Free-to-play open-world role-playing games are a dime a dozen nowadays. This thought crossed my mind as I played Neverness to Everness, an upcoming title from Tower of Fantasy developer Hotta Studio and Perfect World. What exactly could it offer that the likes of Genshin Impact or Wuthering Waves haven’t done before?
However, as I continued to progress further into the demo, I realized that features, such as a focus on paranormal events and a sprawling megalopolis as a setting, kept me engaged. I was also able to chat with Alan Dong, the head of Perfect World’s overseas marketing team, to learn more about the ideas that inspired the team.
When the Neverness to Everness demo began, I found myself in a futuristic city called Hethereau. Filled with dazzling neon signs and brightly illuminated streets, it was easy to see the cyberpunk-inspired ideas.
Pocket Tactics: Neverness to Everness is set in a massive urban area. Was there anything in particular that drew Hotta Studio into choosing this particular setting?
NTE team: “When we set out to develop NTE, our vision wasn’t simply to create a vast open world, but to build a city that feels truly alive – a place players could lose themselves in, not just because of its size, but because of its depth. Every decision we made came back to one core objective: to create a more immersive and richly experiential urban environment.
We incorporate traditional fantasy elements into this game through the concept of coexisting anomalies. Anomaly is an umbrella term for all beings, objects, phenomena, places, and memes that possess supernatural attributes not based on reality from a human perspective. As for why we chose to create an urban open world, we find it more interesting and enjoyable – for both players and ourselves.”
Perhaps the most surprising part about exploring Hethereau in Neverness to Everness was that I was able to drive a car to get around the city. It made so much sense given the setting. As an aside, I have to mention that, even though my Grand Theft Auto mindset kicked in, I was unable to run over pedestrians. They just moved out of the way or bumping into them did nothing.
Can you walk me through the technical process when designing large urban environments?
NTE team: “While we benefit from efficient technical support, the urban environment in NTE is not automatically generated. The team manually designs and builds every corner of the city, drawing from real-life prototypes and our worldview. Although this approach may not be considered ‘advanced’, it is essential for creating an immersive and engaging urban experience. We believe that focusing on each neighborhood rather than blindly expanding the map is necessary.”
Hotta Studio also developed Tower of Fantasy. Other than the setting, what differentiates Neverness to Everness from your previous title?
Dong: “It’s mostly with regards to the themes, since Tower of Fantasy is more aligned with sci-fi MMORPG ideas. However, Neverness to Everness [delves further into the supernatural]. We’ve also designed the setting so that anomalies co-exist with the daily life of humans.”
Anomalies are, indeed, ever-present in Neverness to Everness. At one point, I was making my way through a train car, before the environment shifted into blood-red hues and tones. Then, an interdimensional doorway appeared, and I was whisked off into a back alley. There, a nondescript vending machine suddenly turned into a monster, which I had to dispatch using a character’s abilities.
As far as characters and teams go, Neverness to Everness has you forming a squad with up to four heroes. Only a select few characters were available for the demo. These included Mint, whose whirlwind attack allows her to spin around and dive straight toward targets, and Nanally, a diminutive fighter who can deal multiple instances of damage while also spawning an underboss minion.
Character design reminded me of colorful anime-esque offerings, such as Genshin Impact, Wuthering Waves, and, of course, Hotta Studios’ own Tower of Fantasy. Since I didn’t have a lot of time to try out all the available battles, I’m still curious as to how high-end gameplay would be presented.
Would you be able to mention the number of characters at launch, as well as how gacha mechanics work?
Dong: “We’re still in the development phase so we can’t really reveal the number of characters or the gacha system yet. However, we plan on conducting tests in mainland China so players can provide feedback.”
As mentioned earlier, I did have doubts when I started playing Neverness to Everness, though these qualms stem from having played too many free-to-play gacha games in the past. Nonetheless, certain quirks and facets kept me intrigued. The game has all the right ingredients to succeed, such as having a large, open-world setting where you can drive around, as well as a plethora of strange entities and supernatural occurrences to keep you on your toes.
There’s no definitive Neverness to Everness release date yet, though we know it will be available on iOS and Android devices. We’ll certainly keep you updated as we learn more about the game’s continued development.