Neverness to Everness (NTE)'s Version 1.3 finally brings players to the long-awaited ending of the Scarlet Letter saga. Read our story review 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.
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Neverness to Everness (NTE) Story Review [1.3 Chapter 6: Fogden Game]: A Lackluster Finale
The Scarlet Letter Saga’s Finale
After a rather lackluster epilogue chapter from Version 1.2 that skipped ahead, we’re finally here at the cusp of the Scarlet Letter chapter about a month later. Since it’s been nearly three months since Chapter 5, let’s go through a quick recap of what's happened so far—at least the important Episodes.
Chapter 3: Deal? Deal! dealt (heh) with the heist of The First Branch Anomaly, one that is said to tell the future with powerful pre-cognitive abilities. This was Scarlet Letter’s first official introduction as the mastermind behind its theft. Initially, they were painted to simply be Anomaly thieves looking for the next big ticket item, but it’s just the beginning of something bigger.
Next up is Chapter 4: A Research in Scarlet, where it introduced us to troubled citizen Renee, who is attacked by an Anomaly called the Debt Collector. Eibon stepped in to help her with her predicament and ended up running into her sister, "Bella," while investigating. However, "Bella" is actually Zankou, a member of Scarlet Letter and Daffodill’s own "sister" in disguise, who plotted to take the Eternal Present Anomaly from the vulnerable Renee, under the orders of the Scarlet Letter.
As another powerful Anomaly, the Eternal Present grants its wearer the power of immortality. While Zankou was unfortunately successful in retrieving the Anomaly and rendering Renee’s immortality null, it was all’s well that ends well on her side. Nevertheless, the mystery continues, especially with the way they highlighted Daffodill’s direct connection to the Scarlet Letter.
Chapter 5: Dreamwalk Corridor centered mainly on Nanally and Daffodill, the former who was pulled into the Dreamwalk Corridor space, following the guilt that developed after the latter got injured from the previous chapter’s conflict and after seeing Daffodill "betray" Eibon by being with Scarlet Letter.
The Corridor of Echoes is an anomalous realm made by an Anomaly called the Helm of Theseus and is a place tended to by Thyme, who introduced herself as the Keeper of the Corridor. It is a place where those spirited away into its realm live the rest of their lives in blissful ignorance from the horrors of their real-world lives. Nanally’s overwhelming guilt almost led her astray, but with the Appraiser’s perseverance, she was saved—er, well, half of her, at least. But of course, the Scarlet Letter had their eyes on the prize. They made their full appearance at the end, right after the Appraiser’s grueling battle with Thyme over Nanally’s freedom from the clutches of the Corridor.
From their meddling, the Helm of Theseus fell into their hands, and several revelations came to light—Daffodill’s return to Scarlet Letter seen face-to-face, the mysterious past between Thyme and Inanna, the "Mother" of Scarlet Letter, and the start of a "game". At the end of the chapter, Nanally is bedridden and in a coma from the loss of half her soul, and Eibon comes together to try and make sense of the whole situation, leaving us in a cliffhanger, and the Appraiser begins to question their own existence.
And…congratulations, now you’re more or less up-to-date with NTE’s story surrounding the Scarlet Letter so far. Now, after about two months and a half or so of waiting, Version 1.3 now brings us to the end of this saga, once and for all.
WARNING: Heavy spoilers for NTE’s Chapter 6: Fogden Game ahead. Proceed with caution.
Let’s Play A Game…Another Game
A lot of "game-ception" going on in NTE. From the light-hearted board game that was 999 Nights in Chapter 7 in the previous patch, we move to one that could spell out death for anyone or worse, all of its players: the Fogden Game.
