There's an adage commonly spoken: Good artists borrow, great artists steal. And despite certain companies being major jerks about patents, I think the same applies to videogames, too. There's nothing wrong with having a clear inspiration in mind. As a matter of fact, there's nothing wrong with having multiple clear inspirations, smushing them together into a glossy frankengame, and then sticking anime bunny girls in 'em.
As is the case with Ananta, which released a meaty seven-minute gameplay trailer recently. It's the first major effort by Chinese dev Naked Rain and published by NetEase—a self-described "free-spirited open-world RPG" that seems like it'll be one of them free-to-play gachas trying to corner another bit of the market.
And if you watch the trailer above, you'll see the Spider-Man influence clear as day in some eerily familiar ledge-perching and swinging. And the Sifu-esque, Batman: Arkham-style, Yakuza-ish combat. And the GTA vehicle handling. There's even a little Watch Dogs-y drone tossed in there, too.
Honestly? I'm here for it. Especially from a press release that claims each character's going to have "a basic movement skill such as parkour, swinging, or wall-climbing. Some characters also have a unique travel ability based on their individual identity, like riding a special war hammer."
Like, sure—everyone loves legally distinct web-swinging, it's why it features so prominently in the trailer. But a (presumably) character-focused gacha game where each character has their own unique twist on movement, rather than a simple game of 'numbers go up'? That does seem like a solid concept.
It helps that I'm not seeing cause for alarm, so far. Obviously it's different from getting behind the controller, but Ananta seems like it controls snappily and has a great sense of fun about it. I'm usually immune to these sorts of games, I feel no draw towards horse girls, but I do like a web swing. I'm not above a third-action brawler where pressing triangle sends some mook to the hospital. If you're interested, you can pre-register on the game's site.
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