This gorgeous urban open-world RPG looks like Genshin Impact meets Grand Theft Auto

Website background art for Project Mugen

(Image credit: NetEase)

Naraka: Bladepoint publisher NetEase Games has revealed teasers for Project Mugen, an urban open-world RPG being developed by Naked Rain, one of its subsidiary studios.

Earlier today, an official Twitter account for the game shared some official artwork, which shows three girls gathered on the rooftops of a large city. If you go to Project Mugen's website, you'll be greeted with a countdown to August 24 at 10am UTC+8 (August 23 at 11pm EDT / 7pm PDT), which is when more information on the game will be shared.

The website also plays some brilliant lo-fi beats to count down with, and I'm very tempted to leave the site open whilst I work to keep the chill mood going.

Short snippets of gameplay and cutscenes have been shared on Resetera, showing off the game's gorgeous colour palette and Makoto Shinkai-esque environments. One sequence shown includes yo-yo combat, whilst another shows a car weaving between traffic as it speeds down a street that glistens in the rain.

Genshin Impact and Grand Theft Auto are two games I never thought I would be putting together in a sentence, but that combo is the vibe we're getting from what we've seen of Project Mugen far. If we're correctly picking up on what Naked Rain is putting down, then Project Mugen could prove to be a serious contender against Genshin Impact and its semi-successor Honkai: Star Rail, especially with a Chinese Line post indicating it's also a gacha game. Have a gander at these GIFs:

View post on imgur.com"

Project Mugen is currently planned for release on PS5, PC, iOS, and Android.

The developers of Genshin Impact have stated that comparisons to Breath of the Wild took a toll on the studio.

I'm a freelance writer and started my career in summer 2022. After studying Physics and Music at university and a short stint in software development, I made the jump to games journalism on Eurogamer's work experience programme. Since then, I've also written for Rock Paper Shotgun and Esports Illustrated. I'll give any game a go so long as it's not online, and you'll find me playing a range of things, from Elden Ring to Butterfly Soup. I have a soft spot for indies aiming to diversify representation in the industry.