The chapter started off with Nanally shown still out cold, and the members of Eibon are quickly getting antsy with the situation. After all, Daffodill and the Scarlet Letter were at large with three powerful Anomalies in their hands and are well on their way to execute the next step of their plan. It had gotten to the point where Eibon’s big boss, Hotori, despite her carefree and rather hedonistic facade, is willing to shoulder everything and get to the bottom of it all herself to protect the rest—even if it means getting herself into danger. Of course, Appraiser (and Adler) was not having it, and the duo tracked her down to the pier, where she opens up about…well, everything.
Remember the initial shock the game gave us from Daffodill suddenly being in cahoots with Scarlet Letter, the "family" she hated and sworn to never return to? Surprise, surprise, she’s actually working undercover for the Bureau. The Appraiser was right when he said at the end of Chapter 5 that Daffodill surely had her own reasons for returning to them—that’s some trust.
The game managed to tell you this within the first few minutes through Hotori, as if reassuring us that don’t worry, Daffodill wasn’t led astray—it was all part of a bigger plan. In fact, during the Dreamwalk Corridor showdown, the plan was already being executed. Daffodill appeared to be working with Scarlet Letter as a ruse, only to contain the anomaly and save the Dreamwalkers from a certain death because without Daffodill containing the Anomaly (different from nullifying it, which is akin to erasing it from existence), all the Dreamwalkers—including Nanally—would have perished.
With Hotori’s change of heart and the renewed ambition to actually start trusting and leaning on her growing Eibon family, she, the Appraiser, and Adler headed to the Scarlet Letter’s den in Duskmoor to finally face them and stop them at their own game.
The Game That Grants You Wishes
Of course, getting to Inanna or Madam T wasn’t an easy task. First up, the entrance to the inner part of their hideout is blocked by an anomaly designated as some kind of security. You’re then sent on an honestly draggy segment where you run around the anomalous abandoned building, following the red string to get to the top and open up the way. Along the way, you get a few pieces of lore, learning things like most of Inanna’s victims for her "game" being people who were down on their luck in many different ways—financial ruin, reputation ruin, and more. However, it carried on too long for something that could have been condensed into something less…dreadful to slog through. It was a walk-fight-walk-fight-jump kind of thing that didn’t feel too substantial—it did put some things into perspective and how easily a charming, scheming woman like Inanna lured vulnerable people into her schemes, but it could have been presented in a less taxing manner.
Nevertheless, after that, the trio followed in and met up with a few members of ETD-6—Chaos and Nitsa—who were sent in earlier that day to investigate. Another member, Linko, was already pulled into the Fog Coffin anomaly to get first-hand information. Together, they figure out the plan and examine the giant portal from the Fog Coffin. The group are separated, and each is stuck in different "timelines" and tasked to gather scattered Lumen Circles found across the map—from players, either dead or alive.
Remember the three Anomalies that the Scarlet Letter took previously? All three of them resonated with the Fog Coffin, and their powers appeared to have somehow manifested within the Fogden Game space. The Helm of Theseus for the "past", the Eternal Present for the "present", and the First Branch for the "future".
Tying Up The Loose Ends of Daffodill’s Shackled Past
As seen from the scenes before entering Fogden Game, there are three "parts" that the players must go through in the form of the past, the present, and the future. The first part reveals the "Shackled Past" through Daffodill’s eyes. In a dark, desolate wasteland that appears to be one of the Fogden Game hunting grounds, she reminisces the past through scenes and monologues—her past with the Scarlet Letter, the anecdotes of the lives lost in previous Fogden Games—while also encountering other Espers and players who were promised life, property, and Esper Abilities if crowned victorious.
Honestly, this was the most draggy portion out of all three. Although it was understandable that Daffodill was given much of the spotlight—after all, she wasn’t there for the last chapter and was pretty much leading us on, and this was the time to dig deeper into her real thoughts about the whole situation—it was still very…long. The map for her portion is vast and easy to get lost in, and while there were bits and pieces of lore scattered around that helped with building the pretense of how manipulative and evil Madam T really was, they didn’t feel substantial enough for all the effort.
