In case you missed it, last year Ion Lands and 505 Games announced an absolute looker of a cyberpunk life sim game called Nivalis. Synth wave filled the air, rain poured down, and the city streets felt bustling and alive as we were introduced to a quick but beautiful look at the voxel-based world.
Just over the weekend, Nivalis appeared at the PC Gaming Show to reveal its second trailer; and for the second year in a row, I really want to open a ramen stand, even if it means the local gangs will harvest my organs for asking them to pay their noodle tab.
What’s Nivalis About?
Becoming a successful business owner isn’t easy, not to mention in a dystopian cyberpunk city. By starting small and making a few friends along the way you might just be lucky enough to get your feet off the ground and create some real opportunities for yourself.
Remember, there’s always money in the ramen stand – I think.
The new trailer shows off how much progress has been made since the last time we saw the game and once again we came away quite impressed. Day and night cycles are present as one would expect, and graphically everything looked just as we remembered it, however it was the density and believability of the city that colored me intrigued.
On top of this is a weather simulation system that looks quite fleshed out as we got a couple looks at flora and various items getting whipped around by the wind.
Peering out of an apartment window gave a glimpse at what seems to be a persistent world functioning right outside the player’s living space which was very cool to see. There will also be some customization options for not just the business side of things but the living situations as well, as we see a picture get placed on the apartment wall.
Speaking of businesses, we saw a snippet of schedule management for employees that work for you, which tells us you won’t always be stuck behind the counter. We also get to see what appears to be a grow room for products to sell at your businesses alongside a boat that you can drive, presumably to travel around the city or catch some fish for your restaurant.
There’s still a lot we don’t know about Nivalis when it comes to the cyberpunk aspects of the game, although we did see both gang and corp members and a quick look at “Aseptic”, a mysterious serial killer that’s on the loose. I’m interested to see how far reaching the affects of Nivalis will have on the player, their businesses, and the world around them. Is the serial killer coming after me or my customers? Are the corps mad that I gave the gangs a noodle discount? Inquiring minds would like to know.
Nivalis is shooting for a 2024 release and has a steam page that you can find here alongside a behind the scenes look at the game.
