The chaotic world of the ancient Chinese RPG spans, of course, all genres, from city builder to life sim.

At the beginning of the year, the hustle and bustle is terrible, but I can’t get enough of the old “Chinese style” crowded streets. RPG A busy world. The latest trailer shows a sweeping but intimate, colorful urban intersection, with dozens of NPCs selling fish, shaking hands on balconies, shouldering barrels, dancing with fans, practicing feng shui, and other simulations of a full NPC life. It’s like exploring the Hitman level above, except that all these people have improved relationships and sleeping patterns, and can hunt you down if you kill any of their relatives. Me, I just want to play Where’s Wally.

That’s a snippet from the minutes of the game. At its widest, The Bustling World threatens to be 4X Strategy Gameplay: You can take charge of teams, lead armies, design houses, build your own cities and organize production chains – my goodness, it looks like they’re trying to make a factory sim too? “Crazy” is indeed the word. “Exploding” might be more appropriate. “Breaking through” seems possible. This is a cross-genre pudding of a terrifying, perhaps ill-advised scale. The trailer proudly advertises itself as real-time and in-motor, but I can’t believe they pull all this off.

The Busy World – Steam page here – It is the work of Chinese developers FireWo Games, publishing Lightning Games. It doesn’t seem to have a main storyline. Instead, everyone plays an anonymous person or continues to be an anonymous person or turns into a proper MC with international ambitions.

“In this ancient world, limitless possibilities await,” said the press release. “You can choose to live a quiet life – work, run a business, and raise a family. Alternatively, you can satisfy your insatiable desire for wealth, status, and military power. Embark on daring journeys, explore, adventure, solve mysteries, fight bandits, and recruit heroes, creating influence. , urban planning, policy formulation, and diplomatic efforts For the purpose of establishing power, territorial expansion.”

The game promises “dozens of different maps, from peaceful villages to strategic border fortresses” and a few unique locations that combine “historical landmarks and legends – such as Xiaoxitian and the Underworld.” There’s a building system with “over 2,000 authentic elements, allowing players to design and decorate with ancient Chinese furniture, tools, and artwork,” plus a farming element with “over 60 plant species from ancient times,” each with a specific soil type and temperature.

You can also bond with “over 30 creatures”, train them as mounts, and selectively breed them. But perhaps if they set up a steel mill, they would prefer to hire workers, open branches, and advertise while disrupting rival firms at night. Or maybe you prefer to be a diplomat. Or a black market dealer with a grappling hook. Or a wandering martial artist. Or a general with their own chariot and catapult. Or a furious combination of all these things.

I highly doubt it all works as promised, especially in a world where “all choices are in-game” and NPCs “dynamically shape the cityscape based on their unique personality traits and family ties. Player interaction” – looks like they’ll be able to build their own houses and run their own businesses. , and perform more personal behaviors such as fleeing war zones and retaliating. Favorite people killed. That’s a lot of cause-and-effect tied together.

Chaos World doesn’t have a release date yet. I’m not sure how long it’s been in development, but I feel like this must be a “ready when it’s ready” kind of hood horse gig. They like to financePerhaps a Caverns-Style Decade+ Marathon. It’s not advertised as an early access game, and I’m not sure how big the FireWo games are. I hope you find wealth and survivors.

In trailer form, at least, The Bustling World is a treat for the eyes and synapses, a lavish historical ant farm where every NPC seems to be a shadow. My favorite from the video are the kids – will they eventually grow up to be adults? It seems to fit the premise – they’re all walking around in the same carefree way, whether they’re participating in a lion dance or kicking fish guts on the pier. Ah, my sweet summer children. You will have a lot of trouble when I find my fabric sweatshop.