Ancient Chinese RPG The Bustling World is, in fact, all of the genres, from city builder to life sim

It’s frightfully early in the year to be bustling, but I can’t get enough of the crowded streets of ancient “Chinese-style” RPG The Bustling World. The latest trailer is a series of sweeping yet intimate, colourful urban cross-sections, showing dozens of NPCs selling fish, shaking hands on balconies, shouldering barrels, dancing with fans, honing their feng shui, and various other pursuits that allegedly form part of full NPC life simulations. It’s like scrutinising a Hitman level from above, except that all of these people have evolving relationships and sleeping patterns and they might hunt you down if you murder any of their relatives. Me, I just want to play Where’s Wally.

That’s a slice from the game’s minutiae. At its most expansive, The Bustling World threatens to become a 4X strategy game: you can take charge of factions, lead armies, design houses, build cities of your own, and organise production chains into – my goodness, it sounds like they’re trying to make it a factory sim as well? “Bustling” is certainly the word. “Bursting” might be more appropriate. “Breaking” seems like a possibility. This is a cross-genre pudding of fearful, perhaps ill-advised scale. The trailer proudly advertises itself as real-time and in-engine, but I can’t quite believe they’re going to pull it all off.

The Bustling World – Steam page here – is the work of Chinese developers FireWo Games, with Lightning Games publishing. It doesn’t appear to have a core storyline. Instead, you play a nameless everyperson who can either carry on being a nameless everyperson or evolve into a proper MC with globe-straddling aspirations.

“In this ancient world, limitless possibilities await,” comments the press release. “You can choose to lead a tranquil life–work, engage in trade, and build a family. Alternatively, satisfy your insatiable desires for wealth, status, and military might. Embark on daring journeys, exploring, adventuring, solving mysteries, combating bandits, and recruiting heroes. Or, aim for the peak of power through establishing influence, city planning, policy formulation, diplomatic endeavors, and territorial expansion.”

The game promises “dozens of diverse maps, ranging from peaceful villages to strategic border fortresses” and a few special locations that blend “historical landmarks and mythology – like Xiaoxitian and the Underworld”. There’s a building system with “over 2,000 authentic components, enabling players to design and decorate with ancient Chinese furniture, tools, and artwork”, plus a farming element with “over 60 varieties of typical plants from ancient times”, each of which requires a certain soil type and temperature.

You might also form bonds with “more than 30 creatures”, training them up as mounts and selectively breeding them. But perhaps you’d rather set up a metallurgy business, hiring workers, opening branches, and doing promotion while sabotaging rival businesses at night. Or perhaps you’d rather 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 a retinue of catapults. Or a ravenous amalgamation of all these things.

I am deeply suspicious that all of this will work quite as promised, especially “in a world where every choice ripples through the tapestry of the game” and NPCs, “driven by their unique character traits and familial ties, dynamically shape the cityscape based on players’ interactions” – they’re apparently capable of building their own houses and running their own businesses, and they’ll undertake more personal behaviours like fleeing warzones and avenging slain loved ones. That’s a lot of cause-and-effect to thread together.

The Bustling World does not have a release date yet. I’m not sure how long it’s been in development, but this feels like it needs to be a “ready when it’s ready” gig of the sort Hooded Horse like to fund, perhaps even a Caves of Qud-style decade+ marathon. It’s not being advertised as an early access game, and I haven’t been able to discover how large FireWo Games are. I hope they’ve got resources and people to spare.

In trailer form, at least, The Bustling World is a treat for the eyes and synapses, a lavish historical ant farm in which every NPC looks like they’d be worth shadowing. My favourites from the video are the kids – will they eventually grow into adults? It seems consistent with the premise – all of whom bounce along with the same carefree gait, whether they’re attending a lion dance or trampling fish guts on the dock. Ah, my sweet summer children. You will have troubles aplenty when I found my empire of textile sweatshops.