In true Japanese fashion, FuRyu has announced that participants in the closed beta for its upcoming anime liminal-space shooter, ANOMALITH, will be selected by lottery. Those looking to get an invite must play on Windows (Steam) and be part of the official Discord server, where they can apply from 7 PM JST on June 12 to 11:59 PM on June 16. The beta test will take place from 12 AM June 19 to 9:59 AM JST on June 26.
According to FuRyu, data from the closed beta will be used to fine-tune the final game and a free demo version, the latter of which will be released in early October – a few weeks before the full release. To this end, they encourage everyone who gets into the closed beta to submit their feedback on or before 11:59 PM JST on June 28.
Both the closed beta and free trial version come as a response to a sentiment among gamers that FuRyu games tend to neglect gameplay despite having strong art direction and narratives. For some Japanese gamers, the phrase “It’s a FuRyu game, though” (JP: でもフリューだしな) has become synonymous with the studio, as recent games, such as 2024’s magic action RPG Reynatis and 2025’s school life RPG Varlet, have done well to hype people before their release but were eventually met with lackluster performance from critics and players.
Since ANOMALITH is a third-person shooter – a genre FuRyu is less experienced with – the developers took the time to address the elephant in the room mere days after the game was officially announced in May. While hosting pre-release playtesting sessions for a select few might generate positive press, they realized that the best way to put players’ minds at ease is to release a free hands-on demo (it is also worth noting that FuRyu has allowed live streams and video uploads of the closed beta).
ANOMALITH is set in an alternate version of Showa-era Japan, where hazardous natural occurrences called Anomaly Zones appear across the country. After her best friend, Arisa Kato, goes missing in one of these zones, protagonist Reona Minazuki becomes a Diver for the Anomaly Zone Countermeasures Office. On her first dive into an Anomaly Zone, her teammates fall victim to creatures called Anomalies while she awakens to a strange power. Armed with newfound strength, Reona will stop at nothing to find Arisa and uncover the secrets behind the Anomaly Zones and her powers.
The core gameplay loop is somewhat similar to extraction shooters, where you enter Anomaly Zones to gather precious items, weapons, and gear and extract with them. While ammunition is scarce and inventory space is limited, Reona has several ranged weapons and Anomalization Skills to fight Anomalies with – all of which can be upgraded using the items you extract from your runs.
ANOMALITH is set to release on October 28 for Windows (Steam), PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch 2. A free demo is scheduled to release in early October for all associated platforms.
