While many games put you in the role of an adventurer, not all of them focus on what happens when you fail. Annihilated puts you in a scenario where, instead of being part of a group, you’re saving one person after their entire crew has been defeated by a dungeon’s curse.
Created by the Japanese indie development circle Death Kumiai, your first and most important decision has you choosing which adventurer to save. Each character is broken in some way because of the curse: the Hero is mute and can only reply with “yes” or “no”, the Wizard has lost their magic, the Warrior’s soul has been transferred into a human-sized doll, and the Priest has lost something so important to them that it isn’t revealed at the beginning. Your experience changes based on who you choose, from gameplay strategies to the stories that unfold.
Combat takes the form of roguelite card battles. After selecting an action from a series of cards, you engage in a short minigame where you must stop a filling gauge at a specific point (somewhat similar to Undertale’s combat system). Stopping the gauge at just the right moment allows your attacks to hit multiple enemies, adding some reflex-based timing to keep you on your toes. You can’t fight forever, though, as your equipment has limited uses before it breaks.
Annihilated features several characters, but you’ll primarily be interacting with the party member who you chose to save at the start. Conversations take on a visual novel-style format, where the choices you make affect your relationship with your chosen adventurer. While some chats are just small talk, others can lead to events that affect which ending you get.
Following its announcement last year, Annihilated recently surpassed over 100,000 Steam Wishlists. With only a few months left until launch, the developers are doing everything they can to ensure the full game lives up to fans’ expectations.
Annihilated is set to release on July 22 for Windows (Steam).
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