The debate over the new game Tides of Annihilation has begun and it has stirred people up. They are not only talking about the game’s beautiful graphics—it is such a graphics masterpiece—but also about the voice actors’ lineup. The leading character is voiced by Jennifer English and to the amazement, the creators are the Ubisoft team. Well, you guessed it right, the same Ubisoft. And a big, probably a bit too early question is already popping up at online forums: has this game already become a contender for the title of the best game of the year? Like for real? Already so soon?
Still, for gamers who are interested only in hard facts, Tides of Annihilation is an action game that will be out soon, and the voice actress Jennifer English is one of its cast members— a recently awarded actress who is by no means a newcomer with her incredible portrayals. The development of this game is being done by a well-established team of ex-Ubisoft employees in China, though the studio itself is, of course, in China. The announcement, however, has sparked an instant discussion about the quality of the game and its future awards even though no release date has been set yet.
But the pandemonium is back again. The tweet from Lunatic Ignus nearly ignited the controversy around the gaming talks already. It told about the Jennifer English connection and the ex-Ubi devs, and then provocatively asked, “Could this be a GOTY contender? 😅” And, of course, the replies were just as colorful as the question.
Firstly, the game’s artistic embodiment has pushed people to the highest peak of excitement. A person nicknamed Gm300 mentioned that Tides of Annihilation has “This game is gonnaget nominations” just by the boss gameplay shown. Another one, DuaFN, called it “monumental.” However, izunadropped delivered a very bold assessment: “Look like the best hack n slash new IP we’ve had in almost a decade.” What an extraordinary compliment indeed! A few even went so far as to draw a parallel between the game atmosphere and that of God of War series—this is indeed a flattering comparison.
On the other hand, the whole affair with the Jennifer English has led to a different narrative. It has already become a meme on the internet. G3TH_ was among the people tracking the number and he jokingly said, “Well she was in 3 of the last 4 GotY winners…!” _GoldenWitch_ even pushed it further and made a joke about her “magic”. They said, “If this wins GOTY too with Jennifer being a part of it, we need to seriously think about what kind of magic she is casting. 😅 That would be the 4th game being named GOTY with her in it within what, 4-5 years? Even WuWa won players’ voice and she is in it. What is this magic?” It’s an incredible run, no doubt. Gamers are starting to perceive her as a good luck charm.
Switching the discussion now to the developers, this is the point where it becomes confusing and the comments sometimes even offensive. The game is indeed done by a Chinese studio that is mostly comprised of ex-Ubisoft developers. This mixed situation has left many people unclear; “I thought it was some Chinese company making it” or “Ubisoft had devs in China?” are the usual misconceptions. To clear the air, it seems like a Chinese studio has hired or is collaborating with ‘Western’ developers who have worked for Ubisoft.
The mere fact that the Western Originators are working alongside their Eastern counterparts has set the whole thing off. Many people have voiced their concerns quite pessimistically about the overall quality and the future claims for awards of such a collaboration. One user, David Baker wrote: “Western devs having to work for a Chinese company just to make a non-wokeslop game, and instead have actual creative expression, sad.” And then he/she in a follow-up said, “Chinese studio means no woke garbage, it’s now a buy signal.” Ouch! That’s a huge can of worms there, revealing very different preferences among the gamers.
It is clear, however, that not everybody was so easily won over by the hype. Some, in fact, consider it ludicrous to even discuss the GOTY title so early on. Dzdhryes wrote: “Talking about GOTY before the game even gets released is just hilarious.” And 33XERXES33 was even more straight to the point: “Does it look like a fucking GOTY contender are you out of your damn mind?” That was rude but enough reasoned. The game is still to be played by no one!
Then, further discussion turned to where the game and the rest of the things that come with it are already coming. For PlayStation and Xbox players, the anticipation is building.
