ANANTA's combat is hand-to-hand inspired by Jackie Chan films and Hong Kong action cinema. The developers at Naked Rain want every fight to feel like a scene from a martial arts movie. Based on the TGS 2025 demo and CBT1, here is how it works.
Basic Controls
The control scheme (shown on PlayStation) uses L1 to block, R1 to attack, and R1 + X to vault over enemies. The vault is a parry: time it right and you open the enemy up for a counter. Combat flows between light attacks, heavy attacks, dodges, and counters in quick chains.
Environmental weapons
This is the Jackie Chan part. Players can pick up and use almost anything in the environment as a weaponstreet signs, trash cans, chairs, golf clubs, chainsaws, pipes, and enemy firearms. You can slam opponents into cars and dumpsters, grab objects mid-combo, and disarm enemies to use their own weapons against them.
Ranged Weapons
A GTA-style weapon wheel lets players switch between firearms including assault rifles, grenade launchers, flamethrowers, and grenades. These sit alongside melee weapons like hammers, cleavers, bats, and hockey sticks.
Confirmed Combat Verbs
The TGS 2025 demo and the January 2026 closed beta showcased the full kit available to every character. Light and heavy strikes chain into the same combo string. A well-timed block flips into a parry, and a parry opens a counter window.
Verb | Input (PS5 demo) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Light attack | R1 | Standard combo step; chains into other verbs. |
Heavy attack | R1 held | Slower start, larger stagger on hit. |
Block / Parry | L1 | Hold to block, tap on incoming swing to parry. A clean parry opens a brief counter window. |
Vault counter | R1 + X | Vaults over the enemy and lands behind them. Doubles as a punishing parry against telegraphed swings. |
Dodge | Circle | Sidesteps incoming attacks. Used together with parry to break combat-heavy crowds. |
Pick up environmental object | Bumper button on prompt | Grabs nearby objects (street signs, trash cans, chairs, pipes, golf clubs, chainsaws) to use as a weapon mid-combo. |
Disarm | Contextual, mid-combo | Strips an enemy's weapon and adds it to the player's hands. |
Slam into terrain | Contextual grapple | Smashes a grabbed enemy into cars, dumpsters, or walls. Triggers extra damage and crowd reactions. |
Character swap | D-pad / shortcut | Brings in another team member mid-combo; see Team Switching. |
Ultimate | Activated when energy gauge fills | Cinematic high-damage move unique to each character. |
Enemy Reactions
Most Chaos-corrupted enemies use telegraphed wind-ups and respond to staggers, grabs, and disarms. Heavier enemies require sustained pressure on their stamina bar before a finishing prompt appears. Some enemies counter-parry the player; those windows are signalled with a colored on-screen cue.
No Stamina Drain on Movement
Combat shares the same stamina-free philosophy as traversal. Movement options (dash, vault, dodge, grappling) remain available between hits without waiting for a meter to refill.
Energy Gauge and Ultimates
Each character builds an energy gauge during combat. When it fills, you can trigger an ultimate finishing move. These are cinematic, high-damage attacks unique to each character.
Enemy Stamina
Enemies have stamina bars below their health. Breaking an enemy's stamina leaves them vulnerable to finishing attacks. This encourages sustained pressure rather than hit-and-run tactics.
Team switching
Players assemble a team of four characters and can switch between them on the fly. The full team can also equip an extra buff or ability slot (such as crowd control or telekinesis). An attribute system hints at elemental synergies between characters.
Destructible Environments
Vehicles blow up, explosions spread realistically, and combat often spills across multiple areas. The TGS demo featured car chases that transitioned into street brawls and then into building interiors without loading screens.