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Ananta promotional screenshot
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I played China’s ‘anime GTA’ Ananta and I wasn’t surprised to find Spider-Man swinging and Batman punching, but I wasn’t quite ready for the vampire who vomits rainbows

by admin September 27, 2025



I may be outing myself as a dullard, but I don’t think I have a mind that could combine a bunny girl doing odd delivery jobs for cash, a cute Japanese kei truck, and a sick vampire who barfs streams of rainbows into a single scene. Perhaps no single mind could, but that was the moment in Ananta, which has made headlines as “anime GTA” since its re-reveal this week, that really won me over.

Ananta is borrowing—or brazenly copying—a lot, but it might have some wild-ass ideas of its own, too.

The main impression I got from playing about half-an-hour of Ananta at this year’s Tokyo Game Show was: Wow it must have taken a lot of people to make this game! China is on the path to dominate the next decade of triple-A games, and there’s no flashier way to do it than to make (or at least appear to be making) the ur-game. Every mechanic from the top 10 or 20 or 50 most popular games in the world, combined, is surely better than any of those games individually, right?


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This maximalist approach to big budget game design has never really been great in practice, and a few minutes into Ananta reveal it is indeed doing things that you have done many times in a game before and probably are not foaming at the mouth to do again:

  • Punching guys with timing-based combos and counters reminiscent of the Batman Arkham games or Sleeping Dogs
  • Scripted quick-time events that feel right out of an Uncharted or other 2010s action game
  • On-rails car chases that give you unlimited ammo to shoot out the tires of your pursuers
  • Web-swinging around a giant city as Spide—er, the anime version of that guy from Prototype

Ananta | Gameplay Video – YouTube

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But then there’s the weird stuff—like hopping into the boots of Lykaia, a purple-haired getaway driver slash cop who has a totally different set of play mechanics to the intro protagonist, whose arms get all weird and stretchy to let him swing around.

In its free roam mode, Ananta let me pull up a phone interface to swap between characters, triggering a straight-outta-GTA-5 camera swoop up into the sky and back down into the part of the city where they’re currently hanging out. I only played as Lykaia for a couple minutes before my demo was up, but as a police officer she can scan NPCs against a database, frisk them for weapons, issue citations, and handcuff them, triggering reactions and dialogue you wouldn’t otherwise see.

Will this be fun? Will it produce any actually interesting systemic interactions or are these all paper thin mechanics that you’ll use three times and never see fit to use again? I have no idea, but it sure does seem like a hell of a lot of work if it’s the latter.

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You know the saying about Chekhov’s coffin: it better have a vampire in it who’s violently ill and leans over the side of the truck bed to puke a stream of rainbow sick into the night air.

I spent most of the game as Taffy, a bunny girl whose eagerness to make money sees her blindly accepting an odd job from a rando who texts her to meet at a sketchy warehouse. Turns out the warehouse is full of gang members who try to bludgeon her to death with baseball bats. Good thing she has telekinetic powers! I punched out most of the guys before I realized I could psychically rip a bat out of someone’s hands and thonk it into his skull.

Then a delivery driver crashed his truck into the warehouse and told me I needed to get the cargo across town ASAP. Soon-to-be Gen Z icon Taffy cheerily says “Gotta get that bag” as she takes on the job.

It took me a few seconds into the drive to notice that the cargo in the back of the truck was, in fact, a coffin, and you know the saying about Chekhov’s coffin: it better have a vampire in it who’s violently ill and leans over the side of the truck bed to puke a stream of rainbow sick into the night air.


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(Image credit: NetEase)

Taffy is less surprised by this than I am. Not in a “she’s used to vampires who throw up rainbows” kind of way, as Ananta does not use this mission to reveal some sort of in-universe lore about a race of vampires suffering some sort of sci-fi gut-melting virus. The vibe I get from Ananta is that none of these characters are going to be very surprised or upset or unduly threatened by anything: they’re all seemingly different strains of jovial bouncy superhero.

Anyway, I’m pretty sure my driving wasn’t the problem: I delivered the vampire to some sort of cult who played him up as a fearsome warrior as a gag before he continued puking into a rusty barrel.

