Ananta isn’t out yet. It’s a free-to-play urban open-world RPG set in Nova City, built around a single fluid traversal system — parkour, grappling, swinging, driving, swimming — with a roster of characters you unlock through play rather than gacha banners. There’s no confirmed global release date yet, so the wait can feel long.
The good news: Ananta wears its influences openly. It’s been compared to a handful of standout games, and each of them is already playable today. Below are six games that capture a different piece of what Ananta is going for — with an honest note on where each one diverges, so you know exactly what you’re getting.
Want the latest on when Ananta actually launches? See our Ananta Release Date — Everything We Know So Far hub.
1. Marvel’s Spider-Man (PS5 / PC) — the traversal twin
If the one thing pulling you toward Ananta is moving through a city, this is the closest match available. Spider-Man’s web-swinging across a dense, vertical metropolis is the same core fantasy Ananta is chasing with its grappling and rooftop parkour — momentum, flow, and a skyline that’s fun just to cross.
How it’s different: Spider-Man is a premium, single-player, story-driven game with one hero. Ananta is free-to-play, live-service, multi-character, and built as a shared open world. You’re buying a polished, finite experience here, not a live game.
2. Grand Theft Auto V — the living-city sandbox
Ananta’s pitch of a city that’s alive — NPCs with routines, traffic that reacts, chaos that ripples across districts — is territory GTA has owned for years. If you want a dense urban playground where you make your own fun between missions, GTA V (and GTA Online) still sets the bar.
How it’s different: GTA is a mature, grounded crime sandbox. Ananta is anime-styled, leans into supernatural “anomalies” alongside everyday city life, and gives you a cast of distinct characters rather than a lone protagonist. Tonally, they’re far apart even when the sandbox instinct is the same.
3. Genshin Impact — the free anime open world
This is the obvious comparison for a reason: a free-to-play, character-driven anime open world with live-service updates. If you want to know what the rhythm of an Ananta-style game feels like — exploring, collecting characters, getting regular content drops — Genshin is the reference point.
How it’s different: Genshin is set in the fantasy world of Teyvat with elemental combat, and its characters come from a gacha system. Ananta flips both: a modern urban setting instead of fantasy, and no character banners — you earn the roster through progression. If gacha fatigue is why you’re eyeing Ananta, that’s the key distinction.
4. Persona 5 Royal — bonds and a supernatural double life
Ananta blends ordinary city life with a hidden, stranger layer, and it features a relationship system where you build bonds with characters. That “live a normal life by day, deal with the extraordinary by night” structure — plus a heavy emphasis on relationships and razor-sharp style — is Persona’s wheelhouse.
How it’s different: Persona 5 is a turn-based, single-player JRPG with a fixed calendar and story. Ananta is real-time, open-world action. You’re trading Persona’s tight authored structure for open-world freedom.
5. Zenless Zone Zero — urban anime action, right now
Of the live-service options, ZZZ is the closest in vibe: a stylish, modern-city anime action game with a strong cast and slick combat. If you want something to actively main while waiting — same free-to-play, same urban-anime energy — this is the natural pick.
How it’s different: ZZZ is more mission/instance-based than a single seamless open world, and it does use a gacha system for characters. Think of it as the urban-anime feel without Ananta’s open-city traversal or progression-based roster.
6. Like a Dragon (Yakuza) — a dense city full of stories
Ananta promises a city you’ll want to return to — packed with side activities, characters, and tonal swings from serious to absurd. That’s the soul of the Yakuza / Like a Dragon series: a compact, hyper-detailed Japanese city stuffed with substories and minigames, where a heartfelt drama sits right next to total nonsense.
How it’s different: Like a Dragon is premium and single-player, with combat that’s either brawler or turn-based depending on the entry. Ananta is open-world and live-service. But if “a living city full of things to do” is your hook, this series delivers it better than almost anything.
Which one should you play while you wait?
- Just want to move through a city? → Marvel’s Spider-Man
- Want a sandbox to mess around in? → GTA V
- Want the closest live-service rhythm? → Genshin Impact (fantasy) or Zenless Zone Zero (urban)
- Want bonds, style, and a double life? → Persona 5 Royal
- Want a dense city full of stories? → Like a Dragon
None of them are Ananta — but each one nails a piece of it. And when Nova City finally opens its doors, you’ll want to be ready.
Get in early: How to Pre-Register for Ananta takes a couple of minutes, and our Release Date hub tracks every update the moment it drops. If you’re weighing Ananta against Neverness to Everness specifically, see our Ananta vs NTE comparison.
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