Annihilated Review Summary

Multiple routes, endings, card combat, and an engaging story and characters are marred by a poor translation, cluttered unreadable UI, and combat balance and difficulty issues.

Overall Positive Gameplay: Many reviewers describe the game as fun and very good overall. Gameplay is generally well-received.

Engaging Story: Players frequently praise the story as interesting, exciting, and well-made. It is a central highlight of the game.

Sweet Mage Route: The mage route is frequently described as sweet, enjoyable, and satisfying, with a tsundere character.

Unique Art Style: The art style is consistently praised as unique, appealing, and distinctive, contributing to the game's charm.

Vivid Characters: Characters are described as vivid, lifelike, and interesting, with rich writing that enhances the narrative.

Poor English translation: Many players report that the English translation is inaccurate, stilted, and sometimes nonsensical due to AI translation without proofreading, with specific examples like 'cannot be fatal' and 'life destroy'.

UI readability and clutter: The UI often makes text hard to read and becomes cluttered with pop-ups and overlapping elements, obscuring important information during combat.

Combat difficulty and balance: Combat is difficult at first and has balance issues: mid-game difficulty spikes, elite enemies stronger than bosses, and late-game HP trading.

Repetitive events and story: The event pool is shallow and repeats the same few events, and the story feels rushed with repetitive content across playthroughs.

No gallery or encyclopedia: After clearing the game, there is no gallery, appreciation mode, or encyclopedia to view CGs, item info, and enemy info, forcing players to replay to see content.

Multiple routes and endings: The game features multiple character routes and story branches leading to different endings, encouraging replay. Reviewers highlight the hero route, mage route, priest route, and branching narratives.

Card-based combat system: Combat uses a hand of cards that can run out, emphasizing resource management and strategic play. The dark-themed card battles are a core gameplay mechanic.

Choices affect story branches: Players make key choices, such as initial character selection, that significantly change the story direction and lead to different outcomes. These decisions impact the branching narrative.

Resource management in combat: Combat emphasizes careful management of resources like cards and weapon durability, requiring players to survive high-damage attacks. Managing weapon usage and conservation is crucial.

Traditional RPG battles: Combat resembles traditional turn-based RPG battles with command-based systems rather than fast-paced roguelike action. Reviewers note it leans toward classic RPG mechanics.

Strongly recommended overall: Many reviewers give strong, enthusiastic recommendations for the game, often with high scores or full marks. They encourage others to buy and play it right away, especially if the visuals or setting appeal.

Try the demo first: Several reviewers suggest trying the demo if unsure, then buying if it clicks. Buying is also recommended if the demo seems like a good fit.

Worth playing: Reviewers find the game worth playing and continuing, and worth buying for the amount of playtime. The price matches the volume, though some find it a bit expensive but acceptable.

Enjoyable story and setting: Recommended for players who enjoy this kind of story, dark fantasy, Cthulhu, gamebooks, and Wizardry. Also recommended for those interested in art and story.

Recommended for everyone: Some reviewers recommend the game for everyone to play and for at least one playthrough. It is also recommended for fans of One Turn Kill.

Game completion: 20.0h.

Story completion: 5.0h.

Session length: 4.0h.

Endgame: 24.0h.

Story-Driven Route Explorer: Plays routes while weighing moral choices and seeking true-ending and epilogue payoffs. Motivation: To see emotional character arcs and how choices shape different story endings. Stance: buy.

Roguelite Mechanics Tryhard: Optimizes runs, adapts input modes, and pushes through long fights even when story rewards are unclear. Motivation: To master responsive combat and overcome difficult runs for mechanical satisfaction. Stance: buy.

Indie Presentation Connoisseur: Evaluates a first run against other indies and looks for post-clear gallery and presentation details. Motivation: To discover polished indie experiences and appreciate writing, art, music, and completion content. Stance: buy.

Approximately 25 hours total gameplay: A single playthrough takes about 4-5 hours, and completing all four routes takes around 25 hours. Some reviewers report 15-24 hours for all routes, with considerable time needed to view all scenarios.

Demo available with progress carryover: A demo version was released, providing several hours of gameplay (e.g., 6 hours), and save data can be inherited into the full game. The full version also improves visuals, UI, and removes forced QTE mini-games from the demo.

Story-driven experience with dark atmosphere: The game is described as story-driven, with a plot following a rescued hero party cursed in a dungeon and a dark country setting. The main draw is the characters and story, with atmosphere changing based on chosen partner.

Pricing perceived as slightly high: Some reviewers find the price a bit high for the amount of content or length, while others consider it reasonable or good value for the time spent. The launch price was over 60 (currency unspecified).

Four main characters with unique scenarios: The game features four main characters: a hero who can only say yes/no, a warrior in a doll body who cannot exert power, a mage without magic, and a priest who lost faith. Each has a distinct scenario and storyline.