Tides Of Annihilation Marks The Renaissance Of Action Games In 2025

I’m a sucker for good, capable action games that don’t just follow a linear plot and shower down humdrum combat upon the player, but actually have something going for them. In the previous years or so, there have only been a handful of titles pertaining to this category specifically that have been able to scratch this itch for me and many others, but it seems that in 2025, trends are shifting. 

Enter Tides of Annihilation if you haven’t already. I love what I see here. 

Chinese developer Eclipse Glow Games showed its latest project off to the world in recent times, letting us in on an enthralling new venture that shows multiple similarities to other big names in the gaming industry, including Final Fantasy, Stellar Blade, Ninja Gaiden, et al.

The best part is that this was no cinematic action trailer with CGI footage painted all over it—instead, we’ve gotten a mountain of actual gameplay that speaks volumes about how ambitious this title already looks. Cutthroat hack and slash bustle with a dash of Devil May Cry on top, and a fairly attractive protagonist with a British accent, what more are we really looking for here?

I mean, more and more developers should be focusing on what Eclipse Glow Games has prioritized for Tides of Annihilation. The forthcoming title doesn’t even have a release date as of yet, but that didn’t hold back the devs from showing its gameplay off to the world, did it? This practice will help drive more conversions—at least that’s what happened with the game in question because Tides of Annihilation has me absolutely sold.  

This game is gorgeous! This is the kind of production we expect Sony to announce. The master quality single-player productions will rest forever in the memory of players. Epic adventures and mythic magic quests will never be replaced by simple live at service multiplayer games. Never is better than a game showing His majesty and beauty in all aspects. We want more!” says one fellow YouTuber. 

Is The Era Of Character Action Games Back On The High? 

It’s genuinely baffling to me how in a span of two months, we’ve managed to get three Ninja Gaiden titles—Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, and Ninja Gaiden 4—out of the oven with the latter one being helmed by the iconic PlatinumGames, whose expertise I’m sure is going to bleed into 4’s gameplay. What a time to live in!

And not just the Ninja Gaiden IP, but multiple other names have followed through in an attempt to reignite the essence of character action games over the course of the past few weeks or so. We’re talking Phantom Blade Zero, Lost Soul Aside, and even the upcoming Crimson Desert that’s looking like a snack these days. 

Nature is healing; the era of character action games is back on the rise.” 

It’s an instant wishlist for me — considering all that I’ve seen so far — and I’m sure the sentiment is the same for many more gamers across the board.

What surprises me more is that a title of this level and stature is coming from a brand-new studio, while certain developers that have been around for decades continue to decline, with a relatively fresh example being that of Arkane Austin. Either these get shut down, or they push out quality that does not match their previous works. 

Asian devs, on the other hand, are seemingly popping out of nowhere and doling out seemingly amazing projects. I mentioned Crimson Desert a bit above in this write-up, and while the game yet again fits the context, it’s best that you check it out if you haven’t already. 

Lies of P, Lords of the Fallen, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, Remnant 2—the list goes on and on because that’s how things have been for the past few years or so in the Soulslike space. There has been a rather increasing influx of these games, but I’m glad that nature is healing now, and the expanse of action-driven single-player titles is back in focus. 

Hey, that’s exactly what’s pushed Sony toward the monumental success it enjoys today. The Uncharted, God of War, and The Last of Us IPs all belong to the same main category, so to speak, and it goes without saying that their influence in the gaming industry as a whole is going to be recognized for the years to come.

Ever since those golden days when these franchises were spawning, I’d say that Sony has lost its golden touch. It’s now a little obsessed with the live service rush, having pushed out Concord and all, and in doing so, I believe there’s a stark reduction in the number of original single-player IPs coming out from the side of the industry tycoon. 

Terrific Action Titles To Look Forward To As We Move Through The New Year

Now here’s another interesting prospect that’s been making rounds on the internet. and it also comes from a Chinese, Shanghai-based developer that was founded in 2017. Lost Soul Aside isn’t here yet, but the premise it’s built around is surely something to look out for. Being a fan of this genre, I don’t think I’ll be able to skip picking it up. 

When invading dimensional beings known as Voidrax take the soul of his beloved sister, Kaser must embark on a dangerous journey to face this terrifying new threat, save his sibling and liberate humanity.” 

There’s a dash of Dante and Noctis sprinkled in the protagonist’s design, and judging from everything’s revealed so far, the environment and sceneries look outright breathtaking. All in all, we’ve got a solid package to look forward to here which I’m sure is going to turn heads day in and day out. 

When Does Tides Of Annihilation Release? 

The visuals and gameplay on this bad boy look nice and tight, but when is the game expected to roll out? Now, that’s a cool question. 

Unfortunately, we’ve got no news on that front as of yet. Tides of Annihilation is a brand-spanking-new project that currently has no release date, although we do know that it’s coming for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. It is expected to come out sometime in 2026, so that’s pretty far out from where we’re at right now.

Now, we are still in the Alpha stage. At the end of this year (2024), we are going into the beta phase, with a tentative launch window of 2026. Again, we’re very much in the early dev phases where we are still getting feedback, so this is all subject to change,” said Eclipse Glow Games in an interview with Wccftech. 

February’s grand State of Play event was the first to reveal Tides of Annihilation, expanding on the plot and the premise of the game. I do hope that Eclipse puts some improvements into the voice acting department here—that one isn’t attracting a lot of fans to its name sadly.