Neverness to Everness (NTE)'s Version 1.2 brings in dragon lady Shinku and a strange board-game adventure. Read our story review of its early-access build to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if the story is worth a go.
Overview
What is Neverness to Everness (NTE)?
Neverness to Everness (NTE) follows the story of protagonist "Zero," a mysterious Esper with missing memories and a heightened sensitivity to Anomalies, making them an important individual in containing these very entities. As the "Appraiser," players follow them on their journey through the city of Hethereau where they are employed by the Bureau of Anomaly Control (BAC) under the antique shop Eibon to investigate and nullify troublemaking Anomalies, ranging from small fry to large-scale, reality-warping entities.
As the Appraiser delves deeper into the anomalies, they encounter a rotating cast of companions with their own Esper powers that are crucial for unraveling the larger mysteries of Hethereau. These characters help reveal how the anomalies affect different parts of the city and its inhabitants. Their interactions and investigations gradually uncover a layered web of cause and effect behind the supernatural occurrences.
| Digital Storefronts | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 NTE PC Client |
 Steam |
||||
 PS |
 iOS |
 Android |
|||
| Free-to-Play | |||||
Neverness to Everness (NTE) Story Review [1.2 999 Nights] : A Hasty Distraction
An Epilogue Before The Conclusion
It’s been a little bit over two months since Neverness to Everness (NTE)’s launch, and it has introduced to us the oddities of Hethereau and the world it occupies, where humans and (most) anomalies learn to co-exist…although not always in the most peaceful or civil manner.
For a quick recap on the most recent events from Chapter 5: Dreamwalk Corridor, we find out that Daffodill’s disappearance from the custody of the BAC and subsequently Eibon was because…dun dun dun, she has returned to the dark side of her former "family," Scarlet Letter. Her motives remain unclear, and she is clearly being coerced into working with the very group she has sworn to steer clear of, but everything’s still painted as a mystery.
At the end of the chapter, Scarlet Letter leaves us in the dust and indirectly causes Nanally to only have half a soul left in her, confining the poor girl to her bedroom for recovery.
If you got all that, then that’s good; you’re up-to-date on the NTE story! Now, chuck most of that out of the window, because you won’t need it for Chapter 7. Yes, that’s right, Chapter 7. Version 1.2 skips an entire Chapter 6 called Fogden Game and goes straight to Chapter 7, titled Fighting With A Dragon.
WARNING: Heavy spoilers for NTE’s Chapter 7: Fighting With A Dragon ahead. Proceed with caution.
Let’s Play A Game
Again, the newest episode begins with not Chapter 6 as dictated by straightforward storytelling but instead with…Chapter 7. Aside from being already teased in the Version 1.2 Preview Special Program, they even had the whole animation of skipping over Chapter 6 for it at the beginning to remind you. Okay, a fragmented, timeskipping narrative isn’t new at all in video games, and frankly, in a game full of anomalous entities like NTE, it doesn’t seem so out of place because these are the very powers these creatures hold—warping reality to their liking and bending it to their own rules.
Nevertheless, I feel it’s a rather shocking start to the new patch and one that will definitely throw you off on a loop, which I’m not too fond of. Version 1.1 ended with Nanally passed out on her bed, mumbling half-asleep (half-souled?) nothings, and, for me personally, it renewed my motivation to get to the bottom of Daffodill’s sudden switch-up and the real ambitions of Scarlet Letter in the pursuit of immortality. Despite the other issues I have with its storytelling thus far, I was nevertheless greatly looking forward to its continuation.
Only for it to…start off in a wholly different direction. Immediately, you’re fast-forwarded "several weeks" after the Scarlet Letter incident and greeted with Nanally already up and about, seemingly back to her usual self as if half of her soul had not been forcibly taken from her, although still not fully recovered, according to Adler. Still, it’s something, and to celebrate, Mint is out here inviting Zero and Nanally to come over and play a game.
Wait a minute. What…is going on? I thought we were already in that uphill climb towards the Scarlet Letter climax and finale. There was already a steady momentum brought about by Chapter 4 with Renee and Zankou and Chapter 5 with Nanally and her backstory, ending with a certain tension that kept you on your toes for more…only to be broken by what is essentially a filler chapter to introduce the newest character, dragon lady Shinku. Nothing against the character herself—she’s a darling, but this doesn’t feel like the best way to squeeze her into the game, and especially not after a chapter ending like that.
Starting with the epilogue chapter before the supposed conclusion or continuation was even finished is definitely a strange choice. It would have been perfect to get to the heat of the Scarlet Letter storyline, then wind down with 999 Nights afterwards. But okay, it’s what we got. Not the best of premises to start with, but okay, let’s give it a go anyway.
999 Nights With The Commoner, The Mage, and The Dumb Cat
Zero, sans Nanally, makes their way to Mint’s place and is roped into a game of 999 Nights, Mint’s "secret weapon for deepening friendships, leveling up bonds, and making the best memories ever!" In her apartment, they find Iroi, a familiar face from Sunward Island, and their newcomer, Pitaya—er, Shinku, the two new recruits in Mint’s team at the BAC, whom she wants to break the ice with.
