NetEase’s most ambitious open-world anime RPG throws away gacha, embraces chaos, and dares to change the rules.
Ananta may be the most controversial anime RPG in a long time. This game caused more controversy than most before it came out, with players saying it copied Spider-Man’s swinging features in a GTA-style world and shocking news stories about how it got rid of the gacha system.
It will take place in a future city where you can steal NPC phones, ride a hammer bike with a bunny girl, and even watch films in a virtual theater. It might be a change, or it might be a train wreck.
Every character hides a secret, and every secret hides a story.
Ananta takes players to Nova City, a huge, neon-lit city from the future where order and chaos coexist. The game’s main character, who is just called “the Captain,” leads the Anti-Chaos Directorate (ACD), which is what you play as. You and a group of skilled espers (people with supernatural skills) are in charge of protecting the city from Chaos, an unknown force.
It’s a familiar plot with a broad scope, and the story is full of characters who break RPG stereotypes. The Captain is in charge of the team with stern authority, but fans have already noticed he looks different from earlier trailers, which could signal a plot twist.
Richie is the team’s main player. He is a strong but distracted fighter. Taffy, a messenger who runs across the city on foot or her hammer bike, adds style and speed. Then there’s Seymour, the hacker that everyone is talking about. He’s a mysterious person who can easily take over city signs and change systems.
There is a fascinating world of characters besides the main group. Dilla, a mystery girl who is linked to a meteor crash that left Nova City scarred, and Mechanica, a ghost worker who can make machines come to life, add to the story in ways that go beyond simple tropes. Each new teaser shows a different, more fascinating character, which makes the realm of chaos more appealing.
But what truly sets Ananta’s sandbox design idea apart is its uniqueness. There are no boundaries or time constraints that don’t make sense in this “digital playground,” as developers term it. Players may sprint, swing, and climb their way around a metropolis with plenty of people and activities to do. You can get in and out of cars, bikes, buses, and even airplanes. You can also just hang out and do things like basketball, mahjong, and gym workouts.
There is even a dating system that lets you get closer to people by letting them know what you think of their conversations and what they’ve been through. This is a unique mix of RPG storylines and open-world experience that you don’t often see in mobile or PC games.
A game that’s too big for its own good?
But, as you might expect, desire comes with technical pain. People who joined early-stage tests say the world is huge and uneven. Trailers said that combat moved quickly, but hands-on tests said it felt slow, clunky, and unfinished. Some testers liked how free they were to explore, while others said it was a beautiful city built on shaky foundations.
Optimization is the next step. During early tests, even high-end PCs struggled, with frame rates dropping to single digits during cutscenes and frequent crashes. This raises a very important question: if the game can’t run smoothly on powerful computers, how will it run on phones or consoles?
Ananta’s mysterious past makes things even more interesting. The same company worked on the weird mobile game Hidden World Record in 2019. Bugs were a part of the game. It failed several beta tests and was quietly thrown away until 2021, when it was brought back as Project Mugen. Fans thought Project Mugen was over when they stopped hearing about it. But it came back in 2024 as Ananta and forgot about its old social accounts.
Fans had ideas about what would happen to Ananta for months. Then the shocking news came: the developers revealed that the gacha mechanics would not be used at all. This choice shocked everyone in a game known for loot boxes and character rolls.
Were they being fair by taking a brave step, or were they trying to avoid scrutiny through bad PR? The same thing was said by another NetEase project around the same time, called Duet Night Abyss. The internet went crazy. Some people thought that Ananta’s timing was just a plan to ride the anti-gacha wave.
No matter the reason, the reaction was huge. Players were thrilled about the idea of a AAA anime RPG that doesn’t use gambling as a way to make money. You won’t lose 50/50. No ads for a limited time. You won’t miss anything.
No gamble, no glory—Ananta’s biggest risk may also be its salvation.
But getting rid of gacha brings new risks. Gacha models help games like Genshin Impact and Wuthering Waves succeed by generating steady revenue. Ananta would have to rely on skins, accessories, and maybe even yearly passes to stay alive without it.
That sounds great for players, but bad for making money. If there aren’t regular reasons to spend money, the developers might have to lengthen grind times or story events to keep people interested. It might get boring to do daily missions, and if there isn’t any banner-driven hype, the number of regular players might go down.
This risk may either change the whole gacha business or ruin the whole project. The whole world is watching this attempt that could make or break things. Ananta is one of the most ambitious, crazy, and risky anime RPGs I can remember.
It takes place in a futuristic world with rich personalities, open worlds to explore, and an economy based on fairness instead of luck. Some aspects of its performance aren’t clear, like its past, and it makes promises it can’t keep.
Ananta could change what a cartoon RPG for mobile and PC can be if it does well. It could be one of the best “what ifs” in video games if it doesn’t happen.