There were also several one-time NPCs such as Sweeper, Phear and Glaire, the crazy Scholar, and Monte Cristo, who felt too shoehorned in just for the sake of highlighting the fact that Madam T is one big baddie with something heinous up her sleeve—which we all already knew from the start anyway. You could probably take all of their encounters out of Daffodill’s segment, and it wouldn’t have felt too different. Their screentime was too short, their introductions too abrupt, and you don’t feel anything for them—maybe pity for Phear and Glaire, but that’s about it.
In short, the worldbuilding was a bit lacking here with all the new information they tried to cram in one area—information that didn’t feel like they really added to the main story. It did bring some attention to the severity of Madam T’s innate cruelness, but they could have definitely made it a simpler, less taxing task to do.
Eventually, Daffodill gathers the 10 Lumen Circles to advance to the boss of the area, her own sister and main antagonist of Chapter 4, Zankou. The sisters battle to the "death" (quote on quote). This was, arguably, the most exciting portion of the whole Shackling Past chapter. Zankou’s twisted love for Daffodill shines through and is exposed for what it really is—a deeply rooted obsession. She reveals that she only endured Madam T’s "pesky commands" to finally have this moment alone with her.
"Sister, you sowed a seed in my heart, then let it grow wild… That seed absorbed all of my heart. In a darkness where no one responded, it rooted, sprouted, and bloomed. It didn’t need the sun, yet it craved to be seen by the one who planted it…" While Madam T was pulling the strings, Zankou had her own agenda underneath it all. More of the finer details of their odd relationship and her fixation are hidden behind Zankou’s character profile, accessible only after recruiting her character in the gacha, so that’s a bit of a bummer.
Nevertheless, Daffodill reigns victorious, and the sisters are seen speaking cryptically to each other before Zankou fades away to recuperate. She then reunites with Chaos and Thyme (the Keeper of the Corridor from Chapter 5), who were also fooled by Zankou’s illusions in the fog. They try to take the Helm of Theseus out, but it’s anchored in place by a higher being—Madam T. After some reconciling between the remnants of distrust between the three, the trio concludes that there really is no way out of this but to defeat her once and for all.
The Almost Forgotten Present
The perspective then shifts to Linko, Nitsa, and Xiaozhen, Linko’s ghost friend-pet, in the middle of a strange jungle area on cliffs. Like any player of the Fogden Game, they are tasked to gather Lumen Circles to advance to the next area. However, in comparison to Daffodill’s Lumen Circle hunt with both dead and living people, Linko and Nitsa’s area is devoid of anyone else. Lumen Circles are found scattered all over the ground, and the chapter focused more on Linko and Nitsa’s relationship as friends and colleagues, with Xiaozhen on the side as comedic relief of some sort.
While finding a way out, they are being pursued by a giant serpent called the Fogden-Wright, a large snake made up of giant Lumen Circles, which they conclude that they must defeat to escape. Eventually, they do defeat it and are rewarded with entry to the next "level". There, they find themselves in a dark area that immediately sapped their memories, making them forget about one another. However, the obstacle was easily overcome with Linko and Nitsa working together, a bond that may have grown stronger due to the hardships they just faced.
In that dark abyss, they find a lost little boy in the same predicament. Luckily, with Linko’s strong signal-sensing Esper Ability, they were able to save the boy—who was actually Adler—stuck in whatever illusion the Anomaly was placing on him. A bit of his backstory with Hotori is presented, but, like the last chapter, it wasn’t much. With the four of them reunited, and with the Eternal Present in their hands, they conclude the "present" with the motivation to return to the others.
Now, this part was also rather long (and a bit out of place—where did the jungle motif come from!? What the hell is this all about?), but it felt a bit more interesting in its storytelling than the previous part. Since this is Linko and Nitsa’s first real introduction to the story, a lot of the chapter feels more straightforward since it’s all new information without punishing you for forgetting things from before, unlike Daffodill’s.
