Nivalis Nights Wiki
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FAQ
About

How relationships work in Nivalis Nights

Relationships can take four forms: friend, rival, business partner or romance, with romance open only with some characters. In the studio’s words: “With each character, you can build different kinds of relationships, from friendship to rivalry, business partnerships, or romance.” Which one you get mostly depends on your choices in conversation and in that character’s side quests.

What is Nivalis Nights - Q&A Video #1505 Games · 1:27The first Q&A video walks through the same four kinds of relationship, with short clips of each.

The four kinds of relationship

KindWhat it does
FriendshipShapes the character’s dialogue and how their side quests end. The boat is a case in point: the water is yours to explore once you make friends with the people who know the docks.
RivalryCompeting businesses can be sabotaged under cover of curfew, with a warning attached: “What happens to them, can happen to you as well.”
Business partnershipPays in money: “buying more often from certain vendors might get you better prices”, and partnerships open new opportunities.
RomancePossible with some characters, not all; no list yet. See romance.

What moves a relationship

Asked how bonds form when you have no avatar, the developer said: “You form relationships with characters by getting to know them, making choices, choosing the right actions that will win them over, or saying the right things at the right times.”

Every character’s behavior toward you changes with your choices, and there are more than 130 of them to get to know. The characters page has the named ones.

What relationships change

  • The story route, not the destination. The main story has set endings, but “your relationships with NPCs can definitely influence how you get there, as well as the outcomes of side quests”.
  • Your costs. Regular custom with a vendor can lower what you pay, which matters when you are stocking several kitchens (see running your businesses).
  • Your safety. Rivals you sabotage can do the same to you.

The chart from the early preview

A hands-on preview of an early build described how the game drew each relationship: a plane in which “four axes - enemy, friend, business, and romance - converge on a neat circle, representing true neutral”. The circle bent toward one axis or another as the conversation went.

The same writer noted that it moved in small steps: “Just because I did someone a solid in Nivalis, doesn’t mean that they’ll consider me a friend for life”, and a social slip could be repaired later. The preview also had a neighboring nightclub owner asking to keep a discount deal he had with the noodle bar’s previous owner, and a corporate security officer warning against working with local businesses.

Treat that chart as a look at an older version. The studio has not shown the final relationship screen.

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