Upcoming Steam Action Game Blends Phantom Blade Zero and God of War Ragnarök

Phantom Blade Zero has captured the gaming world’s attention. S-Game’s wuxia-inspired action game became one of 2026’s highest-rated releases and surged past 800,000 concurrent players on Steam during its launch weekend. I’ve enjoyed it, even if its fondness for parrying occasionally tests mine. More than anything, though, it has renewed my excitement for another promising action game I played earlier this year: Tides of Annihilation.

The upcoming game joins a growing collection of difficult-to-classify action titles, many developed in China, that includes Phantom Blade Zero and Black Myth: Wukong. At Gamescom 2026, I spent roughly 45 minutes with what appeared to be an early section of Tides of Annihilation, and I came away impressed. It earned a place on Polygon’s list of the show’s best games.

Its combat has shades of character action and the Soulslike genre, but its closest relatives may be 2018’s God of War and God of War Ragnarök, rather than anything from FromSoftware. My notes captured that impression in a less refined way: “Hot girl god of war???”

Gwendolyn and the debate around her design

Gwendolyn, the game’s protagonist, is striking, and her appearance has already prompted plenty of discussion among fans.

In July, Jennifer English, a 2025 Game Awards winner who had originally been cast as Gwendolyn, stepped away from the role because of health concerns. Eclipse Glow Games soon announced Angela Sant’Albano, known for playing Grace Ashcroft in Resident Evil Requiem, as her replacement. Around the same time, the developer revised Gwendolyn’s facial features. A popular Reddit discussion asked whether everyone agreed she looked beautiful. Unsurprisingly, opinions differed.

Having seen the character in action, I found her model convincing rather than cheap or unfinished. Gwendolyn looks like a person, not a collectible figurine. She is conventionally attractive, but the portion I played didn’t seem intent on reducing her to that quality. Unlike the presentation of Eve in Stellar Blade, the camera didn’t linger on intrusive angles or frame scenes for the viewer’s gaze.

Of course, a short preview can’t speak for the entire game. Still, given how much attention her design has already attracted, it seems likely to remain a talking point when Tides of Annihilation launches.

Arthurian legend meets a ruined London

Turning to the game itself, Tides of Annihilation draws its fantasy elements from Arthurian legend while setting its story in modern-day London. A mysterious force known as the Fog has devastated the city, leaving enormous roots winding through its streets and red crystals embedded in the surviving buildings. Gothic-looking humanoids and fantastical creatures roam the ruins.

Gwendolyn appears to be the only surviving person capable of resisting the Fog, and she sets out to find a way to reverse the destruction.

Combat will feel familiar to anyone who enjoys fast, spectacle-driven action games. Light and heavy strikes can be combined into longer sequences, while jumping, dodging, and parrying provide ways to respond to threats. Colored flashes signal which defensive move an incoming attack requires. Enemies also have stagger meters that can be depleted to leave them vulnerable.

The finishing moves have flair. In one encounter, Gwendolyn seized a roughly 15-foot spear from an enemy, leapt skyward, and drove the weapon back through its owner. The most distinctive feature of combat, however, is the ability to equip knights.

Knights change how you fight and explore

Inspired by the Knights of the Round Table, these avatars accompany Gwendolyn and enhance her attacks. She remains a quick fighter, but different knights can shift the emphasis toward defense or staggering opponents. Others appear to introduce more dramatic abilities, including stopping time. I used only two during the demo, though the full game allows Gwendolyn to unlock up to 10. As for the original Round Table, accounts differ on how many knights belonged to it.

The knights are just as important to exploration. Much of my preview took place in and around a museum devoted to Egyptian history, where their abilities helped me navigate an interconnected, Metroidvania-like environment. Bors fired arrows to create ziplines across gaps, while Palamedes broke through damaged walls and moved bookshelves into position as bridges.

Those moments recall the way Kratos and Atreus work together to traverse the Norse realms: progress is often a matter of finding the right object and asking a companion to interact with it. Even a formidable warrior needs a little help getting around.

The God of War similarities extend to environmental puzzles. At one point, red crystals blocked my route. Later, I gained the ability to throw an explosive red sphere at them, shattering the obstruction in a manner remarkably close to the Shatter Crystals in God of War Ragnarök.

A growing wave of ambitious action games

Those familiar ideas aren’t necessarily a criticism. They’re part of what makes this expanding corner of the action genre interesting. In recent years, Chinese developers have produced a succession of polished games with their own visual identities and approaches to combat. Tides of Annihilation follows Black Myth: Wukong and Phantom Blade Zero, while sharing anticipation with projects such as Blood Message, a standout from Summer Game Fest 2026. There’s also miHoYo’s forthcoming Nodusfall to consider.

These titles fit into what Polygon’s Oli Welsh has called “outsider AAA”: ambitious, polished games from well-funded studios operating beyond the industry’s traditional Nintendo, Xbox, and PlayStation centers. They may come from outside established blockbuster circles, but they can still command substantial attention and acclaim.

Black Myth: Wukong earned a Game Awards nomination in 2024, and Phantom Blade Zero is part of the conversation for 2026, despite facing formidable competition. It’s far too early to make a similar prediction for Tides of Annihilation, not least because it doesn’t yet have a release year. After playing it, though, I’m eager to see where this wave of action games goes next.

Tides of Annihilation is planned for PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X.

 

Source: Polygon