Unfortunately, it felt like the writers forgot about Adler halfway through writing it and probably went "Oh right, Adler’s part of this story…okay, let’s put him in the last 20 minutes here and call it a day!". Poor butler guy literally felt shoved in at the last second.
Diverging Futures with the Appraiser
And the penultimate (yep, we’re not done) area is the "future", where we directly control our beloved protagonist, the Appraiser. It’s honestly my favorite out of the three—and unfortunately the shortest one out of all.
Fortunately (and probably because they were thinking that the chapter was dragging on for way too long…) we skip the whole Lumen Circle collecting portion for the Appraiser as the cutscene changes the view from Linko, Nitsa, Adler, and Xiaozhen to the solitary Appraiser who appears to have just defeated several enemies for their Lumen Circles in a very…aura-farming kind of way. They are granted advancement, and they find themselves in a strange area with one bright open door at the end amidst shifting panels.
They run to the open door, and they are transported into Eibon—or at least something similar to Eibon. It’s a version of Eibon that’s falling apart. In this probable future, Hotori, Daffodill, Adler, and the three members of ETD-6 were not able to escape the Fogden Game, and with them gone and unable to turn the tides around, Nanally would have likely perished. Taygedo, Sakiri, and Edgar are seen dispirited, unable to let go of their home. This part of the whole chapter hit the most because these are actually characters you’ve grown fond of after spending much of the main story with them—players are more inclined to care about them more than the others.
The Appraiser goes through two more of these probable futures—a lonely one where they are the sole winner of the game and another that was steepled in an obviously too-perfect, ignorant bliss. Luckily, our ever-intelligent protagonist quickly realizes this is all a ruse by the last Scarlet Letter sister, Poinsette, who was acting as per the snippets of the future from the First Branch anomaly.
Instead of a fight to the death as in the previous timelines, the Appraiser instead "fights" Poinsette with the power of words—not all of Scarlet Letter is evil, they said. As the youngest Scarlet Letter member, Poinsette is being painted as an innocent, unwilling accomplice to Madam T’s schemes. She’s evidently a very lonely, very misguided young lady who was found by the wrong person at her most vulnerable. It was pretty saddening to hear her lament at not finding a future where she would survive, where she could live, where she could be remembered and trusted by people.
Honestly, it feels a bit abrupt and strange considering her almost cocky attitude in the previous chapters for us players to suddenly be sympathetic to her plight, but perhaps this was all something to really shift the blame and hate towards Madam T as the ultimate antagonist of this saga—that every single person, even those she called her "children", was nothing more than a pawn and stepping stone to her real goal. Easier to make one character the villainous scapegoat than to write evil motivations for each, maybe (yes, even Zankou, who is more…cruelly ambitious than inherently evil.)
Of course, the Appraiser’s calming words and high regard of her—as a person, as herself—reach Poinsette, and they walk out of the "future" timeline with renewed motivations; the Appraiser to return to his family in Eibon, and for Poinsette to live the way she wanted to all this time. With all three Anomalies now (seemingly) in their possession through different groups, the whole squad finally comes together at the end: the massive end game arena where Madam T awaits.
The Ultimate Showdown
And finally, finally, we are here going against the big baddie of the entire first saga of NTE’s main story, Madam T herself. So we’re here to just take her down, right? Wait, there’s more.
Here, it is revealed that there was one last "Anomaly" that Madam T wanted for herself—Hotori’s chronomancy. The main goal of the present Fogden Game, after luring Daffodill and putting Nanally in danger, was to trap Hotori, who couldn’t turn a blind eye to saving her "family." Trapping her was a success, and for Madam T to take that chronomancy for herself, she had to sacrifice everyone involved—Eibon, ETD-6, the Fogden Game players she recruited, even Zankou and Poinsette, her "greatest helpers". (On another note, it’s no wonder Poinsette was terrified of not seeing a future where she doesn’t live—it was ingrained into her that Madam T would win in all possible futures.)
