NTE Ver.1.3 Adds Zan Hong, Linko, Xingmu Protected Zone, and Beach Volleyball
The Ver.1.3 preview shows Perfect World Games expanding NTE's scope beyond combat into a broader life-simulation sandbox, adding driving, sports, construction, and gardening alongside the story climax.
Key Facts
- Ver.1.3 "When Stars Return on a Misty Moonlit Night" for NTE: Neverness to Everness is scheduled for release on August 19.
- Zan Hong, voiced by Kikuko Inoue, is a new playable character in the first half of Ver.1.3, with a limited banner running from August 19 to September 9.
- Linko, voiced by Yui Ogura, is a new playable character in the second half of Ver.1.3, with a limited banner running from September 9 to September 30.
- The Xingmu Protected Zone is a new area in northwest Hetero City that takes over ten minutes to drive around once.
- Ver.1.3 adds beach volleyball, jet ski treasure hunting, city development construction quests, and new vehicles including the Tide jet ski, Southen buggy, and Nostalgia bicycle.
Reporting from 2 sources: 4Gamer.net, Automaton.
Perfect World Games aired a preview program on August 8 for Ver.1.3 "When Stars Return on a Misty Moonlit Night" of the free-to-play supernatural urban open-world RPG "NTE: Neverness to Everness." The update, scheduled for August 19, concludes the main story confrontation with the criminal organization Scarlet Letter, with Xu taking the front line alongside E.T.D 6th Squad members Chaos, Linko, and Nisha, the latter appearing in the main story for the first time. The first half introduces Zan Hong, a Scarlet Letter operative voiced by Kikuko Inoue, who wields the Curse attribute and switches between Reality and Phantom states in combat. After the story, she is incarcerated, so players can only interact with her phantom form in the city. The second half adds Linko, voiced by Yui Ogura, a Spirit attribute character who synchronizes with allies via radio waves. The update opens the vast Xingmu Protected Zone in northwest Hetero City, a driving area that takes over ten minutes to loop, plus jet ski treasure hunting, a 2-on-2 beach volleyball mode, city development construction quests, and new vehicles including a buggy and bicycle.
- Zan Hong's character animation, released the same day as the preview, shows her eyes originally could only perceive black and white. Her right-eye ability "Eye of Confusion" detects and interferes with emotions, and can generate illusions and expand phantom space.
- In the Phantom state, all of Zan Hong's attacks count as "additional attacks" and apply and spread continuous damage. Her city interactions are special: players raise an "Obsession Level" rather than affinity, and can challenge her phantom to a duel.
- Linko's partner Sada-chan is voiced by Michiyo Murase. Linko's city movement skill "Pop" uses Sada-chan's ghost arm to launch like a slingshot and float, letting her fly around Hetero City.
- Zan Hong's limited banner runs August 19 to September 9, with Linko's following from September 9 to September 30. Nanari and Xu reruns run alongside, and gacha pull counts carry over between limited banners.
- The Xingmu Protected Zone includes villages, terraced fields, off-road mountain areas, and circuit rally courses. Oracle Stones can be collected while driving.
- Beach volleyball "Stars Valley" is 2-on-2 against an AI teammate whose abilities grow. Weekly league matches award Funss, which share a common "Project Million" cap with Pawpular Heist and One-Shot Auction.
- The jet ski "Tide" comes from blind boxes, while the buggy "Southen" and bicycle "Nostalgia" are bought with Funss. A two-person riding event uses the bicycle.
- City Development quests involve loading materials, excavation, and ground leveling using excavators, road rollers, dump trucks, and forklifts.
- Limited-time "Orbital Break" is a Vampire Survivors-style survival mode with random enhancements. A "Random Coordinate" system auto-switches character outfits, and a UI hiding function is added.
- Ver.1.4 will open the amusement park "Pukaland." An offline event "Meme Village's Great Adventure" runs August 8-9 at Nakaiikebukuro Park.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 2 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.