ANANTA, developed by Naked Rain Studio, has long been counted among the most anticipated anime-style (often referred to as subculture) urban fantasy games. During Gamescom Opening Night Live, NetEase confirmed the game's official release date for January 15 next year.

With a global service that will also launch in Korea, media from around the world gathered at Gamescom in Germany, lining up at the business hall booth to get an early hands-on experience with the game.

The 40-minute demo session began in Nova City, a region previously playable in earlier demos. Nova City fits the image of a global metropolis filled with skyscrapers, serving as the central setting for ANANTA's gameplay showcases and marketing so far.

However, because the gameplay itself covered the same section as previous demos, the play session in this area was relatively short, lasting about 15 minutes.

The second area demonstrated was Chongxiao, a city recently highlighted in trailers. Chongxiao emphasizes the scenery of small Chinese towns and countryside, featuring no skyscrapers and a demo layout focused entirely on exploration without combat.

First, the TGS demo section whose impressions had already been shared—that is, Nova City—was set up to let players enjoy story and exploration separately. In story mode, players controlled the protagonist Captain to experience light combat, interspersed with car chases and quick time events (QTEs).

As detailed in previous coverage, Captain's combat style utilizes freeflow combat with tentacles extending from his body for undisclosed reasons. With simple controls for light attack, heavy attack, block, and dodge, players can easily perform flashy attacks, while incoming enemy attacks are color-coded to distinguish blockable attacks from dodge-only ones, making combat relatively accessible.

Skills can also be assigned to buttons, with basic skills having a short cooldown of around 5 seconds for frequent use. Players can chain skills into the fluid freeflow combat to execute stylish sequences. There are also plenty of environmental instant-kill moves, such as slamming an enemy into a wall or grabbing a manhole cover with tentacles to throw at foes.

However, there were moments where transitioning into the next action upon making contact with enemies felt slightly clunky. Since this section was originally shown at last year's TGS and animation work is ongoing, it likely has improved in current development builds. Indeed, while not combat-focused, the Chongxiao section demo—a newer build—featured visibly smoother animations.

After the brief combat segment, a car chase sequence followed. Captain is capable of not only melee combat but also firearm play. In this sequence, new character Lyka drives while Captain shoots at pursuing enemies from the passenger seat. Gunplay features light auto-aim when using a gamepad, allowing for a smooth gameplay experience.

Additionally, the event featured a variety of button prompt actions to keep potentially dull sequences engaging. Failing a button prompt triggered realistic reaction animations—such as clipping a wall during a close dodge—adding to the sense of immersion.

The cinematic events during the chase sequence went beyond visual flair to expand the gameplay experience. While Lyka was driving, the car nearly flipped over, and after scrambling back into the seats, the protagonist ended up in the driver's seat. Taking the wheel allowed players to naturally get a feel for vehicle controls.

Another memorable detail occurred during a jump off a ramp high into the air, where the car landed trapped amidst construction materials. When escape proved impossible, a respawn button (R) activated, placing the car back in the middle of the road in typical arcade racing fashion. This served as proof that the chase sequence was not heavily scripted to reduce tension, but rather driven by actual physics and player inputs.

Following story mode, exploration mode offered open-world content focused on navigating a vast map. Players can scale multi-story skyscrapers, swing rapidly using tentacles, and engage in combat or exploration. However, due to limited demo time, the session moved on to the Chongxiao demo.

The story mode in the second demo followed key ANANTA character Wei Yinglong as she rescued her younger sister and escaped from intruders wearing animal masks. This section featured no combat, focusing purely on stealth action.

Had someone played only this section without the earlier demo, ANANTA might have given a completely different impression, as gameplay revolved around restricted movement and evading enemy vision. Since Captain's gameplay also includes stealth kills—approaching undetected for a one-hit takedown alongside flashy action—Wei Yinglong's escape sequence seems designed to introduce the game's stealth mechanics.

