With a vibrant nightlife, beautiful day and night cycles, and realistic simulated weather of all sorts, Nivalis, developed by Ion Lands and releasing in Spring 2025, will be the most coveted destination for all fans of cozy, slice-of-life sim games set in a mysterious cyberpunk world.
Ever since its initial reveal on June 12, 2022, Nivalis has been one of the most anticipated cyberpunk-themed games across the indie space.
Ion Lands released a new trailer for Nivalis on June 20, 2024, showcasing new gameplay features such as meeting a pivotal main character, Ava, exploring the game UI, getting a first look at the train system, interacting with the resident relationship wheel, engaging in business building, taking the good ol' boat out for fishing, and much more.
So, shall we? Let's explore what’s new in the brand-new trailer for Nivalis!
Beyond what was already known, the trailer starts with the player waking up and being greeted by the voice of one of the main characters of Nivalis, Ava. It is currently unknown what role Ava will play in the grand scheme of the Nivalis experience besides her being a main character.
Throughout the trailer, we get our first glimpse of how the UI will look across different facets of gameplay as well. When waking up, the general UI is shown off with a waypoint/compass system in the top middle of the screen, mission objective pop-ups in the top right, and an indication in the bottom left for the amount of currency you are holding (unknown if there is a bank system to store funds), along with the day and time cycle displayed.
Now, what if you want to get to another part of the city quickly? Why not take the train system that runs throughout Nivalis? This is the first time we get to see how the train system works in Nivalis. The player enters an arriving train and arrives in another part of the city.
This is where the map of Nivalis comes into play. In the trailer, we see a unique map of Nivalis, characterized by its vertical layout. The map appears to offer a dynamic, live view of the city. The nature of how the map is constructed is intricately beautiful in such a way that will leave you in awe. The map also allows you to hover over specific areas to see details such as your owned businesses, shops, and unexplored objectives. Additionally, the map features a train line that illustrates the routes connecting different parts of the city, undoubtedly enhancing the navigation and exploration experience.
Next up we the relationship wheel UI that is shown when talking to residents in Nivalis. Funny enough in the trailer the player is shown talking to a robot and the wheel also shows up. The wheel looks as if it is designed to reflect the evolving nature of trust levels, romantic bonds, and whether you are moving towards friendship or creating an enemy. These dynamics are subsequently influenced by the player's interactions and decisions.
A key aspect of Nivalis is owning small businesses and eventually expanding to own more and larger enterprises throughout the city. This is also the first time we get to see the player creating the atmosphere of the Noodle Bar, placing tables and chairs outside. This leaves many to believe that there will be an abundance of customization options when it comes to business building.
And of course, the trailer couldn’t have been left without showing more of the wonderful mechanics of going out on your silly little boat and casting your line out into the waters surrounding Nivalis. When you catch a fish, a unique UI popup displays details such as the fish's selling price, information about the fish species, optimal catching times and locations, fish length, and the option to either release it or keep it (perhaps related to an overweight system? maybe not).
If you haven’t already watched the newest trailer for Nivalis… you absolutely should, and then watch it again, and again, and again. The trailer shows off an abundance of new locations, features, and scenes that grace the city of Nivalis in a truly beautiful way. Ion Lands has created quite a masterpiece with the world of Nivalis. I hope to see all of you out and about in Nivalis come Spring 2025 when the game hits the open seas for all to behold!