It was just one baffling sidequest out of a game that promises unfathomable scope. I can’t say Ananta’s driving or punching or swinging felt exemplary—but none of them really felt that bad, either! This may be a game that does dozens of things acceptably well. And it made me laugh.

Maybe Ananta’s developers didn’t start from the cynical position of copying the most high-profile games in the world. Maybe they were just brainstorming and someone said yes to every single idea they came up with, even vampires barfing ROYGBIV? It’s done, love it, it’s in the game. Next?



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September 27, 2025 0 comments
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Fantasy football - Don't be surprised if ... Zach Charbonnet becomes an RB2, Quentin Johnston is on most-dropped list soon
Esports

Fantasy football – Don’t be surprised if … Zach Charbonnet becomes an RB2, Quentin Johnston is on most-dropped list soon

by admin September 12, 2025


  • Eric KarabellSep 12, 2025, 07:03 AM ET

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      Eric Karabell is a senior writer for fantasy baseball, football and basketball at ESPN. Eric is a charter member of FSWA Hall of Fame and author of “The Best Philadelphia Sports Arguments”.

Each week in the NFL is its own story — full of surprises, both positive and negative — and fantasy football managers must decide what to believe and what not to believe moving forward. Perhaps we can help. If any of these thoughts come true … don’t be surprised!

NOTE: All mention of fantasy points is for PPR formats, unless otherwise mentioned.

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Seattle Seahawks RB Kenneth Walker III is a fast, explosive talent who rushed for more than 1,000 yards during his rookie season and followed that up with another nine touchdowns in his second year. Last season, he added extensive pass receiving duties to his game. Walker has generally been a safe, high-end RB2 option for fantasy managers but has struggled to stay healthy — and last season his absence from six games opened the door for backup Zach Charbonnet. Ultimately, Charbonnet outscored Walker in total points for the season.

Don’t be surprised if … Charbonnet joins Walker as borderline RB2

There is a decent shot that Walker and Charbonnet share touches and both of them retain strong flex value for the season. Last season, they didn’t really share touches. Charbonnet earned his chances when Walker was out. This season, what happened in Week 1 against the San Francisco 49ers might become the norm. Charbonnet looked like the better player, rushing for 47 yards and a touchdown. Walker averaged only 2 yards per rush and ultimately played on fewer snaps. He turned his three receptions into just four yards.

The Seahawks play the Pittsburgh Steelers this week, and because the Steelers permitted 182 rushing yards to the New York Jets in Week 1, many believe the Seahawks will see similar success. Perhaps that is true. Or perhaps the Steelers fix their defensive issues. Perhaps the Jets just run on every defense this season. It’s Week 2. There is a lot of “perhaps,” you know.

Not that it matters much, but Walker and Charbonnet were both second-round draft picks, in successive seasons. They’re both good. It was always a fallacy to assume that loyalty to Walker would decide the hierarchy. There might be no hierarchy. I don’t see Charbonnet pushing Walker aside. I see a timeshare in which, in some weeks, Charbonnet gets more volume and produces RB1 statistics. In other weeks, it will be Walker. It will frustrate fantasy managers, but last season both backs finished among the top-30 RB scorers. This season, perhaps both will settle in nicely as a borderline top-20 option.

Other RB thoughts that shouldn’t surprise:

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  • The snap count was nearly even for Minnesota Vikings Aaron Jones Sr. and Jordan Mason. Or should that be Mason and Jones? Of course, fantasy managers are flocking to Mason. Go for it. He was a popular preseason sleeper. We acknowledge that Mason added value after earning most of the Week 1 rushing attempts, but Jones caught a TD pass. He’s not going away. I maintain Jones should be ranked better this week (still) and we will see a more even distribution of touches this week vs. Atlanta.

  • As someone who does not believe Philadelphia Eagles star Saquon Barkley earns close to the same volume as last year or even stays healthy enough to perform in all 17 games, I like the Tank Bigsby acquisition from the Jaguars. Bigsby is certainly an upgrade over current Eagles backups Will Shipley and AJ Dillon. Frankly, I expect Bigsby will be very popular at certain junctures this season. Don’t dump him. Try to keep him on rosters.