Once settled, Shinku throws the Dice Lord anomaly onto the board, and the four players are pulled into a mystical fantasy world of the Warren Continent, a land occupied by adorable sheep creatures with cotton candy for wool called Fuzzies, whose lives were ruined by the wretched Crimson Dragon, whose favorite pastime appears to be torching these Fuzzies’ wool with its "fiery sneeze".
Mint, ever the heroic vigilante, volunteers the entire group to go after the big baddie. And thus begins the ragtag crew’s typical RPG adventure (their words too, not mine) to gather the pieces of the mighty Dragon Armor and defeat the Crimson Dragon once and for all, a task the previous four-piece party of adventurers failed to do.
Shinku and The Dragon Inside
The central character of this Episode is the game’s newest unit, Shinku, and it delves into her past and inhibitions of being an Esper with abnormally destructive powers. You can tell this just from the chapter title itself—"Fighting With A Dragon" is taken both literally and figuratively.
Firstly, the party is fighting against a dragon (the Crimson Dragon) and with a dragon (Shinku, as conveniently and frequently pointed out by Mint). And secondly and more importantly, in the figurative sense, it highlights Shinku’s inner turmoil—the unabashed, wild dragon inside her brought about by her Esper abilities that has evidently hurt people close to her in the past.
She is also the one who threw the Dice Lord, which alludes to the fact that the game would be tailored to her. The story of the original adventurer party that first defeated the Crimson Dragon resonates deeply with her, and the Elder Fuzzy points out that she even looks exactly like the heroine. This is her story, her tale.
Shinku is plagued by her insecurity and fear as the party plays through the entirety of 999 Nights. Her class stays as a non-combatant Commoner for more than 90% of the Episode because she doesn’t want to risk hurting the other three should she go out of control, even if concealing her powers puts her at a great disadvantage. The game extends that handicap to the player as well—with the lack of a battle class and stat-raising equipment, Shinku is perpetually at 50 attack power throughout the journey even as she levels up, effectively cutting the team’s efficiency from a four-person team to just a trio. Shinku herself acknowledges this in a post-dungeon camp scene. It’s something she is apparently used to even in their real lives in Hethereau, as she accomplishes anomaly-nullification work with nothing but sheer strength and not her Esper abilities.
The illusory nightmare at the Amber Sugar Lake is the first instance of Shinku at odds with her "real" self and draws a better picture of what exactly she’s going through. The urge to run away, to keep everyone and everything at an arm’s length, and the deep-seated anxiety that she would never truly be accepted for who she really is—it's evident that Shinku had been carrying all these for years since childhood. Her walls are up, a solid concrete sentinel that keeps her in and everyone else out—a solution she believes is the best for everybody. The plot of the heroine and her companions makes much more sense now, as it may mirror exactly what happened to her before. It’s no wonder she’s scared.
And of course, what is the first step to undoing such tightly wrapped tendrils around her heart? The power of friendship! Kidding aside and in no mocking way at all, Zero, Mint, and Iroi manage to seep through her defenses with genuine care and compassion. Throughout their adventure, they reassure the troubled Shinku with compliments, positivity, and comfort that they will be there for her through it all and that she should stop carrying everything all by herself because she’s not alone, tearing down the cage she had built for herself little by little.
Fortunately, this all culminates near the end of the run, as she takes a huge step forward in actually believing in herself, donning the completed Dragon Armor and turning the class-less Commoner Shinku into a Dragon Knight, just before the final showdown.
All’s well that ends well...until halfway through the fight when the Dragon Armor finally pierces through her mind and spirals her out of control. Before she knew it, she had Mint and Iroi pinned down with her hands to their throats, her inner self completely taking over. Shinku is then brought into the depths of her mindspace, confronted by her true nature, urging her to give in entirely. A chaotic fight scene ensues, painting her direct confrontation with her inner desires and her ambition to not give in…only to fold when she realizes that deep inside, she will never truly be free.
This realization breaks her resolve, and just as she was about to give in to the temptation of letting her naturally destructive nature take hold permanently, she is saved by the thought of her friends, whose dream versions reach out and grab her the moment she was about to let the abyss take her.
In the end, she comes to terms with the real self’s existence, saying that while she can’t fully defeat it, she would instead try to accept it as a real, breathing part of herself, a feat she can do with the help of her companions. And that…is the ending to Chapter 7: Fighting With A Dragon.
Essentially Just A Filler Chapter
Short and sweet, but it feels lackluster. Chapter 7 doesn’t hit as much as the most recent chapters—if anything, it feels less like a main story episode and more like a side quest like Baicang’s or Akane’s. In fact, I feel closer to StarSign’s Akane, who isn’t even a playable character as of writing, because the lore bits of the Episode felt so brief. And to be put on the same level of importance as a main story Episode as Chapter 4: A Research in Scarlet…why was this called an Episode anyway? Episodes are NTE’s main story quests (MSQ), so being labeled as one highlights its significance in the bigger scheme of things.
