First of all, thanks to Eclipse Edge Studio for the invitation. I had the honor of trying out "Tide of Annihilation" for the first time at the Beijing stop of the "Nuclear Fusion Game Carnival."
After finishing the 45-minute demo, when asked by the staff, "How did it feel?", my first response was, "I didn't get enough."
The reason I had this impression is that this demo version was almost identical to the August offline demo in Chengdu, featuring a segment of map exploration plus four boss challenges. Completing all of this within 45 minutes is indeed challenging. On the other hand, the action system in "Tide of Annihilation" has considerable depth, and mastering it to execute flashy combos certainly requires extensive practice.
But precisely because there was hardly any new content and everyone had already seen what was available, I felt no pressure to rush forward. Instead, I chose the highest difficulty and spent more time exploring the box-garden maps and training room.
If you only look at the super flashy boss battles shown in the gameplay demos, some might mistake "Tide of Annihilation" for a modern ARPG heavy on cutscenes. In reality, its action system retains the spirit of traditional ACTs, adding its own unique flavor to create this "Dual Knight Combat System."
Simply put, the action system in "Tide of Annihilation" remains "light/heavy attack derivations + special moves," but the difference is that players can equip two Knight pairs simultaneously. Each pair consists of one "Primary Knight" and one "Secondary Knight."
The Primary Knight acts as the character's "weapon." When players use different Primary Knights, the attack mechanics and derivative move properties change, with each Primary Knight having its own independent resource gauge.
The Secondary Knight functions like "special moves" or "spells" in other games. All Secondary Knights share a casting resource gauge and can be used independently without interrupting the Primary Knight's combos.
Visually, the effect of Knights suddenly appearing and fighting alongside the character is quite impressive, directly reminding me of "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure." In terms of gameplay, players need to flexibly utilize the move properties of four Knights to discover combo strings that can continuously suppress enemies during practice. The various combinations of Knight lineups and the independence of Primary and Secondary Knight attacks provide immense space for combo construction.
To seamlessly utilize different Knight pair abilities during combos, "Tide of Annihilation" features a dedicated "Y+B" combination button for quick Knight switching. Pressing this quick-switch button during a combo not only swaps to the other Knight pair but also immediately executes the subsequent derivation of that pair.
On-site, I mainly played two primary Knights: "Bedivere" and "Gaheris."
"Bedivere" has a fast attack frequency and rich move properties, suitable for mid-range dashes or pulling aggro, launching enemies into the air for crowd control, and featuring an invincible grab special move, making it ideal for executing long combo strings.
"Gaheris" has performance characteristics similar to the former, focusing on combos, but with stronger anti-air capabilities, enabling more aerial combo sequences. It features more complex mechanics centered around enhanced dodge performance—some derivative attacks from "Gaheris" generate "Feather Blades" on the field, which automatically attack enemies when the character approaches or uses enhanced skills. Consuming "Feather Blades" or using certain moves accumulates a special resource called "Wind's Protection," which can be spent to enhance Gaheris's Knight Skill.
Additionally, when using "Gaheris," dodging after an attack transforms into "Wind Veil," allowing for a follow-up attack; using "Wind Veil" or certain attack derivations also puts the character into a brief "Feather Concealment" stance; in this stance, certain moves receive additional enhancements...
Apologies for suddenly dumping so many terms. To fully explain the mechanical synergies of "Gaheris," I'd probably need to write a thousand-word essay.
This is why I said "I didn't get enough" at the beginning of the article. Practicing different Knight move derivations in the training room and trying to figure out stylish combos consumed most of the demo time, leaving me no chance to challenge any of the later bosses. But for me, the time spent in the training room was enjoyable and worthwhile, so I don't regret it.
At this point, some players who struggle with action games might start feeling intimidated by "Tide of Annihilation," thinking they won't be able to enjoy it.
But like many ACT games, combo suppression is just the ceiling of the action system. Ordinary players can still clear the game with a basic "button-mashing sword style," albeit a bit slower, but it will still be flashy enough.
For this demo, the official provided a Knight pair configuration suitable for combos. The Primary Knight is "Bedivere," introduced earlier, and the Secondary Knight is "Gawain," whose enhancement skill provides two additional controls. Linking these between Bedivere's two combo sets allows the attacks to form a complete, extended combo string.
The other setup is a "wheelchair configuration" comparable to the "button-mashing sword style." In this setup, the primary Knight "Palamedes" focuses on charged attacks, while the secondary Knight "Kay" has a time-stop enhancement skill. The strategy is straightforward: use Kay to freeze enemies, then follow up with Palamedes's charged attacks, dealing high damage without requiring much skill or reaction time.
Building on this, "Tide of Annihilation" introduces interaction mechanics common in modern action games, such as the familiar "traffic light" system and stamina-breaking executions, lowering the barrier to entry for combat. Enemies' yellow-light attacks are slow recovery low attacks that can be avoided by jumping, allowing players to even counterattack in mid-air. Red-light attacks can be parried; successful parries stagger enemies and deplete significant stamina. Even on the highest difficulty in the demo, the timing windows for these interactions are quite generous.
In fact, with these mechanics and corresponding animations, the final issue of "looking ugly and boring" is also resolved. You can completely abandon pursuing combos; even if you only manage to "jump over yellow lights" and "parry red lights," you're not just mindlessly spamming the same move, and you'll still receive strong positive feedback. It's clear that the action design in "Tide of Annihilation" aims to let all players enjoy the game.
After the demo, the team at Eclipse Edge Studio also introduced us to the changes in the protagonist Gwendolyn's appearance. Some players previously noted that her look in the Chengdu demo differed significantly from earlier promotional videos. However, according to the developers, the character's face model never changed; the difference was mainly due to adjustments in lighting, materials, and rendering. Eclipse Edge Studio took the feedback seriously, and for this offline demo, they improved the protagonist's facial visuals through lighting and rendering tweaks.
In other words, the previous scene lighting was essentially "death lighting," making Gwendolyn look unflattering. The version at the Beijing "Nuclear Fusion Game Carnival" added a large ring light in front of the character, significantly improving the visual appeal.
Returning to the game itself, in an era where action mechanics are becoming lighter and more RPG-like, seeing a domestic game present a正统 ACT combat system that retains the fun of practicing combos and includes numerous innovations is genuinely delightful.
Perhaps soon, we will see "Tide of Annihilation" reveal its sharp edge to players worldwide.
