Anime meets GTA in this new open-world game

The extended gameplay of Project Mugen, now officially renamed to Ananta, has been unveiled by NetEase, and many people have rightfully pointed out the inspirations from Rockstar Games' GTA 5. Outside of the open-world aspects of the game, where the protagonist can roam around in an urban environment using cars, there was also another feature that many players recognized very easily.

Similar to GTA 5, this new anime RPG features multiple playable characters. Let's take a look at how Rockstar's 2013 masterpiece inspires Ananta.

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How GTA 5 influences Ananta

Hearing that a game is inspired by GTA, many people might think about doing epic heists, being an outlaw, and obviously having an urban world that is explorable using a variety of vehicles. The latter part of using several modes of transportation is true, but Ananta's gameplay trailer gave us a better look at how the game takes more.

The game features multiple main characters, and you can swap to them in the open world. Similar to GTA 5, doing so will require you to use your mobile phone and select them, which will then transition into a bird-eye view, taking you to the POV of the one you choose. This is quite similar to Grand Theft Auto 5, as selecting between any of the three protagonists gives you the same transition.

The obvious inspiration of having an urban city full of activities, such as a gym, nightclubs, a combat featuring both melee and ranged weapons, driving vehicles, including boats and helicopters, remains, making it much closer to Rockstar's popular open-world IP.

It was also revealed that, similar to GTA Online, Ananta will have monetization that revolves around purchasing vehicles, outfits, and other cosmetic items.

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Other inspirations for Ananta

While GTA 5 played a major role in the game to become an urban open-world title, featuring a metropolis with both big city skylines and rural hubs, Naked Rain also takes inspiration from several other games.

Marvel's Spider-Man is also an integral inspiration for the game (Image via NetEase)

For the game's combat, the two big inspirations are Insomniac's Spider-Man series and the underrated 2012 open-world title, Sleeping Dogs. While the former is right on your nose, as the protagonist can use web-like abilities to fight enemies or to swing around the city, the role that the latter played can go unnoticed.

Sleeping Dogs featured police segments, where the protagonist Wei Shen can arrest criminals, and one of Ananta's lead characters, Richie, can do so as well. Besides, the combat is also similar to the old beat-em-up style, where you can toss enemies into various environmental objects, and in Ananta's gameplay trailer, we see the Captain of the ACD task force doing that.

Besides the beat-em-up style of combat, which is featured in Sleeping Dogs and the Yakuza series, the protagonist can also use his web-like powers to fight enemies, just like your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.

The game also features a mysterious hacker character, Seymour, who can take out electronics such as lights and screens around an entire city block, similar to the protagonists of Ubisoft's Watch Dogs series.