Navigating past intruders, Wei Yinglong retrieves her sister hiding under the bed in her room and attempts to escape the house. The residence resembles a traditional Chinese mansion with a spacious yard, bamboo groves, and decorative rocks, making the escape take a considerable amount of time. Getting caught in an enemy's flashlight beam immediately results in capture and a failed escape message.

Upon reaching the escape point, they are cornered, forcing Wei Yinglong and her sister into a dead end. With the intruders armed with guns, Wei Yinglong stashes her sister inside a smelly jar, puts a cardboard box over herself, and attempts to casually walk past the men. It is a deliberate move to draw enemy attention away from her sister's hiding spot.

When caught, Wei Yinglong uses martial arts to overpower the enemies and flee. Time briefly slows down, her eyes glow slightly, and special abilities trigger high-speed movement. However, she experiences pain and cannot fully control the power.

Evading further attacks, Wei Yinglong falls into a well and dives underwater to find a way to the opposite side of the lake. Instead, she discovers an ancient ruin-like space beneath the water that opens into a mysterious, non-man-made structure, at the end of which lies an unidentified sphere.

Suddenly, an assassin attacks Wei Yinglong from behind, but a figure wearing a comical mask intervenes to block the attack. Falling and making contact with the sphere, Wei Yinglong experiences a brief flash of memories in Nova City alongside Captain and other main characters.

Whether these memories belong to the future or the past remains unclear, but the sequence hints at how her story connects with other characters, suggesting individual character story modes will unpack these ties. Upon touching the sphere, Wei Yinglong undergoes an awakening cutscene, granting her incredible jumping power and underwater breathing.

Unaware of the cause of her newfound powers, Wei Yinglong reaches the far side of the lake, where she meets the gaze of an eye staring from inside a massive suit of armor bound in chains. She escapes the lake to evade its gaze, concluding the demo segment.

As a story showcase, this segment suggests ANANTA will feature similar playable character stories in the full game. These sections will likely explore power awakenings, deeper character portrayals, relationships between characters, and the overarching narrative.

In exploration mode, players navigated the city of Chongxiao. Chongxiao is a nature-friendly city featuring bamboo forests and tea plantations. Designed after rural Chinese towns, it lacks high-rise buildings and features vehicles like tractors that enhance its countryside atmosphere.

Unlike the densely packed block layout of Nova City, Chongxiao retains winding roads with charming houses lining the streets. Consequently, town activities are concentrated in the market-like center, while everyday interactive elements are spread throughout the surrounding area.

For example, food stalls line the town center, offering mini-games like pounding rice cakes with wooden mallets, ring toss, and popping balloons with air guns. Food bought at stalls is eaten on the spot—not through static standing animations, but detailed actions such as scooping fried rice with a spoon or blowing on a hot egg before breaking and eating it. Players can move freely during these actions, seamlessly blending lower-body movement with eating animations.

The animation shortcomings noted in the earlier build of Nova City were noticeably improved here.

Moving away from the town center reveals activities like Jegichagi (shuttlecock kicking) and tea leaf roasting. Tea roasting requires stirring at the proper temperature to prevent burning or under-roasting, rewarding players with boxed tea leaves upon success. Booth staff observing the demo even handed out real-world tea leaves identical to the in-game item.

While exploration mode lacked combat entirely, it demonstrated the variety of mini-games packed into the title and the freedom with which players can explore its rural landscape.

Visually, lighting and textures are well-executed. As anime-style character rendering becomes more pronounced, realistic skin textures become harder to apply. The game instead enhances visual quality through smooth outlines and subtle color shifts driven by lighting effects.

Overlaying overly realistic textures can create a clash with character designs. The ANANTA demo captured environmental lighting and textures while keeping them consistent with the aesthetic of the characters, striking a balance between looking impressive and remaining visually cohesive.

Although the Chongxiao demo was relatively short, it revealed significant potential. Expectations are high to see how much more content will be added ahead of its launch on January 15 next year.