The Fog Coffin’s rules only allow for one singular victor, and no matter what sweet promises she told the others, it was always going to be her who reigns at the end. After all, that’s how Thyme lost her family two hundred years ago, too.
At this point, Madam T is shown as the textbook hateable villain whose goals were selfishly only catered to her and her pursuit of immortality. It’s no wonder they had to tone down Zankou and Poinsette—it’s like they wanted the players to hate her with every fiber of their being. Beneath that "charming" exterior was a manipulative sociopath with no regard for anyone else. She constantly refers to other people as "short-lived insects," and even finds the idea of her daughters sacrificing themselves for her an honorable thing. There’s no redemption for her as she’s clearly too far gone. Easy villain material.
She then transforms into Champion T, a grotesque six-winged abomination with four pairs of eyes and strong powers. The party defeats her, but of course, an almost immortal freak of nature won’t go down that easily—especially because the Fog Coffin itself seemed to have saved her. Madam T evolves into the Amber Broodmother, gaining arachnid-like legs and the power to directly control the "deity" behind her.
All seems to be in danger…until Code Zero, the strange, all-powerful entity from the prologue and the one the Appraiser themselves seem to be connected to, comes in and saves the day. Madam T loses the final shred of her humanity and succumbs to the Anomaly’s power, pelting the party with attacks. Just when she’s about to go down again, as a last-ditch effort, she attempts to absorb Daffodill into her new form for more power. Luckily, she is saved by Hotori…and Zankou.
Zankou? Yes, I’m serious. Zankou, the so-called pawn, lands the killing blow to her "mother" with a precisely executed backstab (and quite literally too—how poetic) and a chilling declaration—"Like I said…Daffodill…is mine." Recall that Zankou has an incredibly unhealthy obsession with Daffodill, and that possessiveness doesn’t spare anyone—not even Madam T. Honestly, this part was shocking the very first time it happened, and while it definitely doesn’t excuse any of Zankou’s other crimes, we’ve got to give it to her for saving the rest of the team. Thanks for…loving your sister? I guess?
With Madam T down and the "deity" defeated by Code Zero behind them in the sky, the Fogden Anomaly begins to crumble. Everyone scrambles to escape, but suddenly, Code Zero’s attention hyperfixates on the Appraiser, who it reaches out for—and the entire ground explodes like a nuclear explosion. It was terrifying to watch, but of course, everyone’s protected by plot armor. Just as Code Zero was about to swipe the Appraiser away, the Helm of Theseus turns into a giant ship, helmed by Thyme, and it whisks them out to safety. Hotori stops Code Zero from coming any closer, and…everything is over. No more Madam T, no more games, no more danger.
The cutscene cuts to a few days later when the Appraiser wakes up from a three-day long slumber, and everyone makes up. Daffodill apologizes to everyone in a rare display of affection, her tears making everyone else cry too. Nanally is up and about and apologizes, Sakiri apologizes, even Hotori does. We are treated to a heartwarming tearfest and a happy ending, their family all together once again. The "happy ending" extends to even the new characters—Thyme ends up joining Eibon, Poinsette is given special consideration for her relative innocence and even saving the other guests from perishing with the Anomaly, and will be attending Esper Academy. Zankou, of course, is locked up in prison, but for someone like her, being kept under lock and key like that wouldn’t be easy. I wouldn’t be surprised if she popped up somewhere else.
And of course, the ending of the ending leaves us with more questions than answers, setting the precedent for what’s to come. Code Zero wants something from the Appraiser—but what? What’s so special about our mysterious protagonist in the first place? Questions that leave us players wanting for more…maybe in a month or two.
The Shift in Momentum Breaks Immersion
So how was it in general? It’s not bad, but it’s not good either—and one of the reasons I believe this is so is because of the lapse in the momentum. I tackled this earlier in my 1.2 story review, but honestly, the sudden pause in its finale was a nail to the coffin. Chapter 5 ended on a pretty good (not for Nanally, but I digress) note, one that Hotta Studio should have better capitalized on.
