Hello gaming friends, my name is Kun Fu, lead game producer at Eclipse Glow Games. I am part of the team developing Tides of Annihilation, a new action-adventure title set in a shattered version of modern-day London fractured by an otherworldly invasion. You play as Gwendolyn, the lone human survivor, who takes on a vital quest to rescue her sister and restore the world by searching for the mythical Holy Grail. After revealing Tides in February, we received so much amazing feedback that helped our development. Today, we are revealing our newest gameplay trailer showcasing the intense combat mechanics in a boss fight, as well as offering a deeper look at the knights summoning system gamers will be able to experience. 

Tides of Annihilation’s story and setting takes inspiration from Arthurian Legend. Early in the game, Gwendolyn gains the ability to summon and command spectral forms of the Knights of the Roundtable. This is our Dual Frontline Battle System, is one of the key unique features where players will utilize different attacks of each knight in combat, as well as customize their configuration and abilities. There’s a lot of depth in this system; we want players to feel that each of the knights are more than just a tool to be used, but more like a “sidekick” to assist in their quest to save humanity. There’s more to reveal on the Dual Frontline Battle System, but let’s focus on the featured Knight in the trailer, Sir Lamorak, who assists Gwendolyn in her spectacular battle against the witch-boss Tyronoe.  

In the newest trailer debuting at today’s Xbox Partner Preview showcase, the footage builds up to a boss fight where Gwendolyn must overcome the shape-shifting and reality-bending powers of Tyronoe. When Tyronoe transforms into a massive bird beast, she spawns clones to attack Gwendolyn and then creates a Mirror Space Folded Realm that Gwendolyn cannot pass through to fight Tyronoe. This is when Lamorak appears inside the Mirror Space, interferes with Tyronoe’s attack, and assists Gwendolyn by throwing his spear for her to wield, enabling Gwendolyn to “shatter” this mirrored barrier separating the Folded Realms. 

 This boss fight is an exceptional demonstration of how we combine high-intense action with cinematic-like visual splendor: as players fight on the ground and in air while both inside and outside the mirror, the scale of battle is expanded where movement and attack timing need to be even more precise, quick and decisive. Our dev team are huge cinema fans and the dimension-shifting combat sequences were inspired by iconic action scenes from Inception, The Matrix, and Dr. Strange. Like those memorable movie scenes leading to a big confrontation, we wanted players to feel that same euphoria – a combination of excitement and dread – in the boss fights of Tides of Annihilation.  

This boss fight not only highlights the dazzling visuals as more complex mirror spaces are created by Tyronoe, it also reveals a new part of the unique Dual Frontline Battle system. We first showed off this system in our announcement trailer that enabled players to set up two sets of spectral knight summons (four knights total at a time). Different knights can be summoned to enhance Gwendolyn’s abilities and will be especially useful in executing combination chain attacks. Players can freely swap knights in the midst of battle – even mid-combo – to extend chains or adjust your tactics (e.g., time-stop, defensive shield, etc.). In this new trailer, the knight Sir Lamorak lends his power to Gwendolyn enabling theplayer to control both Gwendolyn and Lamorak simultaneously to fight inside and outside the mirror Folded Realm. The ability to summon, command and control spectral knights with the Dual Frontline Battle system is all about giving players the freedom to shape their own combat style.  

With Tides of Annihilation, our dev team wanted to bring an epic and unique game story built on the treasured stories of valor, chivalry, and loyalty of the Arthurian legends. Having this story take place in a unique modern-day setting brings a different yet familiar perspective. We also felt this was a good opportunity to tell new stories on heroes that may not be as-well-known in Arthurian lore; Sir Lamorak and Tyronoe are two good examples of such characters as Gwendolyn uncovers how the fates of both this valorous knight and diabolical witch are intertwined in madness and conflict. 

We want to thank the Xbox team for this great opportunity and are excited at the potential of Xbox Play Anywhere, a feature that Tides of Annihilation will support in the future. As Tides of Annihilation is in active development, we look forward to the response to this new gameplay trailer and appreciate all feedback in our quest to make the best game possible.