---
title: 'Ananta Gamescom 2026 Preview: Anime GTA with an Influencer Twist'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=gGiwuV19EhI'
video_id: 'gGiwuV19EhI'
date: 2026-09-04
duration_sec: 453
channel: 'GameSpot'
---

# Ananta Gamescom 2026 Preview: Anime GTA with an Influencer Twist

> Source: [Ananta Gamescom 2026 Preview: Anime GTA with an Influencer Twist](https://youtube.com/watch?v=gGiwuV19EhI)

## Summary

Ananta, an anime-style open-world RPG from Naked Rain, aims to blend GTA-like freedom with influencer culture, where players grow an online following to rebuild the Countermeasures Bureau. Hands-on previews at Gamescom 2026 showcased two distinct environments—Nova City and Changjia—and character-specific traversal, but raised questions about content depth and long-term sustainability.

### Key Points

- **Initial skepticism and Ananta's appeal** [00:00] — The author was skeptical of another anime open-world game but Ananta stood out due to vehicles, story missions, appealing characters, and a vast world, earning the 'Anime GTA' label.
- **Gamescom preview and mode separation** [00:30] — Hands-on time was enjoyable but confusing: story missions and open world were separate menu modes, though marketing lead Rain assured this won't be the case at release.
- **Influencer-driven progression** [01:09] — The captain of the Countermeasures Bureau becomes an online celebrity to rebuild the organization. Growing online presence unlocks characters, content, and areas, making popularity directly tied to progression.
- **Nova City and traversal** [02:18] — Nova City is a sprawling metropolis with shops, arcades, and activities. Traversal includes driving, gliding, yachting, and Spider-Man-style swinging, varying by character.
- **Character-specific gameplay** [03:18] — Richie (New Eden Patrol) can stop and search suspects and call cop cars; Taffy is a food delivery driver using her phone to manage tasks and racing on a motorcycle.
- **Combat and humor** [03:52] — Combat is straightforward with block/counter mechanics and telegraphed attacks. Players can launch vehicles, trash cans, and objects at enemies, adding humor.
- **Changjia village and stealth mission** [04:04] — Changjia offers a rural contrast with traditional Chinese architecture and calm minigames like tea making. A stealth mission with Ying Wang impressed with scope and execution.
- **Scope and sustainability concerns** [05:46] — Ananta's enormous scope—combining open-world freedom, character stories, minigames, social systems, and multiple cities—could be fascinating but risks lacking meaningful content to sustain ambition.
- **Post-launch plans and gacha philosophy** [06:29] — Naked Rain hopes for a long-term game with a plan ready to execute. Characters are obtainable through story progression rather than gacha, potentially less predatory, but uncertain post-launch.

### Conclusion

Ananta's ambition is its greatest strength and potential weakness. The preview left a genuine desire to see more, but Naked Rain must prove there's a reason to continually return to keep its audience entertained.

