NTE: Neverness to Everness mixes gacha, life sim on PS5

Hotta Studio, a subsidiary of Perfect World, released NTE: Neverness to Everness on PS5 as a free-to-play anime-styled open-world game that pairs gacha character mechanics with life-simulation systems. The game is set in the rain-slicked city of Heathereau, a dense urban environment with enterable cafes, bookstores and bars inspired by real-world cities including Tokyo, Seoul and San Francisco.

Players control an amnesiac protagonist who works for an undercover anomaly-hunting agency called Eibon Antiquities while also running side jobs such as operating coffee shops and driving taxis. The life-sim layer lets players buy and manage businesses and properties, customize apartments with furniture and decorations, and invite characters for social interactions.

NTE presents quests as short episodic missions and wider city activities. Early missions include searching for a missing child who communicates in sign language and infiltrating a high-stakes auction for a mythical object. Reviewers noted that quest tone varies and some storylines have drawn criticism for inconsistent writing.

Combat uses an elemental squad-building system where players assemble teams with complementary elements and swap characters mid-battle to apply status effects. Reviewers reported that combat animation and fluidity lag behind some recent gacha competitors. New character releases through the gacha system are expected to affect combat variety over time.

The gacha system guarantees the promoted character within 90 pulls and does not use a 50/50 chance mechanic. At launch Hotta Studio is awarding several S-rank characters for free and allows players to obtain signature weapons by clearing certain bosses. The game uses a board-game-style reward screen called Scarborough Fair, where players roll dice to claim pulls and bonuses.

Visually, NTE uses manga, anime and webtoon influences and includes scenes that shift art style to reflect character personalities. Developers implemented ray tracing for reflective wet streets and nighttime lighting. Social media posts have raised concerns about possible generative AI use in some art assets, prompting requests for Hotta Studio to review and, if necessary, replace contested material.

Players and reviewers reported technical and design issues on PS5. Menu navigation can switch between analog stick, D-pad and shoulder buttons inconsistently. The DualSense implementation has drawn criticism: adaptive triggers were described as intrusive during driving segments, haptic feedback was called uneven, and the controller light bar reflects the currently selected character. Text and dialogue controls are inconsistent, with subtitle skipping behavior varying between scenes.

Hotta Studio describes NTE as a long-term live service and plans to add more businesses, minigames, daily quests and limited-time events after launch.