ANANTA Gameplay Resurfaces, Showing Character Switching and Its Highly Interactive Open World

Gameplay footage from ANANTA is circulating again across social media, showing players freely exploring busy city streets, switching between playable characters, speaking with NPCs, sitting on benches, using small vehicles, and looking down over the city from above.

There is one important piece of context, however: this is not a newly revealed August 2026 build. The footage matches the Exploration Mode demo shown publicly at Tokyo Game Show 2025, where attendees could roam the city with the Captain, Taffy, and Richie. What remains notable is the design behind it—switching characters means jumping into another person's ongoing life rather than simply replacing one party member with another.

Quick Summary

• Title: ANANTA
• Japanese title: 無限大ANANTA
• Former title: Project Mugen
• Format: Video game
• Genre: Urban Open World RPG
• Developer: Naked Rain
• Publisher: NetEase Games
• Business model: Free-to-play
• Status: In development
• Confirmed platforms: PC, PlayStation 5, iOS, Android
• Release date: Not officially announced
• Pre-registration: Open through the official website
• Recently resurfaced footage: TGS 2025 Exploration Mode material
• Footage status: Not confirmation of a new August 2026 build
• TGS 2025 demo: Publicly playable
• Exploration Mode characters: Captain, Taffy, Richie
• Character switching: Available in the open world
• Switch transition: Moves the player to wherever another character is currently located
• Character routines: Uncontrolled characters continue their daily lives
• Routine variation: Work, home, favorite locations, detours, and random behavior
• Character design philosophy: Different jobs, activities, stories, and ways of interacting with the city
• Taffy: Delivery driver
• Richie: Police-related role
• Captain: New leader of a special A.C.D. task force
• NPCs: Designed around a more reactive city ecosystem
• Urban activities: Conversation, sitting, selfies, entertainment, environmental events, and more
• Vehicles: Cars, taxis, public transport, specialized character vehicles, and others
• Traversal: Walking, vehicles, parkour, swinging, and character-specific movement
• Interiors: Multiple vertical layers including ground-level spaces and rooftops
• Combat: Dodging, blocking/counters, weapons, and environmental objects
• Character gacha: Not used
• Playable characters: Planned to be acquired through game progression
• Monetization: Focused in part on customization such as outfits, vehicles, and homes
• Female Captain: Confirmed for the final game
• Multiplayer: Planned as one activity, but ANANTA is not an MMORPG

Resurfaced Gameplay, Official Trailers, and ANANTA Visuals

This Is TGS 2025 Footage, Not a New August 2026 Demo

The recently shared post highlights seamless character switching, NPC conversations, bench animations, a small rideable vehicle, and the ability to explore the city at street level and from above.

Those features are real, but the footage itself corresponds to the Exploration Mode build shown at Tokyo Game Show 2025.

The TGS demo was structured around both story-driven sequences and a freer sandbox segment that let attendees wander around the city.

In Exploration Mode, players could control the Captain, Taffy, and Richie, switch between them, drive around, and try character-specific interactions.

The current social-media circulation should therefore be treated as renewed attention around an existing playable demonstration, rather than an official reveal of a brand-new 2026 demo.

Character Switching Means Jumping Into Someone Else's Life

ANANTA's switching system is more ambitious than simply replacing one character with another at the same position.

Producer Ash explained that characters have their own daily behavior when they are not being controlled.

They may have work schedules, favorite locations, and places they regularly visit. Random variations can also send them somewhere unexpected or have them delay their usual routine.

Famitsu observed this directly with Taffy: switching to her could find her near a vending machine at one point and back at home on another occasion.

That means the transition relocates the player to the character's current place in the world.

It supports ANANTA's ensemble-story structure, where each playable person has their own profession, personal storyline, social connections, and day-to-day existence inside Nova City.

Taffy and Richie Are More Than Different Combat Kits

The differences extend into their jobs.

Taffy works as a delivery driver, with delivery activities tied into her personal progression and city life.

Richie operates in a policing role and gained access to different interactions with citizens in the TGS build, including stopping and questioning NPCs.

Naked Rain's goal is for professions to shape gameplay rather than exist as flavor text.

A police officer, hacker, courier, and other characters are therefore not meant to feel like interchangeable fighters with different attack animations.

Switching characters also means changing how the city responds.

An NPC that has little relevance to Taffy may lead to an entirely different interaction when approached by someone with law-enforcement authority.

Nova City Is Supposed to Feel Like Somewhere You Live

NetEase describes ANANTA's world as a place where calamity and ordinary life coexist.

Players may encounter gang activity, pet cats, use entertainment facilities, observe citizens, and stumble into strange events while simply moving through the city.

NPC behavior is another major focus.

The developer has described an ecosystem intended to feel more active than static quest dispensers, while the playable demo demonstrated conversations and other small social interactions.

Even activities without combat receive dedicated animations.

