Sitting down for my behind-closed-doors demo, I've little idea of what to expect from Warlock. It's one of those games that's felt shrouded in mystery for the longest time – a third-person action-adventure with ARPG elements, all set against one of the Dungeons & Dragons universe's spookiest settings: Ravenloft's Domain of Dread, Darkon. Only this time – unlike Baldur's Gate 3 – dice, spell slots, turn-based combat, and long rests aren't anywhere to be seen.

Except they haven't gone anywhere. Developer Invoke Studios has simply repurposed them. I specifically see this in how the game adapts itself to suit real-time combat and exploration. Evard's Black Tentacles is not only a great spell to ensnare enemies with; you can cast it at a wall and attach other items to it, crafting platforms and walkways to get around obstacles. Eldritch Blast is still a powerful cantrip but that too will have additional utility as an exploration tool – perhaps to explode anything suspicious.

Then there's brand new spells like Tasha's Leash, which looks and sounds like Invoke's answer to Mage Hand, letting protagonist Kaatri pick up and throw items to manipulate the environments around her. She can fling a flaming torch into a wooden obstruction, for example, and either grab a handful of water to douse the flames or pick up a puddle of flaming oil to hurl as a makeshift fireball. Because what is D&D without Fireball?

It all speaks to how Invoke has taken the rules of D&D and transposed them into something entirely different to what many fans might expect, and from my 20-minute hands-off demo, the risks just might pay off.

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