The conclusion to the Scarlet Letter saga in NTE’s main story was put on hold for an entire patch, effectively ruining the momentum it already had at the cusp of the Dreamwalk Corridor chapter. That lull between Chapter 5 and Chapter 6, plus the shoehorned epilogue chapter, has not only dampened the hype that was already there but also made it difficult to continue. The story was already draggy and forgettable at times, so going into Chapter 6 after so long felt like something completely new. I had to properly recap the finer details by rewatching previous playthroughs of the story just for things to make sense again.
In hindsight, the Scarlet Letter story in itself is pretty decent in its entirety, but it’s not as memorable as it thinks it is. Thus, when you enter Chapter 6 again, it…doesn’t feel as great as it should be. The hype’s dead. All this waiting for…something that wasn’t as great as a finale as it was painted out to be.
And considering that they most likely had to change a few things or polish some stuff, hence the delay, it still doesn’t feel as refined as it should have been. It would have been nice if they broke up the Fogden Game chapter into smaller, more intricate sections so that we’d actually care about half the characters and the story that it presented, but alas, we get this hodgepodge of everything shoved together in a 2-3 hour playthrough and they just called it a day.
Characters Speaking Over Lore Pieces
A minor thing, but definitely something Hotta Studio should probably stop doing in NTE—the characters suddenly just speaking while you’re examining a document of interest. While those who play exclusively in a language they’re well-versed in will have no problem and can understand, it’s jarring for those who play on a different dub from their native or most comfortable language. For context, I enjoy playing in Japanese, but my understanding of the language is pretty dismal—still, it’s my preference. Your eyes are still taking in the context of whatever you’re reading, but the character suddenly starts speaking, and you have to exit out of it just to understand the spoken word. What if it was important context and you missed it just because you wanted to listen to characters in another language?
It doesn’t help that most, if not all, of the lore documents in NTE cannot be interacted with again, nor is there an archive for you to return to unlike its other contemporaries that freely let you return to lore-related pieces with a click in the form of a database or an archive. This was a problem all the way back in Chapter 4, particularly with a secret, unmarked letter that most people still probably do not have a copy of. So it’s either you lose track of the lore, or you lose track of the spoken context. There’s no win-win situation.
The easy remedy here is to play the language dub you’re most familiar with—which is what I did. I ended up playing the rest of the entire chapter in English just to make sure I didn’t lose out on anything else, and while it’s a really decent dub (big fan of Zero and Daffodill’s English voices, I’m a truther now), there’s still a thing called preference that enriches your gameplay experience.
Another thing is that the game doesn’t pause when you’re reading these documents and notes either. Jesus, NTE, let me read the lore you so gladly provided…preferably in peace, and not with me clicking out to see that Appraiser’s HP is already 1/4th of the way down just because I took my sweet time.
Not The Best Ending, But All’s Well That Ends Well
And here we are. The finale of NTE’s long-running Scarlet Letter saga wasn’t the best, but it’s serviceable for what it was worth. The big baddie is eliminated, people are saved, Nanally is alive, Eibon is not burned to the ground (yet), Zankou and Poinsette are given new licenses to life without Madam T, and it sets the start of the road for the upcoming chapters, which, based on Code Zero’s appearance and the ending musings, appear to focus on our mysterious protagonist, The Appraiser themselves.
Unfortunately, it feels lackluster and even rushed at parts, with odd story pacing here and there, something that shouldn’t be there at what is—was—a highly anticipated finale for the game’s first main story arc. Still, as a whole, it’s the tiniest step up from the game’s early beginnings, and NTE has nowhere else to go but up. Hopefully, this sets the bare standard for the story moving forward. I’ll still be sticking around to see how it all plays through, but if you’re looking for more cohesive stories that really make you feel things, maybe try other games.
Game8 Reviews
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Neverness to Everness (NTE) Product Information
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| 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 |