  • Perhaps similarly, why does everyone assume that Jaguars RB Travis Etienne Jr. is suddenly so awesome and so much more valuable following the Bigsby trade? Rookie Bhayshul Tuten will emerge. This trade was about creating an opportunity for him. Etienne runs all over the lowly Carolina Panthers in Week 1 and now, suddenly, he’s reliable again? He averaged 3.7 yards per carry the past two seasons. Even acknowledging a new Jaguars regime and the ebbs and flows of annual performance, I would not feel safe with Etienne as a long-term RB2 and would seek an upgrade. We might be discussing this next week after Etienne provides 10 fantasy points against the Bengals.

  • Etienne did run all over the Panthers, so that should mean Arizona Cardinals veteran James Conner runs wild on that defense this week. Intriguing backup Trey Benson is going to earn double-digit attempts as well. How about two Cardinals RBs with 15-plus points? It’s just tough to force Benson into lineups. Unlike at QB and WR, there aren’t notable injuries keeping top-20 options out.

  • Week 2 is often about patience with rookies. Steelers rook Kaleb Johnson appears buried because of former Eagle Kenneth Gainwell. Will that last? New York Giants bulldozer Cam Skattebo lost yards on his Week 1 rushing attempts, and now the preseason darling is waiver wire fodder. The Dallas Cowboys might or might not activate Jaydon Blue this week, but fantasy managers have long since moved on. It doesn’t take much to react in fantasy. Presumably you drafted these fellows for a reason. Give that reason all of September.

Don’t be surprised if … Las Vegas Raiders QB Geno Smith keeps throwing downfield, but with more success

Geno Smith threw for 362 yards in Week 1 against the Patriots. Is the Raiders’ pass game being undervalued? Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire

People view rookie RB Ashton Jeanty as the team’s most important offseason acquisition, and for good reason. Jeanty was a bit bottled up by the New England Patriots in Week 1, and things might not improve this week versus the stout Los Angeles Chargers. Be patient, though, as Jeanty will be great. Smith was more of an afterthought and remains so (rostered in only 10.8% of ESPN leagues). Few thought about the Raiders’ drafted wide receivers Dont’e Thornton Jr. and Jack Bech.

Smith averaged 10.6 yards per attempt in Week 1, far better than anything he showed over a three-year stint with the Seahawks. It isn’t sustainable, of course (Lamar Jackson was tops last season at 8.8 YPA), but it does show that these new Raiders, with creative Chip Kelly as offensive coordinator, might have a more intriguing passing game than anyone imagined. Remember, Smith finished as the No. 5 fantasy scorer among quarterbacks in 2022. I think TE Brock Bowers (knee) plays this week, but Jakobi Meyers remains underrated and a rookie receiver or two (probably Thornton) will break out.

Other QB thoughts that shouldn’t surprise:

  • While I invested in 49ers starter Brock Purdy (toe/shoulder) in more leagues than I can count, touting his positive metrics, it is tough to keep him around in standard leagues knowing he might be out a month or more. In single-QB formats, use the bench spot for Thornton, for example, and wait for him to become valuable. Geno Smith, Daniel Jones, Aaron Rodgers and myriad other passers are available. The bye weeks start in October. And Mac Jones, against the New Orleans Saints, is not a terrible pickup in deep leagues. The 49ers system will help him.

  • One more thought: Say Purdy joins teammate TE George Kittle on injured reserve. Why wouldn’t the 49ers consider a trade for Atlanta Falcons backup Kirk Cousins? I’ve kept Cousins rostered in a 2QB dynasty format for this scenario. Someone is getting him this season.

  • Miami Dolphins lefty Tua Tagovailoa and Detroit Lions right-hander Jared Goff are the most-dropped QBs in ESPN leagues. I understand why, but c’mon! It was one game. The Dolphins did look awful, but they aren’t that awful. I bet the Dolphins and Patriots combine to score ample points (perhaps 60, and somewhat evenly distributed) this week.

