Ever since Persona transformed the RPG into a wonderfully voyeuristic Japanese tourism simulator, I’ve had an appetite for games that let me experience living on the other side of the planet. Whether it’s roaming the streets of Osaka in Yakuza or trudging across the dung-filled fields of Kingdom Come: Deliverance’s medieval Bohemia, there’s something satisfying about picking up a controller and being given a window into someone else’s life.
Yet since Persona offers a disappointingly linear Tokyo to traverse, I’ve been left pining to get lost in a truly sprawling virtual metropolis. Thankfully, it turns out my oddly specific prayers have been answered. Welcome to the slick and exciting new anime open-world RPG from Hotta Studio, NTE.
Hot-ta Go
Developed by the creators of the 2021 hit, Tower of Fantasy, NTE is a fully open-world anime brawler made using Unreal Engine 5. Putting players into the near-future city of Hethereau, anime-styled characters are free to roam the futuristic metropolis as they see fit. Feeling like a blend of Shanghai, Seoul, and Tokyo, Hethereau is fully explorable in its gargantuan glory – and it finally satisfies that free-form slice of life itch.