Neverness to Everness Channels Anime GTA Vibes in Latest Preview Footage
Hotta Studio, the team behind Tower of Fantasy, has released a fresh glimpse into their upcoming open-world gacha RPG, Neverness to Everness, and it’s shaping up to be the anime Grand Theft Auto you never knew you wanted. The footage, revealed during a recent Containment Test Preview livestream, showcases a blend of vibrant anime aesthetics and urban open-world chaos—complete with carjacking, police chases, and over-the-top action that strongly evokes sandbox crime sims, albeit through an anime lens.
The showcase highlighted a variety of gameplay mechanics, including freeform traversal, character abilities, and a living cityscape that supports player-driven chaos. In one particularly standout moment, a player-controlled anime character was seen stealing a car and triggering a wanted level with the police—a move that feels straight out of GTA V, but filtered through cel-shaded graphics and futuristic flair. While the aesthetic contrast between the cutesy anime design and the criminal activity is stark, the resulting experience is surprisingly engaging and may resonate with players looking for something wildly unconventional in the open-world genre.
Originally announced almost a year ago, Neverness to Everness is being developed by Hotta Studio, a subsidiary of Perfect World, and is built on Unreal Engine 5. The game’s anime-style visuals are powered by cel-shading techniques and complemented by advanced graphical features, including ray tracing and NVIDIA DLSS support on PC. These technical enhancements promise a visually rich world that brings together stylized art and modern rendering technology.
This isn't Hotta Studio’s first venture into the gacha RPG scene. Their previous title, Tower of Fantasy, struggled to leave a lasting mark in a genre currently dominated by HoYoverse titles like Genshin Impact. However, Neverness to Everness appears to be a more daring departure, banking on its unique tone and urban gameplay loop to carve out a niche audience.
More details on the game and information about upcoming playtests can be found via the official website
With its unusual combination of genres and visual identity, Neverness to Everness may just be the bold experiment the gacha genre needs. Whether it will deliver the mechanical depth to match its aesthetic ambition remains to be seen, but early footage is certainly turning heads.
What do you think about this mix of anime charm and open-world chaos? Let us know your thoughts.
