Games worth discovering
Gorgeous presentation can’t cover shallow tactics and a poor translation
739 View2023-05-18
Annulus makes a great first impression with its slick, grimdark graphics, lavish cutscenes, and orchestral soundtrack. Unfortunately, the impressive presentation can’t cover up for a disappointingly shallow tactics experience and a truly atrocious English translation. Due to the poor localization, the Game of Thrones-meets-Cthulhu mythos storyline is nearly impossible to parse, and basic functions of the game go completely unexplained.
The core of Annulus is its tactical turn-based battles, which do look very nice: rain soaks the ground as drenched, heavily armored soldiers clash with twisted creatures from beyond reality. A rock-paper-scissors system determines advantages between unit types, which include cavalry, spear infantry, swordsmen, and special units like mages. Some of these come with special abilities that can be activated every few turns, like the lance that strikes two squares in a row.
Combat doesn’t get particularly interesting over the course of the first chapter, although it would have been quite a bit tougher if I hadn’t gone poking around and figured out on my own that I needed to recruit new units at my camp. There’s no initiative to consider, since each side moves all their units during a turn and can do so in any order. Fights mostly come down to taking out as many vulnerable units as possible during the first turn and then weathering whatever the enemy has left before finally mopping up in turns two and three.
I was only able to pick up the most general ideas going on in the story, due to a sometimes indecipherable localization. There’s little to no introduction to any of the many characters that show up almost immediately, and beyond there being a conflict between the “north” and “south,” I wasn’t clear on why anything was happening. At one point, a villain referred to my team of northern soldiers as “dirty Yankees,” which was an odd term to hear in a high fantasy game.
For as flashy as the visuals are, there just isn’t much else going on in Annulus, especially given that the state of the English translation makes it impossible to get absorbed into the narrative. I’d give this one a pass for now.
Comments
This good looking turn-based RPG game has potential | Closed Beta Review - ANNULUS
ANNULUS is a dark fantasy-themed tactics squad RPG game featuring hero collection elements and impressive AAA graphics.
🟩Pros
+High-quality graphics
+Extensive character roster and classes
+Challenging turn-based gameplay
🟥Cons
-Presentation is all over the place
-Poor translation quality
-prolonged unskippable tutorial
ANNULUS is a turn-based tactics game that takes place in medieval times, specifically in Europe during the age of chivalry, but with dark Cthulhu undertones that permeate the narrative and atmosphere.
lyndonguitar2K2023-05-18
Annulus - First impressions (5/17)
Now on to the obvious, the graphics are great! and we're sure that goes without saying, BUT:
👁️Tutorials need fixing and badly needed.
Look at Grimguard Tactics and Darkest Dungeon. Even with GT I thought it wasn't that bad & there are people who said it's already boring. With this Annulus I was literally very sleepy after the first 3 combats (and it was 11am in the morning).😴
👁️Too much handholding. 5 combats later the game is still telling player to click here tap that follow instruction, that's no fun at all. Dev should find another way to explain the mechanics to the player without making it feel like they are in elementary school. Loading screen is too frequently as well.
Hipster Gaming Jakarta1K2023-05-17
Annulus Gameplay CBT SRPG Android Game
Annulus English Gameplay CBT Android APK Download | Annulus Mobile Strategy RPG Game | Annulus by Indrasoft HK
Gameplay & Download:
ANNULUS is a turn-based strategy game developed and published by Indrasoft. Built using UE4 technology, ANNULUS combines medieval warfare with Cthulhu style fantasy to form a compelling and challenging strategy game offering. You will begin you journey as a mercenary regiment commander. As you survive and conquer the ever-turbulent Novusaes, you will inevitably uncover the depths and the darkness of its true history.
Zacker Gamer A(Muted)2K2023-05-16
View desktop siteTapTap looks better
on the app 
Thank you for your suggestion. The purpose of this test is mainly to see the game flow and gameplay acceptance. We are currently optimizing the localization translation and look forward to the follow-up test version
2023-05-18
Author likedis this not available on all regions?
2023-05-28
damn missed the cb how can I register for the next one? love tactical rpgs this one looks nice.
2023-05-23