Tides of Annihilation Hands-On – Gamescom 2026

Tides of Annihilation, developed by newcomer studio Eclipse Glow Games, made its public playable debut at Gamescom 2026 in Cologne. The demo was available to attendees in Hall 6, Booth B-050 at Koelnmesse, marking what the developers described as the first worldwide public playtest of a project the team has spent years bringing to life.

Story
The story of Tides of Annihilation revolves around Gwendolyn. In the new trailer shown during Gamescom 2026’s Opening Night Live, Guinevere, the wife of King Arthur, finds Gwendolyn among the ruins of her home and tells her that a mysterious fog has engulfed London and is now tearing Avalon apart as well.
Until this point, Gwendolyn had believed herself powerless against the fog. She soon discovers, however, that she possesses the ability to control it and summon spectral knights, much like Arthur himself.

Combat and the Knights
The Knight System is a core part of the gameplay in Tides of Annihilation, at least if you believe the devs. Gwendolyn can summon up to four phantom warriors, each with its own special skillset, from teleportation to freezing adversaries or smashing through their defenses, all with the help of Lancelot.

This extends even beyond battle and into traversal. As shown in the hands-on demo, some powers let Gwendolyn teleport to select high locations, while ranged units may zip over gaps, and heavier knights can smash through collapsing walls, making the summoned warriors tools for both exploration and fighting.

Those who spent more time with the game say the battle seems like a blend of Bayonetta and Devil May Cry, but Tides of Annihilation has its own personality because to the ability to weave different knights into encounters.

That so, the hands-on impressions haven’t been universally pleasant. Some journalists who played a lengthier version of the demo criticized the movement controls, stating that sprinting doesn’t feel much faster than typical movement, and that jumping can feel quite difficult due to the game’s heavy sense of gravity.

Difficulty and Boss Fights
Of course, much of the discussion around Tides of Annihilation has been on its boss fights, and rightly so. As a journalist who experienced the game at Gamescom put it, the 45-minute demo was brutal, blending puzzle mechanics with difficult, multi-phase combat confrontations. One of its bosses alone had four different phases and took almost ten minutes.

That jives with our own view that the “incredible boss fights” were easily among of the major highlights of the demo, and they seem to have left a similar impression with a lot of those who played it.

In one preview, the writer recounts the struggle against Mordred which becomes a stunning meeting with a dragon across floating fragments of London, turning the whole episode into total chaos. But the same player, eventually, met their match, against Grynt, whose more demanding phase proved too tough to overcome.

World, UI and Customization
Visually, Tides of Annihilation shows a ruined London, where famous monuments and architectural features, including places based on ancient Egypt and China, appear to have come alive and been reassembled in weird, unsettling ways. This strange mix of familiar London images with mythological and historical elements has helped the game environment stand out in many of the early hands-on impressions.

The customization system, in contrast, is organized into different categories, such as Skills, Weapons, Armor, Outfits. Exploration is key to progress, and you’ll pick up loot around the area and unlock chests to gain new equipment and upgrades. The systems indicate that players should have plenty of space to grow Gwendolyn and customize her equipment as they level up.

Final Thoughts
Gamescom 2026 overall proved that Tides of Annihilation had a lot more to offer than just pretty graphics. The fast-paced slow-motion sequences, the Knight System integrated into combat and exploration, and the ambitious, adrenaline-fueled boss fights have caused a few journalists to consider it one of the highlight games of this year’s expo.

There are still some jagged edges, especially with movement, and the game still doesn’t have a clear release date. Still, the reception has been incredibly good for a first publicly playable demo from a rookie studio. Tides of Annihilation has a lot to prove before it’s released, but its display at Gamescom proved one thing: Eclipse Glow Games has produced something we will be keeping a very close eye on.