A large anime-style city isn't enough of a hook by itself anymore.
Games including Genshin Impact, Zenless Zone Zero and Where Winds Meet have already demonstrated how enormous free-to-play worlds can stretch across phones, consoles and PC. Looking expensive is increasingly the starting point rather than the selling point.
ANANTA is trying to distinguish itself with something harder to demonstrate in a trailer: freedom.
NetEase Games and developer Naked Rain brought the urban open-world RPG back into the spotlight at Gamescom Opening Night Live on August 25, after host Geoff Keighley had promised viewers a "fresh look" at the game. Gamescom's official page lists ANANTA for PlayStation 5, PC and mobile and describes a city stretching from busy commercial districts to hidden alleyways, filled with different characters and activities.
The real question is whether all of that activity will make Nova City feel like somewhere players actually inhabit rather than another enormous map covered in icons.
Nova City Is Supposed to Be More Than Scenery
NetEase has been unusually specific about the kind of open world Naked Rain wants to build.
Its official gameplay breakdown describes Nova City as a "living, breathing metropolis," with interactive hotspots that can trigger activities ranging from petting cats in parks to stumbling into gang clashes. NPCs are supposed to display more lifelike behaviors, while players can even look at strangers' phones or break traffic laws during street races.
That sounds small compared with boss fights or enormous story missions, but those details may ultimately matter more.
Open-world cities often contain hundreds of buildings and thousands of pedestrians without giving players many reasons to care about either. ANANTA is pitching ordinary city life as part of the game rather than background decoration.
NetEase has even shown the stranger side of Nova City, where paranormal events are treated almost like everyday inconveniences. One official example is a toilet growing legs and running down the street.
It's ridiculous, but it tells players what kind of place they're entering.
The GTA Comparison Makes Sense — Up to a Point
It isn't difficult to understand why ANANTA keeps getting labeled "anime GTA."
Players can drive cars, hail taxis, ride buses and subways and use helicopters. NetEase says vehicles aren't just for crossing the map either; some are integrated into missions.
But crime doesn't appear to be the central fantasy.
The more interesting comparison is structural. ANANTA is taking mechanics players normally associate with sandbox games — vehicles, city exploration, spontaneous encounters and freedom of movement — and combining them with the character-driven structure of an anime RPG.
That could give it an identity beyond being another large free-to-play world.
Different Characters Could Change How the City Feels
One of ANANTA's more unusual ideas is that players aren't necessarily experiencing Nova City through one role.
NetEase says the game lets players switch between different characters with their own lives and stories. Official examples include operating as a police officer, infiltrating networks as a hacker, speeding through alleys as a delivery worker or chasing attention as a livestreamer.
That could solve a familiar open-world problem.
Usually, one protagonist interacts with an entire city in essentially the same way. If Naked Rain follows through on its concept, the same neighborhood could offer different opportunities depending on which character players are controlling.
Even ANANTA's official website leans into the social-media theme. The Captain's introduction describes arriving in Nova City amid an A.C.D. crisis, while another character, Taffy, dreams about reaching a million fans.
The internet isn't merely decoration in this world. It appears woven into how its characters think about city life.
Combat Uses the City Too
Naked Rain isn't limiting its freedom pitch to exploration.
NetEase says players can improvise during fights by using objects around them. Golf clubs and trash bins can become weapons, enemies can be disarmed and their equipment taken, and well-timed dodges or blocks create counterattack opportunities.
That's important because there is a difference between a city where fights happen and a city that actually participates in those fights.
If the surrounding environment consistently provides options rather than becoming irrelevant once combat starts, ANANTA could make its streets feel mechanically useful instead of merely impressive.
Getting Around Nova City May Be Just as Important
Traversal could ultimately determine whether exploring all of this stays enjoyable.
NetEase describes an "ultra-free" movement system allowing players to reach locations they can see, including swinging through the environment. Buildings are also supposed to contain accessible spaces across ground floors, intermediate levels and rooftops.
That verticality matters.
A huge city becomes tedious quickly if every objective requires another long drive. Games like Marvel's Spider-Man demonstrated that movement itself can become entertainment.
ANANTA doesn't need to copy that game, but it does need to make crossing Nova City something players want to do rather than something they tolerate.
ANANTA's Biggest Problem Is Also Its Biggest Selling Point
The feature list is enormous.
Reactive NPCs. Multiple playable characters. Public transportation. Cars and helicopters. Accessible interiors. Environmental combat. Swinging traversal. Street races. Paranormal events.
Showing that each system exists is one thing.
Making them work together is much harder.
A subway isn't meaningful because players can ride it once. NPC behavior isn't impressive if players recognize the same routines after an hour. An accessible building isn't automatically interesting because its door opens.
That's why ANANTA's Gamescom return matters.
The game has spent years promising a city with almost unreasonable levels of freedom. Now the conversation increasingly shifts from what Naked Rain says Nova City contains to whether those individual systems combine into something believable.
ANANTA doesn't need to defeat Grand Theft Auto at its own game.
Its opportunity is more interesting than that.
Take the character-driven appeal of an anime RPG, combine it with the freedom of a major urban sandbox and create a city players enjoy inhabiting even when they aren't following a mission.
Most open-world games ask players to save their city.
ANANTA has to convince them they'd want to live there first.
