Wizards of the Coast and developer Invoke Studios have released eight minutes of gameplay from upcoming action RPG Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons, and that's enough for fans of the enduring fantasy world to fall in love with the main character.
Players will step into the role of a warlock called Kaatri on a quest to find someone she's lost with the help of powerful witch Tasha. The gameplay makes clear that we're not in for another Baldur's Gate 3.
Kaatri is played by Tricia Helfer, the Canadian-American actress and former model best known for playing Number Six in Battlestar Galactica. Her character is described as an experienced warrior newly bound as a warlock. She must master forbidden magic in a land where she's an outsider. Maggie Robertson (Orin the Red in Baldur's Gate 3) plays the witch Tash.
The game is a single player action adventure in which you can combine magic with melee, with combat giving players a plethora of tools. The gameplay shows a more action-focused experience than the turn-based RPG formula of Baldur’s Gate 3.
At one moment in the reveal, we see Kaatri holds an enemy in the air, finish another and picks up a sword to throw. Se also defeats an enemy after summoning tendrils from the ground.
Fans are praising the darker, gothic aesthetic and strong visual identity, hailing Kaatri’s design as a bold attempt at modernisation. Her look blends battle-worn realism with supernatural flair. One person writing on X describes her as a mix of Galadriel from The Lord of the Rings and Sarah Kerrigan from StarCraft.
In an interview with Variety, Maggie says she believes the game will be "different because we’re following one character’s story,”
"Warlock takes us through the relationships of these specific characters, Tasha and Kaatri. Instead of being pulled in many different directions, we’re asking players to focus on one relationship with a lot of emotional depth,” she adds.
Helfer says of her character: “We really get to understand her, know her motivations, and hopefully become captivated by the emotion driving her. And you’ll still have all the fun parts of D & D. You’ll still see iconic spells, characters, and locations from D & D. I think Warlock is trying to balance being a great experience that is both accessible to newcomers and longtime fans of D & D.”
The game is expected in 2027.