  • For the Lions, Lambeau Field was all jacked up after the stunning Micah Parsons trade, but also, Goff passed for only 145 yards and a TD at Lambeau last season. The year prior, he threw for 210 yards, and in Week 18 of 2023 there, it was 224 yards. You expected 350 yards this season in Week 1 because what, the Lions unexpectedly lost at home in January to Washington and remain angry? Keep Goff around first. He isn’t a QB1, but he’s close, and rookie Isaac TeSlaa is going to matter in fantasy. With Tagovailoa and his mates, when everyone jumps on a quick bandwagon to give up on an offense, the opposite tends to happen.

  • Houston Texans starter C.J. Stroud still needs better pass protection, but it can’t be as awful as it was last season. Stroud is going to bounce back in Week 2 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and their weak secondary. WR Nico Collins is going to have a monster game. Rookie Jayden Higgins likely breaks out, too. I view Stroud as a solid streamer against weak defenses and believe he tops his Year 1 figures in passing yards and touchdown passes, but also interceptions. That will be enough to end up in the mid-QB2 range.

Quentin Johnston recorded his second career game with multiple touchdowns in the opener against the Chiefs. AP Photo/Jeff Lewis

Don’t be surprised if … Chargers WR Quentin Johnston is on the most-dropped list next week

Yeah, I wrote about Johnston in the Week 1 waiver wire column, but really, I had little choice. Johnston caught 79 yards worth of Justin Herbert passes in Brazil against the vaunted Kansas City Chiefs — two for touchdowns. That’s 24.9 PPR points! Then again, haven’t we seen that from him before? It’s not just the drops during his first two NFL seasons. Johnston is inefficient and inconsistent and, in this offense that prefers to run with the football and has better wide receivers, that is a problem.

Johnston is the most-added player in ESPN leagues entering Week 2, but it is tough to see an avenue to placing him in lineups this week, or for him to enjoy long-term success with not only Ladd McConkey and Keenan Allen around, but second-round pick Tre’ Harris, who awaits his turn. They are all better players. Johnston caught 55 passes and eight touchdowns last season, but I don’t see him returning to those figures this season. Herbert averaged only 29 passing attempts per game last season, and Johnston is not close to his preferred option.

Other WR/TE thoughts that shouldn’t surprise:

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  • No, I will not cut venerable Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill yet. In fact, I bet the rumors of Miami trading him make more sense now. Why wouldn’t the Chiefs trade for Hill? OK, so they’ve been there, seen that, and couldn’t wait to walk away, but are the Chiefs really going to let a season during Patrick Mahomes’ prime waste away because their receivers are overwhelmed, hurt or suspended? Hollywood Brown is not seeing another 16 targets this week. The numbers might show Hill is done, but I think he just needs more motivation (which is sad, in a different way). He knows this Dolphins team is a mess.

  • This one might seem ridiculous, but we already know Lions speedster Jameson Williams is not going to challenge for 100 receptions. He isn’t a volume option. He’s more like former Eagle DeSean Jackson — a threat to score from anywhere on the field, but when he’s not scoring, he leaves us frustrated. I see Williams — who will be fine despite a slow Week 1 — catching roughly 60 passes again. I see rookie Isaac TeSlaa doing this as well. The Lions will score 35 points against the Bears. Add TeSlaa today before he contributes 7-65-1.

  • I didn’t think I would be giving up on Vikings WR Adam Thielen so soon (or at all), but uninspiring Jalen Nailor started over him in Week 1, and Jordan Addison returns from suspension in Week 4.

  • Indianapolis Colts rookie TE Tyler Warren easily outshined Chicago Bears rookie TE Colston Loveland in Week 1. This is not surprising. The Bears still employ Cole Kmet, and Loveland might not see many targets early. I still like him, though. Warren zoomed up my rest-of-season rankings.

  • It might not be long before we rank Jacksonville Jaguars TE Brenton Strange over his former teammate Evan Engram, now with the Denver Broncos. You know the Jaguars will throw on the Bengals this week. If Strange goes for 8-60-1, and Engram (calf) misses Week 2 or is compromised, it might happen quickly.