Sitting on a bench, spending time in different locations, using transport, or simply finding a high point and watching the city below all support Naked Rain's idea that ANANTA should feel like a second urban life rather than a map built solely around missions.

Cars, Swinging, and Character-Specific Traversal

Cars are only one part of ANANTA's movement system.

NetEase has officially discussed cars, taxis, buses, subways, and helicopters, while individual characters can have their own traversal mechanics.

The Captain can move vertically and swing through urban areas, while Taffy's work as a delivery driver gives her access to a compact ride suited to ground traversal.

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Sandustry

Changing characters can therefore change the rhythm of moving across the map.

The open world is also designed vertically. Rooftops, mid-level spaces, accessible interiors, alleys, and ground-level streets all contribute to exploration.

Combat follows the same environmental philosophy. Players can use nearby objects and weapons, disarm enemies, dodge and counter attacks, and trigger contextual actions using the surrounding space.

ANANTA Will Not Use Character Gacha

One of the biggest post-TGS confirmations was Naked Rain's decision to avoid character gacha.

Producer Ash explained that a banner-driven character system could force each new release to take attention away from existing members of the cast.

ANANTA instead wants the entire crew to remain relevant across its long-form ensemble story.

Playable characters are therefore planned to be obtained by progressing through the game rather than pulling them from character banners.

The free-to-play game will still monetize other areas. The developer has discussed customization such as outfits, vehicles, homes, and decorations, with both ordinary in-game purchases and more distinctive premium items.

The female version of the Captain is also still part of the project. The TGS materials standardized on the male Captain for presentation, but the developer confirmed that players will be able to select the female protagonist in the final game.

There Is Still No Public Release Date

ANANTA previously had a 2026 internal target visible in material shown to Famitsu.

Ash clarified at the time that the target was not a mistaken report, but the team wanted to wait until it could announce a more concrete schedule with confidence.

As of August 18, 2026, the official website continues to accept pre-registrations without listing a public release date.

The older target therefore should not be treated as a guaranteed launch date.

PC, PlayStation 5, iOS, and Android remain the platforms consistently shown through official materials.

The question is no longer whether ANANTA's elaborate open-world systems have ever been playable—the TGS demo established that. The larger question is how much those systems have evolved as Naked Rain pushes toward the final release.

Why This Matters

1) Character switching changes the player's perspective on the city

The system is not simply a combat swap. It jumps into another character's routine at their current location.

2) Jobs can create entirely different gameplay

Delivery work and policing introduce different interactions, giving each playable character a stronger identity outside battle.

3) Small activities receive unusual attention

Conversations, sitting, transport, random incidents, and ordinary daily actions are central to the fantasy of living in Nova City.

4) Old demo footage remains relevant because it is still the clearest public hands-on reference

The renewed attention around the TGS build shows how much interest remains in ANANTA's urban simulation while players wait for the next official release update.

Game Information

Additional confirmed information includes:

• ANANTA is developed by Naked Rain under NetEase Games
• it was previously introduced as Project Mugen
• its official genre is Urban Open World RPG
• the game is planned as free-to-play
• PC, PlayStation 5, iOS, and Android are officially shown platforms
• no public release date has been announced
• pre-registration remains open
• the Captain leads a special task force
• Nova City is the central urban setting
• supernatural disruptions are referred to as Chaos
• players can switch among multiple playable characters
• characters have individual storylines, jobs, routines, and progression
• uncontrolled characters continue living their own lives in the world
• switching can relocate the player directly to that character
• the TGS 2025 Exploration Mode featured Captain, Taffy, and Richie
• Taffy's gameplay includes delivery work
• Richie has interactions tied to policing
• NPCs are designed around more varied reactions and behaviors
• city activities include social interactions, entertainment, vehicles, and environmental events
• traversal includes vehicles and character-specific movement
• combat supports environmental objects and found weapons
• ANANTA does not use character gacha
• playable characters are planned to be unlocked through progression
• monetization focuses in part on customization such as outfits, vehicles, and homes
• Female Captain remains confirmed
• a multiplayer mode is planned, although ANANTA is not designed as an MMORPG
• official information is available from the ANANTA website
• pre-registration is available from the official ANANTA page
• global announcements are posted through ANANTA Official on X
• official videos are available through ANANTA on YouTube

Closing

The ANANTA clip currently circulating does show the character switching, NPC interactions, vehicles, and everyday city activities attracting attention online. It should not, however, be mistaken for an August 2026 build reveal, as the footage comes from the Exploration Mode demonstration previously shown at TGS 2025.

What still makes the footage compelling is the system behind it. Naked Rain wants characters to continue living independent lives while the player is controlling someone else, turning every switch into a jump between different jobs, routines, and perspectives on Nova City. ANANTA remains open for pre-registration on PC, PS5, iOS, and Android, with its final release date still unannounced.