a preference of 1.
- BRAVE+ also offers the least amount of sync due to it being hated by all. With an initial sync value of 1%, all four characters only benefit from half the sync, resulting in 0.5%.
- ATK Capsules offered the most initial sync prior to the addition of Gourmet Rice Ball, granting Beat and Joshua with 105%. Sync Bar grants the most overall sync prior to Gourmet Rice Ball, granting Joshua with 200% total in the DS version and granting everyone 150% total in the Remix versions.
- Gourmet Rice Ball later took over in both categories, granting a whopping 400% initial boost, though in effect it can only grant 100% while Sync Bar still grants more overall due to separating its boosts.
- Gourmet Rice Ball became the most liked food, with a 5 in every category, after its introduction. It also granted the highest default boost at 200%, which is so high that even if a character absolutely hated it, they'd still get a 100% boost.
NEO: The World Ends with You[]
See: NEO/Food List
Food functions a bit differently.
- Food is no longer a collectible inventory item but a choice in a restaurant. Every teammate in a restaurant must order something.
- The effects of food are obtained immediately instead of needing for it to be digest.
- The party has a fullness meter.
Trivia[]
- Miranda Parkin has spoken about having to make chewing noises while voicing Nagi Usui for NEO: The World Ends with You[1][2] by chewing on her fingers[3], but there are no chewing or eating sounds played in the final game when the characters eat at restaurants. These sounds likely went unused.
References[]
- ↑ @mparkinb tweet in reply to a screenshot of Nagi eating at a restaurant, "so tHATS why they asked me to do chewing noises"
- ↑ @mparkinb tweet, "yeah I remember there was one bit where the booth director asked me to do chewing noises like eating food lmao"
- ↑ Miranda Parkin interview, some filler words removed: Parkin: "Yeah, there was that thing I mentioned on Twitter, [...] they had me [...] doing [...] crunching noises, or not crunching noises, but [...] eating noises and they would have me [...] chew on my finger [...]"