Nostos

An enchanting and ambitious virtual-reality RPG that proves collaboration can be magic.

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Even in this early stage – objects popping in and out of view, framerate all over the place – Nostos is breathtaking to behold. Blades of grass and lavender flowers dance in the wind; clouds roll overhead like foamy waves over sea-blue sky. It’s a scene straight out of a Studio Ghibli film, or plucked from the artbooks of classic JRPGs. As animals roam the fields stretching out before us, there’s a flurry of movement over to our right – another human. Their limpid anime eyes stare at us. Then, they wave, before motioning for us to join them.

Nostos is an open-world virtual-reality RPG featuring online multiplayer, a place full of lush forests, dusty deserts and frigid mountainsides to explore. This expansive world comes courtesy of a partnership between Chinese company NetEase and Improbable, creators of SpatialOS. The latter’s remarkable cloud-based platform is the key to the instance-based multiplayer, which allows players to hunt, craft, cook and build together. It also lends an edge of reality to the candy coloured apocalypse of