With the rising significance of $(\infty, n)$-categories, it is important to have easy-to-handle models for those and understand them as much as possible. In this talk we will discuss how $n$-complicial sets provide a model for $(\infty, n)$-categories, and how one can recover strict $n$-categories through a suitable nerve construction. We will focus on $n = 2$, for which more results are available, but keep an eye towards the general case. Time permitting, we will also discuss a few recent research directions and work in progress about $n$-complicial sets.