Ananta says hey, we can do a Spider-Man/Yakuza/Sifu/Batman: Arkham/GTA—but we'll put an anime bunny girl in our one

Taffy, a bunny girl from Ananta, places her hands on her head as she realises she hasn't been paid yet.

(Image credit: Naked Rain / NetEase)

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Update, September 25: Turns out, Ananta isn't a gacha, as revealed by Famitsu. Original story follows.

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.

ANANTA | Gameplay Trailer - YouTube

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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.

Harvey's history with games started when he first begged his parents for a World of Warcraft subscription aged 12, though he's since been cursed with Final Fantasy 14-brain and a huge crush on G'raha Tia. He made his start as a freelancer, writing for websites like Techradar, The Escapist, Dicebreaker, The Gamer, Into the Spine—and of course, PC Gamer. He'll sink his teeth into anything that looks interesting, though he has a soft spot for RPGs, soulslikes, roguelikes, deckbuilders, MMOs, and weird indie titles. He also plays a shelf load of TTRPGs in his offline time. Don't ask him what his favourite system is, he has too many.

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