First Impression: Neverness To Everness Has A Lot To Offer Players, Particularly Fun

Hotta Studio’s ambitious project, Neverness to Everness, kicked off the Co-Ex Test about a week ago. This test followed the Containment test and introduced new gameplay features for everyone to try out – including some “Prison Gameplay”. The developer was nice enough to invite us to try the game out this time around, and I’ve logged quite a few hours in it over the last few days.

I have to say, I’m pretty excited to tell you about it. That said. I should start by reminding you that this is a beta impression. So, things may change by the time the game launches. This also means I ran into some hiccups in some areas of the game. But while it was frustrating in the sense that I couldn’t fairly tell you about some features at the moment, it didn’t squash my enthusiasm for playing the game. (I’ve obviously spoiled a chunk of the story for myself when I start playing the game at launch.)

For any who might be unfamiliar, Neverness to Everness (or NTE) is a free-to-play action game that takes place in an open-world urban environment. While the city of Heathreau might look like a normal city from the outside, the reality is that it has some very unique issues.

As has been shown in gameplay trailers, the game begins with the player’s character being discovered at the site of an ongoing disaster event. An anomaly hangs in the sky, and all conventional wisdom states not to look directly at it. It’s a bit like looking at the sun, only instead of going blind, you’re changed. Conventional wisdom, however, does not seem to apply to you, and since there’s obviously something different about you, the official on the scene decides it’s best to take you back to the local authority tasked with handling all things related to anomalies, the BAC (Bureau of Anomaly Control).

After a bit, you’re brought before the Director, who has determined that you’re (mostly) not a threat and that you might even be useful. So, you – and your amnesia – are sent out into the big bad world where you’ll meet the people with whom you’ll be living and working. Think of it like the Trailblazer joining the Astral Express in Honkai: Star Rail, only the instant family you’ve been given has a lot more actual kids and not people the mother figure just likes referring to as kids.

Similar to the player character, the individuals in your new home of Eibon Antique Shop are Espers – or individuals with awakened supernatural abilities. Like anomalies, Espers are tracked by the BAC. Of course, many of them are employed by the organization. Just about everyone the main character – known as Esper Zero – interacts with is either an Esper or an anomaly who has been granted citizenship. So, pretty much everyone you know falls under the organization’s oversight.

Esper abilities are unique to each individual and have a pretty wide range. Some are definitely what you’d expect for combat use. Others are things like being a walking database. Esper Zero’s particular ability is being able to see the true essence of Anomalies and talk to them. It doesn’t make you strong, but it does make you useful. Still, it’s a good thing you know how to fight, because you’re doing a lot of that.

Speaking of combat, I’ve seen many describe NTE’s as being like Wuthering Waves'. This isn’t wrong. Players build a team of four and swap between the characters as needed. When an indicator appears on a character icon, you can swap to them and trigger the related effect. Regular, chain attacks are done using the mouse, while the skill and the ultimate are tied to the E and Q keys.

As far as I’ve been able to discern, based on the characters I have, roles consist of Damage, Survival, and Buff. These are each broken down into subroles. So, as an example, Damage features Burst DPS, Main DPS, and DoT, while Survival includes Healing and Shield, and Buff includes various boosts. Some characters will only have one subrole, and others will have more. Some subroles will also appear on characters of different roles. Used wisely, this can help assemble a competent party.

Those looking for even more depth can take a peek at the game’s Esper Ability Attributes (Elements), putting specific Attributes on a team together will activate Esper Cycles, creating additional effects. That said, the characters need to be leveled and features unlocked before that can happen.

As for the game’s narrative, I can only say that I’m enjoying it. The world is interesting, the lore well-defined, and there’s plenty of humor. If you’re the kind of person who wants the world to behave in a more realistic way, the humor might not be just right for you. Some of it consists of visual gags, such as your character turning into a chibi version when being thrown out of a car. That said, most of the humor is story-based. You’re dealing with a lot of eccentric characters – and unruly children who are bound to bring the trouble to you.

The story’s told through the main quest and a lot of side content. The main story is broken down into Episodes. Then there are spinoffs, which are full story quests that aren’t tied directly to the main story, but like the Episodes require players to have hit a certain level before being available. Guides also offer story content. Then, there are the Bond quests, which are basically little dates or hangouts.

Players will also run into individuals they know out in the city and get to know a bit more about them that way. Of course, there are plenty of sidequests to pick out while roaming the map, along with fight encounters, collectible items that need to be turned in, and other activities.

Some of these activities are related to the City Tycoon portion of the game. For a simple explanation, City Tycoon grants players access to different features and activities as they level it up. Leveling requires meeting specific requirements, such as completing commissions or having acquired certain resources. As players level up in City Tycoon, they’ll unlock things like the garage, the ability to own property, and a hunter exchange.

The game has several hobbies, all of which are listed under City Tycoon. They consist of racing, fishing, Majong games at the Little Sparrow maid cafe, delivery, heists, and more. At the time of this writing, I’ve only managed to unlock the first three.

Of course, the game has repeatable boss fights as well, to help with progressing your character.

One of the other features introduced in this update is the game’s prison system. Just for y’all, I put in a bit of effort in crime. Just a little low-level joyriding and picking a fight with some cops trying to stop me – mostly because they apparently had to knock me out before taking me in.

I was locked up for six days; during that time, I had choices. I could simply pay my fine and get out, do actual work, or… I could try to escape. There’s also the option of waiting around for things to happen. The prison functions on an actual schedule, moving you from one place to another, and you’re always being observed. If you ask to work, they actually put you to work. If you go for the escape route, you have to be very stealthy. In the end, I just paid my fine.

Finally, we should probably talk about the game’s gacha mechanic for a moment, what they call the “Fair”. Similar to other gacha games, NTE has two banners running at once, one for the limited-time S-Class and one for the S-Class you can roll on for a good while. Both have their own roll tallies and offer a guaranteed A-Class at 10 rolls and an S-Class at 90 rolls. The difference is that the limited-time S-Rank is guaranteed to be the 90 roll pity S-Class.

The other difference between NTE’s and other games’ gacha systems is that NTE turned theirs into a board game. I know this isn’t completely unheard of. But it’s not exactly the norm. When you’re rolling, you can see exactly where you need to end up to get the character you want. Chests provide A-Class and S-Class Arcs (this game’s weapons).

As you move around the board, there’s a possibility for the board to change or for a small event to happen. The end result is that the gacha is a bit more fun, and therefore possibly a bit more addictive.

As far as the visuals go, I love running around looking at all the scenery. Heathreau is a beautiful city, and the devs did a really good job of making it feel lived in. I haven’t experienced snow yet in the game (though I know it exists), but I can say I was surprised when I zoomed in far enough on my character and saw all the little droplets of water on his hair.

Once Hotta works the beta kinks out – which for me consisted mostly of getting mobs to span in certain situations – I think players are really going to enjoy their time in Neverness to Everness. Of course, whether it’s the game for you or not depends on what you’re looking for.