"ANOMALITH" plays like an Anime-style Resident Evil! (Impressions)
That demo ain't an anomaly!
FuRyu is a developer I've had mixed feelings about. I've reviewed a handful of their previous titles including CRYMACHINA and MONARK, and have respected their ambition to create compelling Japanese RPG's with fairly involved combat systems. Imagine my surprise when I got word of ANOMALITH, which is FuRyu's take on the Survival Horror genre and overall deviation from their usual JRPG releases. I decided to sit down and play the 2-hour demo to see what I can make of this "anomaly" in FuRyu's release lineup.
“ANOMALITH” is a survival third-person shooter set in Japan, steeped in the atmosphere of liminal spaces and Showa-era retro aesthetics. To search for her missing friend, a girl steps into a world writhing with anomalies.
The demo puts you at the start of the game, where protagonist Reona Minazuki is part of a task force called the Divers who investigate and eliminate anomalies that have spawned all over Japan. After completing the tutorial, a brief time skip of 1 week occurs after your mission, where all but one of your squadmates tragically died from the creatures dwelling within the Anomaly Zone. From then on, it's just you and Yuiga Koda, who is now your remote support when you journey into the Anomaly Zones.
When I went through the tutorial, I originally thought I'd enjoy it with mouse and keyboard, but I noticed the default controls don't seem to accommodate that control style very well. Even entering and exiting menus was a little cumbersome, as I'm used to 'Esc' being my default "pause-and-go-to-menu" button, yet in the demo that was the 'Tab' key. Confirming options in the settings menu was done with 'Enter,' but then going back involves pressing the 'C' key which feels random. It's clear this was made with controller use in mind, as playing the rest of the demo on my DualShock 4 controller felt much more natural. That said, I noticed the button glyphs were switching between XBOX and PS layouts, so hopefully FuRyu patches that out on launch.
As for the gameplay, once I got a controller in my hands, all the button placement for weapon arrangement felt fairly intuitive. Though part of me hopes that there will be aim assist in the full game, as I found myself struggling to make some shots when it felt like the reticle was perfectly in focus for a headshot. While some may be quick to call that a skill issue on my part, I will say there were a few choice moments where I would line up my shots properly and completely miss somehow, potential skill issues aside.
The Resident Evil comparisons really come up with combat, where you have to get by on limited resources. You'd better make sure you have enough med packs and ammunition to get through the Anomaly Zone, or you're cooked. I thought this approach enhanced the experience, as it made every shot feel consequential knowing that I had a limited supply of ammo left. The only point where that wasn't a consideration was during the boss at the end which periodically dropped ammo, but even then there were challenges with surviving that made up for that.
Reona also has limited melee abilities as a result of her unique resistance to the anomalies and their effects on regular people. By spending a limited energy bar, Reona can parry enemy attacks or slash at her opponents. Don't think you can hack your way through everything though, as it'll cost you HP after that gauge is depleted with every subsequent swing. I wasn't able to find specific cases where it made sense to deploy that in this level over using a gun, but maybe that will be more clear in the final product.
The main level you explore in the demo is an abandoned hospital. Here we get a sense of how the levels function, in that some doors may not open from a certain side or the player will be blocked off by some wall formed by an anomaly, creating a mandatory route for the player to move towards. Throughout each level, you can discover boxes and chests with items that can be used to enhance your weapons to fire faster or deal more damage. While I only had access to an SMG, pistol, and shotgun in the demo, I'd be interested to see if the full game has more customization options that can be crafted with those items.
I am cautiously optimistic about ANOMALITH after playing the demo. I don't usually spring for survival horror games, but it was such a departure from FuRyu's typical work that I had to satiate my curiosity. What I found was a game that appears to be a stylized take on the singleplayer survival horror experience, and I'd recommend giving it a try if you like games similar to Resident Evil. I think it has potential, and I enjoyed my time with the demo.
ANOMALITH launches on Steam, PS5, and Nintendo Switch 2 on October 28, 2026.