Ever since its initial reveal, Ananta has been pulling in the kind of attention most developers would sell a kidney for. Leaning heavily into the currently trendy 'urban fantasy' aesthetic and featuring a protagonist wielding bizarre powers, it promises an open-world console experience rather than just another gacha-driven collect-a-thon.

Gamemeca managed to snag some hands-on time with Ananta at Gamescom this year, following our stint at the Tokyo Game Show last year. While last year's demo focused on Shinkai City, one of the game's core metropolises, this time we were treated to the oriental-flavoured city of Zhongsu alongside a brand-new playable character, Yeongrong.

Last year's Tokyo Game Show demo put the spotlight squarely on the main protagonist, Captain, brawling with a crime syndicate using supernatural flair. This new slice of the game, however, shifts gears to Yeongrong, a young girl adept at harnessing 'gi' (energy), who finds herself evading uninvited thugs crashing at her doorstep.

Things kick off at night when unsavoury characters storm the temple where Yeongrong resides and cares for local children. Turns out, the intruders are hunting down Yeongrong for pinching something valuable from them. Naturally, Yeongrong has to play hide-and-seek with her younger sibling in tow to give the mobsters the slip.

Even for a basic story mission, there is a surprising amount of stealth mechanics going on here. If you fail to break line of sight when the opposition goes on patrol, it is straight to a game over screen for you. While some glowing visual cues point you in the right direction, certain sections demand swift thinking and sharp inputs. Thankfully, checkpoints are scattered generously, meaning you do not have to slog back to the very beginning every time you mess up.

After managing to keep the younger sibling safe and acting as a decoy, Yeongrong taunts the boss right down a well, plunging into a rather mystical subterranean cavern. Swimming through the grotto reveals a colossal, secret structure where bridges magically sprout at Yeongrong's sheer will. Just as you stumble upon a strange artifact down there, an ambush triggers, and the moment you grab the object, the whole cavern begins to collapse. Sprinting down a watery tunnel leads you straight out into Mount Palsung just outside the city, wrapping up the narrative segment.

The production values are genuinely impressive, and the cutscenes do a solid job of selling the game's atmosphere. That said, the actual 'play' during this segment boils down to stealth escapes and light platforming, leaving combat entirely off the table. If the Tokyo Game Show demo was all about showing off the scrapping, this latest session was purely a demonstration of narrative pacing.

Where the previous Tokyo Game Show demo was set in Shinkai City, the Gamescom build drops you straight into the oriental-flavoured Zhongsu. According to the lore, Zhongsu is Captain's hometown, drawing heavy aesthetic inspiration from Chinese cities like Qingdao and Hangzhou.

Zhongsu boasts a bustling central market, flanked by mountains and bamboo groves that dial the traditional Asian atmosphere right up to eleven. You can interact with wandering NPCs or—in a rather bold design choice—actually attack them, giving the game more of a Grand Theft Auto sandbox vibe than your average subculture title. Granted, roughing up random citizens does not trigger any elaborate systemic reactions beyond a flinch animation and some hurried fleeing, but it is amusing nonetheless.

What makes things genuinely quirky is how these traditional Asian aesthetics mesh with 'urban fantasy' elements. Lift up a manhole cover on the street, and a cute little creature wearing a hard hat pops out to glance around nervously. You will also spot strange little entities shaped like rocks; stack them up neatly, and they will express sheer joy. Even graffiti sprayed on walls chimes in to ask if you are feeling peckish, promptly opening a portal straight to the market if you answer in the affirmative.

The market itself is packed with various minigames. You can toss rings onto targets, shoot balloons with a toy gun, kick a shuttlecock to rack up points, or furiously stir-fry tea leaves to brew a proper cup. Combined with quiet spots just to sit down and soak in the scenery, it certainly leans hard into its open-world identity.