Tides of Annihilation's Boss Fights Won't Punish You for Losing

Eclipse Glow Games’ Tides of Annihilation has already drawn plenty of attention for the scale and flash of its boss encounters, but what might stand out even more than that is how it approaches the idea of failure during those fights. In most action games, defeat is treated as a clean reset that forces players to start the encounter over, but Tides of Annihilation looks like it might be going against the grain of that loop. From what has been revealed about it so far, the bosses are large, cinematic, and seem to be mechanically dense, but they may be more welcoming than players might expect from a title with such dramatic presentation.

In a recent interview with Game Rant, Tides of Annihilation producer Kun Fu hinted that the game’s boss fights wouldn’t be built around consistently punishing mistakes but about finding ways to push players forward in spite of failure. According to what Fu intimated during the interview, the dev team designed the boss fights to invite players to try again without feeling like they’ve been pushed too far backward. While he wasn’t explicit about what that ultimately means, it feels safe to say those expecting a more soulslike experience from Tides of Annihilation might actually get something that leans the opposite way—or at least softens the blow.

Tides of Annihilation Is Filled With Boss Fights, But Shouldn’t Feel Punishing

Tides of Annihilation Has Plenty of Boss Fights Awaiting Players

Despite not being a soulslike game, as Kun Fu and Eclipse Glow Games have clarified many times before, Tides of Annihilation is nonetheless chock-full of boss fights. Players will still explore a reimagined version of London that sits somewhere between modern London and a medieval fantasy realm built on Arthurian influences, but they will have plenty of boss encounters along the way. As Fu stated during the interview:

“We do have a large number of boss encounters, and every boss is carefully crafted. But their roles within the narrative differ, so the way their story is presented—and how heavily story factors into the battle—varies from boss to boss.”

So, Tides of Annihilation may not be a boss-rush game, but it is clearly boss-forward in its design. Furthermore, rather than making each of these boss fights just as relevant to the narrative as the last, some might push the plot forward while others merely serve as skill checks or pacing resets. That doesn’t mean the latter won’t be grounded in the world’s lore or the overarching narrative though.

If nothing else, it seems Tides of Annihilation may be taking the road that many action-adventure games like it also travel, where the boss encounters that are imperative to the narrative serve as gatekeepers to the story, while all or many of the remaining boss fights are optional and reserved for those who explore off the beaten path every once in a while.

Tides of Annihilation’s Boss Encounters Seem Built for the Player’s Success

But that isn’t necessarily where things get interesting for Tides of Annihilation‘s biggest combat encounters. While some aspects of that design appear somewhat business-as-usual for the genre, Eclipse Glow Games’ action-adventure title might have a few tricks up its sleeve to help players experience the game without being overwhelmed by the challenge of its boss encounters. When asked about how Tides of Annihilation‘s boss fights handle failure, Fu began his reply with:

“For each boss, we have very clear design goals, and we build the encounters around the pacing of that part of the game. We pay close attention to how repeated attempts feel for players, and we try to minimize unnecessary repetition while maintaining narrative and combat continuity.”

What is perhaps most remarkable about how Eclipse Glow Games has designed its boss encounters is not only how they feel for players but how they feel for players who are on their tenth and twentieth attempts. While soulslike games generally come across as though they have little regard for the time and emotional energy it takes players to finally defeat a boss, Tides of Annihilation is “paying close attention” to those feelings to ensure things aren’t unnecessarily repetitive. Fu didn’t divulge any definitive outcome of this design philosophy during the interview, but he did reveal one more surprising detail about the game’s boss fights that should be encouraging to those who are intimidated by their sheer spectacle:

“For longer boss encounters, we’ll introduce reasonable breakpoints where players can recover or reset briefly. We also reward players based on their performance to keep the experience encouraging even during repeated attempts.”

For a long boss fight in any game, it makes sense to occasionally give players a chance to take a break, either with a brief dialogue sequence or an opportunity to save the game and replenish health—even if some games don’t offer such amenities. But where Tides of Annihilation might differ is in how it handles repeated attempts. Based on what Fu stated, players will be “rewarded” for their performance during multiple attempts. Whether this means they will receive an in-game buff that helps push them forward or maybe a sliver of EXP in accordance with how long they lasted, that could mean the difference between a player enduring and quitting.

While details on this are lacking at the moment, if this is the direction Eclipse Glow Games is committed to, then Tides of Annihilation may end up offering boss fights that feel challenging without turning players away. Nothing is certain until people can sit down with the full game, but the ideas Fu outlined suggest a combat experience that keeps players moving forward instead of wearing them down. At the very least, it points to a design philosophy that wants people to stay engaged long enough to see what the game is trying to say, and that alone could make all of its boss encounters worth pursuing, even fights that must be sought out rather than stumbled upon.