Tides of Annihilation is, without question, one of the most stunning games at this year’s gamescom. There was no missing the game at this year’s event. Eclipse Glow Games claimed a huge slice of Hall 6, and fans lined up for hours to try the first public demo. After my session, I get the hype. This Arthurian action game is gorgeous, strange and more confident than most first outings ever are, and somehow it is also one of the most interesting games at this year’s gamescom.
The studio is new. Eclipse Glow Games formed roughly two years ago in Chengdu, China, with backing from Tencent. Its staff includes veterans of Assassin’s Creed, For Honor, and Like a Dragon, so there is some real talent and money behind it, and it shows. Tides of Annihilation came into gamescom with a stunning trailer at this year’s ONL, and judging by the lines at the booth, players were excited to see what it was all about. It is wild, unique, striking, and, most of all, incredibly fun.
As I said, the setup and concept for Tides of Annihilation are bananas, and I mean that in the best possible way. Gwendolyn is the lone survivor of a ruined modern London after the mythical realm of Avalon smashes into her world. Guided by Guinevere, she must master the Fog, a power only King Arthur has wielded, and hunt for shards of the Holy Grail. But because she is wielding the power of King Arthur, she has the Knights of the Round Table at her disposal, and make use of them she does. The sheer number you can utilize in battle is staggering, and even with so much happening, it all feels natural and plays incredibly tight.
My time with Tides of Annihilation covered a tutorial, an early chapter, and a boss fight, giving me a good sense of what the game is trying to do and a better idea of who this game is for. While it may have the look of a Soulslike, Tides of Annihilation is much more similar to Devil May Cry than it is to Dark Souls. This is very much a game about momentum, powerful strikes, and shockingly bombastic finishing moves. Boss battles are massive and feature multiple stages, while standard fights are all about juggling your powers and making sure you avoid damage, with the overall game moving incredibly fast and fluidly.
As I moved through the demo, I got to experience what the decimated museum looks like, and it was brought to life with a shocking amount of detail and realism. You can feel how these old halls have had countless people pass through them, and now they are home to an epic battle for the world’s survival. It seems oddly fitting. The Egyptian wing hides the Book of the Dead. Reaching it meant ziplining over crevices, climbing vines and prying open hidden chests. Checkpoints work like bonfires. Rest, and the smaller enemies return.
Combat in Tides of Annihilation is fast, flashy third-person action, as I mentioned, very much in the vein of Devil May Cry and Bayonetta. Light and heavy attacks, dodges, parries and blocks form the base. Drain an enemy’s stagger bar, and you can execute them. Build enough Burst, and you unleash a huge ultimate. On paper, it sounds familiar. In practice, though, the team has managed to craft Tides of Annihilation into something very fluid, exciting and unique.
The big hook for Tides of Annihilation, as you may have guessed, is the knights, and they are integral to how the combat works and what makes the game so fun. Gwendolyn summons spectral Knights of the Round Table to fight beside her. You can swap your active pair mid-combo, and each one reshapes how a string flows. A nimble fencer can slow time. A hulking bruiser ends combos with crushing blows. You can mash through basic enemies, but the ceiling for mastery is high, and the bosses are where you really test your mettle.
A multi-stage clash with Anubis plays out on the Scales themselves, and despite how insane it all sounds, it somehow works and becomes incredibly rewarding once you master how everything fits together. You dash through barriers between bursts of damage. The duel with Mordred, a white-haired mirror of Gwendolyn, starts as a sword fight in a vast library. Then it spills outside, where she swoops around on a massive dragon. I died here a few times, saved by a generous phase checkpoint, but even on medium difficulty, I could see how the game will test its players without ever feeling unfair.
As with anything, I did not click with everything it had on display, and as much as I think Tides of Annihilation is delivering a solid experience, there are issues that take away from it. Many boss attacks flash red or yellow, demanding a counter or a jump. Stopping mid-combo to respond to them kills your rhythm. It is needless tedium that took me out of the flow of combat. The demo also loved to hold my hand. Your companion, Niniane, chirps puzzle answers the moment you spot them, and as much as I understand why she is there, it can get in the way when I just want to experience what the demo has in store.
Even as ridiculous as I am making the game sound here, there also seems to be a lot of depth beneath how it all works. Swords, armour, and Regalia outfits all change your build. Badges push it further. I paired one that drained my health but granted life steal with another that increased that life steal by 25% while blocking potions. The result turned me into a reckless brawler.
There is so much depth here with Tides of Annihilation that I only scratched the surface during my time with the game, and I am excited to see how it all flows in the full experience. While it may not be a Dark Souls–like game, the reward of overcoming massive boss battles is still very much there, and how everything comes together is a big part of why I thought Tides of Annihilation deserved a spot among our best-of gamescom selections.
Built in Unreal Engine 5, Tides of Annihilation is stunning to watch and even better to play. I know Unreal has looked fantastic for a while now, but Eclipse Glow Games has cranked the visuals up to 11, and it blew me away just how fluid everything was despite how striking the game looked. Mid-fight cutscenes erupt into clashes of dragons and gods on a scale I have not seen since Final Fantasy. The score shifts with each exhibit. Tides of Annihilation feels like a game that embraces the spectacle, and I am here for it.
Tides of Annihilation is coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC through Steam and the Epic Games Store. A PS5 Pro–enhanced mode promises ray tracing, PSSR upscaling, and 60 frames per second. No release date is set, but it is available to add to your wishlist now. Some rough edges need sanding. Even so, this is one of the most promising action games I played at the show, and Eclipse Glow Games’ debut is one to watch.
