- Primary Subject: Neverness to Everness (NTE)
- Key Update: Released worldwide on April 29, 2026, for PC, PS5, iOS, and Android
- Status: Confirmed / Personal Opinion
- Last Verified: May 11, 2026
- Quick Answer: Neverness to Everness is a free-to-play urban open-world gacha RPG featuring city simulation, generous pull rates, and diverse mini-games, despite a lackluster story and combat.
I have a problem with Neverness to Everness.
It is, on its surface, a free-to-play gacha game set in a fictional city. I should be in and out, completing my dailies and then logging off. But every time I tell myself I'll just check in for a few minutes, I end up riding the train on an end-to-end route, switching to first-person view as I take and breathe in the scenic nature of my short urban trip. At times, I'd pretend to be an Uber driver, picking up a cab fare to drive a stranger across town in what could only be summed up as a rollercoaster ride. Or if I'm feeling serene or placid, I'd visit my local fishing port to try and break my own record for a tuna I'd never get to taste.
That's what the past few days have been like during my time with Neverness to Everness (NTE), the latest gacha RPG from Hotta Studio, the team behind Tower of Fantasy. It launched globally on April 29, 2026, for PC, PS5, iOS, and Android, and it is, depending on how you squint, an anime-flavored open-world action RPG, a city life sim, a tycoon management game, a fishing game, or a mahjong game.
It's not the first time that we've seen this many ideas coexist inside one game without it cratering, and to be frank, all of these side games hold up the world together. This, however, isn't a flawless launch, and I'll get into that. But the devs might have done something rare in a gacha game, that is, if you're willing to test your own patience.
The Anomaly Detective
NTE opens up with the sky tearing open above the city of Hethereau. The Hypervortex, as the locals call it, is the kind of anomaly that the official Bureau of Anomaly Control normally handles. Except, this time, it's you, a freelancer with a strange sixth sense for these things, are the one assigned to contain it. Since the Bureau would rather keep tabs on you than chase you down, you get nudged toward Eibon, an antique shop on the outskirts that quietly doubles as the city's scrappiest and unlicensed paranormal cleaning outfit. Most of Eibon's contracts come in because someone has to take them, and that someone is broke.
Story-wise, NTE plays a very linear narrative with a major questline and side quests. Each episode is a "case" where you go to different places around the city, investigate, and untangle any problems concerning anomalies, which always ends with you trying to beat a boss in the end. Rinse and repeat.
It is, of course, not uncommon for gacha games to have a repeating quest line where you go to X, destroy X, fetch this item, go back to X location, and beat the biggest bad guy in the end. It's the same with NTE, and if you came in here for a good story, you'd be better off playing another game with more depth instead. The cutscenes in this game are overly lengthy, and it doesn't take long for you to either skip the story or pull your phone out to watch shorts or reels. The writing isn't terrible per gacha standards, but it's criminally so average, and its reliance on overused tropes and predictable cliches feels stale and tacky in 2026.
A Not So Real Place to Be
The biggest reason to play Neverness to Everness is not the combat. It's the city.
Hethereau is built as the backbone of everything that you do in this game. There are actual bus and train routes here that you can actually ride, which are all great, but the devs might've forgotten in great detail that the journey comes first before the destination, meaning that not everything hinges on colorful and scenic backdrops. There are NPCs scattered around the world, but if they're not selling stuff to you, and they're not a side quest giver, they're either just standing or sitting lifelessly in a corner.
I get that these NPCs are just there to make you feel surrounded by people, but most of them look exactly the same, and it isn't uncommon to have twinning encounters, and this lack of variety feels like the world is just a wallpaper slapped onto a cheap wall. That they exist to deceive my vulnerable senses into thinking it's a lively and bustling city, but deep inside, it's a very hollow and soulless necropolis.
Driving in your own or borrowed car (a la GTA) is the fastest way to get around the city, and there is a selection of good and expensive vehicles, ranging from motorcycles to cars that will get you from point A to point B. You can also participate in races to win cash and other items in true gacha fashion. Word of warning, though, driving these cars feels blocky, and maneuverability is stiff, unless you make some customizations to your vehicle. That said, it's not Forza or Need for Speed, so don't expect much in the way of pimping out your ride.