For one thing, it doesn’t contribute anything to the main story plot as we know it. Nothing about Scarlet Letter, nothing about Daffodill, Thyme, Nanally (aside from the initial introduction, I suppose), or any continuation whatsoever from where we last ended. It’s the epilogue chapter after all, perhaps it is already the rough beginning to a new storyline post-Scarlet Letter. Why make the foundations for a new one when you’ve already had the foothold going
Story Pacing Issues, Episode Feels Rushed
The pacing of it all also feels rushed. There are only four dungeons, and the writers appeared to have decided to just put the important lore bits before and after each and every dungeon. It’s not as fleshed out as it should be, especially in comparison to the amount of story you get from the previous Episodes.
The main "plot" of their version of 999 Nights is also really fragmented, and there are evidently a lot of missing pieces. It’s not the type of storytelling that gives you the puzzle pieces and lets you gradually put them together to create a cohesive picture—this one is odd in a way that certain scenes they talk about don’t happen, leaving blank pieces that just never get filled.
For instance, Shinku says that she handicapped the team while fighting the Frost Dragon and that she felt terrible about it. This scene just came out of nowhere because there was no instance in that entire boss fight where Shinku actively held the team back—hell, you most likely wouldn’t even be using her because of how weak she is. No cutscene of her trying to be a hero or screwing up something to further supply that scenario—just a random comment in the middle of the night at their camp, hence the slight disconnect in immersion. Like, what are you referring to?
There’s also that segment at the Amber Sugar Lake where we explore Shinku’s dream world and insecurities. While a minor issue, the immersion was broken a bit because you could still select the other team members even when Shinku clearly said that she was alone. "Immersion Mode" by temporarily taking away characters for certain scenes would have been good here—heck, NTE does it for the other main story chapters. Why is this one any different?
Too Much Combat For A Tiny Bit of Lore
It’s a heartfelt, clichéd story about the power of friendship—that’s fine, not deep nor superbly substantial, but it’s nothing out of the ordinary and actually tugs at the heartstrings. Shinku is adorable, and so is Iroi. But to complete the storyline, it takes a rather ridiculous amount of combat-related effort. Most of your time is wasted on gunning down fodder enemies left and right as you clear the respective dungeons. Once is fine; twice is pushing it, but thrice—gosh, it feels like such a slog to get through. It’s repetitive, and the nearer you get to the ending, the more it feels like a chore. It’s 80% combat, 20% lore and cutscenes, maybe even 90-10.
And you can’t just go past the minions and dash straight for the bosses, because you would be losing out on all the equipment and EXP from defeating the mobs. Aside from progression being locked behind certain level requirements, having a well-leveled and well-equipped team will make bosses much easier to deal with—and to get those…you would need to eradicate hundreds upon hundreds of enemies.
Unfortunately, I learned my lesson the hard way. The ending of it all was in sight, and I completely ran through most of the Crimson Castle’s minions in a bid to finish. Bad idea, because the Crimson Dragon was level 45, and my party was a measly level 40. Even in "Story" mode, the boss fight became a war of attrition, perseverance, and patience. It took me over 20 minutes of chipping away at that darn reptile’s HP to finally get him to go down. Don’t be like me. Be smart, take it slow, and feed your party their experience points.
More of a Spin-Off
Chapter 7: Fighting With A Dragon is a cliché but decent story Episode. Although honestly, this would have been fine as a spin-off or a Side Quest, not an entire main story chapter. It pales in comparison to the previous main story quests and doesn’t even add anything substantial to the story as of late. It will definitely hold some significance eventually with the introduction of Shinku and Iroi into the fray for the next upcoming storyline, but for now, it feels out of place.
Perhaps the other issue I have with it is that I was already looking forward to the continuation of the Scarlet Letter-Daffodill narrative, only to be completely sidelined for the next month and a half until the next patch after Iroi’s banner. This already takes a lot of attention and anticipation away from what seems to be the actual main plot. You can only hype and tease something for so long, and in my opinion, it was a perfect time to finally put the finale in its spotlight...only to not take that opportunity. Chapter 7, although heartwarming to a degree, just leaves a bittersweet feeling instead of if it was released after the first storyline's conclusion.
Either way, I'll still be waiting to properly close the chapter on the Scarlet Letter saga.
Game8 Reviews
You may also like...
Neverness to Everness (NTE) Product Information
 |
|
| Title | Neverness to Everness (NTE) |
|---|---|
| Release Date | April 28, 2026 |
| Developer | Hotta Studio |
| Publisher | Perfect World Games |
| Supported Platforms | PC Client, Steam, PlayStation 5, Android, iOS |
| Genre | Action, RPG, Open World, Gacha |
| Number of Players | 1-4 |
| ESRB Rating | 13+ |
| Official Website | Neverness to Everness |
