Nivalis Nights review: An avalanche of fascinating characters carrying a decent shop sim on their backs.

Nivalis Nights is overwhelming. Intentionally, I suspect, to give me the immersive experience of living in a hyper-capitalist megacity hellscape. It has no map because Nivalis is canonically unmappable, only a HUD compass where my 20+ active quest markers all scuttle over each other, nearly as crowded as the alleyways of its layered, neon city where hundreds of citizens amble between giant apartments and fusion food joints.

What is it?: A quest-heavy cyberpunk shop simulation in a city obsessed with debt. Release date: September 29, 2026 Expect to pay: $25 / £22 Developer: Ion Lands Publisher: 505 Games Reviewed on: Intel Core Ultra 7 265, RTX 5070 Ti, 32GB RAM Multiplayer: No Steam Deck: Unspecified Link: Steam

One of those joints is mine. Ramen Noir is a floundering noodle bar left to me by a friend named Thaddeus who flees the city for mysterious reasons, saddling me with its complementary insurmountable debt of 50,000 Lims.

Thaddeus also left me a …