Swing, Switch, Repeat
If the city is the heart of NTE, its combat is comparable to a broken leg. In this game, you build a team of four, swap between them in real time, and you trigger elemental reactions through the use of "Esper Cycle," which is just another fancy term for combining attacks. Perfect parries open windows for big hits, and ultimates do ultimate things. The entire loop is what you can expect out of a gacha game; it's flashy, but because it's so unoriginal, and character design isn't creative beyond the usual voluptuous characters, it gets tiring very fast.
The bosses, on the other hand, have some cooler and fresher designs, but they suffer from being health sponges as opposed to giving you a true challenge.
As for the game's weapon system, I'm quickly reminded of Zenless Zone Zero because it shares the same weapon aesthetics. In NTE, the weapons, called "Arcs," look like a cross between a CD and a floppy disk, but as far as pure flavor is concerned, you're going to be utterly disappointed because there aren't any at this point that's simply mind-blowing enough that you can say it's different from any gacha out in existence.
Mini Games Will Almost Make You Stay
It's hard to justify sticking with a game just because of its mini-games. But many of us know firsthand that when a game is done exactly right, it can eat up a surprising amount of time and still keep us entertained as we slowly wade through the main story.
This is one aspect that holds up Neverness to Everness, and in my opinion, the only appealing factor that may want you to stay put for a while before moving on to something else. There is a cafe you can run either via a cooking dash-style mini-game or mostly hands-off, but it drips passive income into your pocket.
You can also own apartment units in different parts of the city and decorate them with items, each with its own effects, as well as being able to invite your recruited characters to live in them. There's also a fishing game, and if you're hoping this will be your go-to cozy activity, think again, because this mini game is just a stripped-down version of what you'd normally see in other fully fleshed-out games. If the other options don't suit your fancy, there's always the mahjong table, assuming you're interested in learning it if you haven't already.
Overall, there are a multitude of mini games included in this game that are meant to occupy your time in between the hardships of grinding and enduring its abysmal storyline.
To Jail or Not to Jail?
One of the funniest and just downright satirical elements is NTE's wanted level feature, which can land you in an Alcatraz-like prison for breaking the rules of its polite society. Stealing a car usually does the trick, and cops will show up to arrest you, whether they're in the vicinity or not. You can try to flee or beat some cops until you face off a level 99 police boss.
Get caught, and you're shipped off to lockup, where you can either wait out your sentence, pay the fine, or break out of prison via a few underhanded methods.
A Banner Without the Coin Flip
Perhaps NTE's greatest redeeming quality is how it frames itself as the "most generous gacha" ever created. And it's true. Neverness to Everness' gacha is not frustrating to pull for a character at all.
No other gacha game to this day has this much leeway in terms of gacha, and its fresher and more playful board game design is very welcoming. You wouldn't have to worry about its mechanics being unfair because the board ramps up the rewards, including your chances of winning an S-class character once you've reached a certain number of pulls.
In my experience, I had a workable team with two S-class characters within just a few hours without spending. That said, NTE is still a gacha game, and you can absolutely whale on limited-time cosmetics and weapons, but the game doesn't shove it right in your face.
Should You Play Neverness to Everness (NTE)?
The story of Neverness to Everness is gated by your character level. If ever you just want to binge on its main quests, the simple fact is you can't. You'll eventually hit a wall, and the game will gently shoo you back into the city of Hethereau to grind out side content until you're high enough to continue.
It's fairly common for gacha games to do this, but I've always felt helpless whenever I reach a wall and feel victim to its mechanics. Needless to say, I felt disappointed because you can't exactly fight your way through it, and there are only so many mini games you can endure until you become bored and give up on this game.
Finally, Neverness to Everness is trapped in a quagmire of ideas because it's a game that tries to be everything and wants to cater to everyone. It ends up thin in most places and contributes little to a genre that's already wobbling with inconsistencies. Right now, if you're already playing a gacha game or two, do not let me convince you to add another one to the list. That way lies madness, and NTE, sad to say, is just another gacha game down the rabbit hole of mediocrity.
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