## Transcript

If you're anything like me, seeing the announcement of another anime-style open-world game back in 2023 raised an eyebrow. There are so many games in a similar vein that I glance at, think look cool, and then don't find quite appealing enough to actually get me to sink time into them.
Ananta had me looking twice, though. Ananta features multiple vehicles, engaging storyline missions, a roster of appealing characters, and a vast open world, meaning it's regularly referred to as Anime GTA.
While my hands-on time with Naked Rain's free-to-play urban RPG at Gamescom 2026 was enjoyable, I'm still left a little confused about how the final game will look when it's released in 2027.
To begin, the story mission I played and the open world I engaged with were marked as two completely separate modes in the menu, although Rain, the game's international marketing lead, assured me that this would not be the case when Ananta is released.
While Ananta clearly falls into many of the traps of a modern open world RPG, its eccentric characters, obsession with social media, and ability to live different lives across its regions set it apart from others in the genre.
But it's all just a little bit strange. You'll play initially as the captain of the Countermeasures Bureau, an organization that has fallen into despair. Instead of rebuilding it through various tasks and heroic deeds, though,
the captain decides to become an online celebrity, you'll grow your following and use that popularity to bring the Bureau back to life. Obviously. Ananta even hands various cutesy nicknames to you along the way via other characters,
turning the captain's adventures into viral moments that could actually make sense in a world where everyone is permanently attached to their phone. You know, like our world today. Yes Ananta is trying to weave the modern influencer concept the entire structure of its world The captain growing online presence will unlock more characters content and areas meaning that popularity is directly correlated to progression There still the usual combat
and exploration systems, but you'll have to undertake everything considering how this will look to your growing base of adoring fans. That's built into the gameplay loop, too. You'll accept missions to build your reputation and grow your fan base, and in turn more missions, resources,
and authority will be available to you. This means you can build more relationships and recruit allies, such as Richie and Taffy, to have more storyline and different combat styles. At Gamescom, there were two hands-on previews available. The first took place in Nova City,
a sprawling modern metropolis that was previously shown at Tokyo Game Show in 2025. This busy city is packed with towering buildings, shops, restaurants, arcades, gyms, and other activities. Ananta wants you to live in its city, not just use it as a
backdrop between story missions. Interacting with NPCs, taking part in minigames, or just wandering around are all viable ways to spend your time, but it was the movement and traversal that caught my attention the most. Depending on the character you're controlling, you can drive
cars and motorcycles, glide through the air, take a yacht across the water, or even swing between buildings Spider-Man style. While in New Eden, I could switch between the Captain Richie and Taffy, with each character offering a different perspective. Richie works for the New Eden Patrol
Bureau and can stop and search anyone she finds suspicious, investigate crimes, and call a cop car to transport suspects to the station. Taffy, on the other hand, is a food delivery driver, using her
phone to manage tasks before racing around the city on her motorcycle. When you consider that is expecting you to love its characters so much you'll buy them cosmetics, it's important that they differentiate between each one and not in subtle ways For all the game ambitions combat does stagnate a little A straightforward tutorial teaches how to block and counter while incoming attacks are
telegraphed by a blinding blue flash telling you exactly when to respond. Hilariously, you can use vehicles, trash cans, and other nearby objects to launch at your enemies in a fight.
I also visited the new area of Changjia, a rural village setting that is miles away from the towering intimidation of Nova City. White walls, black tiled roofs, winding streets, and surrounding hillsides are all a stark
contrast from the hustle and bustle of Nova City, and it's really encouraging that the naked rain team can create both environments at such high quality. Traditional Chinese architecture and lush fields surround the quiet area, and minigames
including traditional Chinese boards and tea making are calmer ways to pass the time. My Time and Chong Xiao also introduced Ying Wang, the 21st director of Ling Yun, who is responsibilities include both running the Zen Monastery and keeping her younger sister out of
trouble. I guided the girls through a stealth section as they attempted to hide from a large group of men seeking them out. It's a little unclear who they were and why they were hunting the girls, since the story mission was launched as a standalone experience rather than from the
open world, but I was seriously impressed by the scope of the mission. The stealth itself is pretty well executed. It isn't impossible to get caught, nor is it so difficult to avoid being seen that I got frustrated. As the floor collapsed and one man fell through, narrowly avoiding spotting
the sisters, I held my breath and crossed my fingers. Thankfully, I had not stormed ahead to try to rush through, or there wouldn't have been consequences. After the fell section, Ying Long loses her sister and is thrown into a swirling vortex
of water. With underwater swimming sections that felt easy to control, you have got across the feeling of movement being more restricted Shortly after there a section where Ying along is forced to leap across rapidly disappearing platforms in a strange alternate dimension There a lot going on here but I didn come away with the feeling that mechanics had been shoved in for the sake of it
But this is also where I'm conflicted. Ananta is clearly enormous in scope. Naked Ring wants to combine the freedom of an open-world RPG with character-driven stories, a vast environment to interact with, mini-games, social systems, multiple cities, and a diverse
cast of characters who can fundamentally change how you experience the game. That's without taking into account your continuous mission to increase popularity and become an influencer. It could be a fascinating sandbox, but it could also struggle to have the meaningful content it needs to sustain the ambition.
Ananta thrives on one-time experiences. Many of the encounters I had involved discovering characters, hearing their stories, and finding fun little situations happening around me, which will be compelling for the first few dozen hours at least.
However, it puts pressure on Naked Rain to continue to expand the world of Ananta after launch. Speaking to a PR representative at Gamescom, he told me that the team hopes for Ananta to be a long-term game,
and that Naked Rain has a plan it is ready to execute, although he couldn't go into any more detail than that. Naked Rain has said that players can obtain characters as the story unfolds, rather than relying on gacha mechanics to acquire the cast.
This could make Ananta less predatory than many of its competitors. However, it remains to be seen whether that philosophy will survive intact through launch and beyond. Ananta's greatest strength could be the sheer scale of what it wants to offer,
but that could also become a problem. With an enormous amount to explore, it came away from Gamescom genuinely wanting to see more. Now, Naked Rain has to prove that there's a reason to continually return. For a game built around going viral,
the biggest challenge may be keeping Ananta's audience entertained.