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September 12, 2025 0 comments
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Elden Ring reportedly runs poorly on Switch 2, but is anyone surprised?
Game Reviews

Elden Ring reportedly runs poorly on Switch 2, but is anyone surprised?

by admin August 22, 2025


When Elden Ring popped up at Nintendo’s Switch 2 reveal, it was a promising sign of third-party games finding their way to the new console.

Yet reports from gamescom suggest Elden Ring runs poorly on Switch 2, particularly in handheld mode, citing low framerates in open world environments. Even publisher Bandai Namco seems to be aware of this, as footage capture has not been allowed, which seems particularly damning.

FromSoftware doesn’t have a great track record with performance, though, and after three years Elden Ring still doesn’t run perfectly on PS5, Xbox Series X, or PC. But this is the studio’s first effort on Switch 2, and it’s perhaps a worrying sign for next year’s exclusive The Duskbloods.

ELDEN RING is coming to Nintendo Switch 2Watch on YouTube

IGN described Elden Ring on Switch 2 as a “disaster” in handheld mode, after Eurogamer’s Ian Higton went hands-on at gamescom.

Ian was only able to play in handheld mode, but played the very start of the game. And while he was impressed with the lighting and resolution, the framerate dropped dramatically during both the Grafted Scion tutorial boss and when entering the open world. “As soon as I opened up those double doors and entered into Limgrave and you see the Erdtree in the background, it started to chug,” said Ian.

Further, the demo only has a single graphics mode with HDR switched on, but this could potentially change in the final release.

Both Jon Cartwright from GVG and Nintendo Life’s Felix Sanchez reported similar feedback. Cartwright noted how fog in the distance caused the framerate to plummet and while the game runs at 30fps, it goes “well below when anything a little bit challenging comes up”, including bosses. He was able to test docked mode, which was “better but not perfect”.

Sanchez, meanwhile, was impressed by the graphics despite being not quite on par with current consoles, but in the open world “the framerate just tanks – it’s really bad and I understand why they don’t want you to see this because wowee zowee it is terrible”.

It’s certainly disappointing to hear, especially when Elden Ring does run perfectly fine on PS4 and Xbox One, not to mention the Steam Deck already provides a handheld mode with steady performance. Over on reddit, fans appear to be upset by the news, but not particularly surprised following FromSoftware’s poor optimisation of games in the past.

Of course, the Switch 2 is weaker compared to PS5 or Xbox Series X, but it does have VRR capabilities – it’s not clear if this has been implemented by the developers.

Perhaps this poor performance shouldn’t come as a surprise. Two years after the base game launched, FromSoftware released the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion. Yet, as Digital Foundry reported last year, this still did not fix many underlying technical issues with the game, particularly its long-standing stuttering. Seeing issues with the Switch 2 version suggests FromSoftware just doesn’t intend to fix them, with performance seemingly not a priority.

Digital Foundry also examined the Elden Ring Switch 2 trailer from its initial reveal, noting its seemingly poor performance, despite its impressive pixel count. It seems frame pacing issues from the trailer capture are present in the game itself. Still, when Cyberpunk 2077 – an infamously more technically demanding game – runs well on Switch 2, it’s disappointing to see FromSoftware struggling.

Elden Ring remains without a Switch 2 release date beyond this year, so there’s still time for fixes to be implemented. It’s the first FromSoftware-developed game to make it to Nintendo’s Switch family (there’s been no mention of an external team handling the port), as the previously released Dark Souls Remastered was handled by Virtuos. But it won’t be the last. As revealed earlier this year, FromSoftware has the Switch 2 exclusive multiplayer game The Duskbloods on the way.

Will it suffer a similar fate? It’s unclear what engine that game is being created in, but considering it’s a Switch 2 exclusive from the ground up, you’d hope FromSoftware would optimise the game accordingly rather than shoehorning Elden Ring to make it fit. Yet the precedent of poor performance – and FromSoftware’s seeming apathy towards it – has already been set.



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August 22, 2025 0 comments
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