Revision 4

The Continent of Orbis is the open-world setting of DragonSword: Awakening. Hound13 has described it as a radiant, warmly coloured fantasy world rather than a grimdark one, built in Unreal Engine 5 and leaning into brightness and colour over shadow and decay.

The Name Orbis

"Orbis" is used in two ways in the game, and both are canon:

• The Continent of Orbis is the entire open-world landmass that makes up World 1.

• Orbis is also the name of "the first kingdom built by humankind," a founding human civilisation located on that same continent. Lute is travelling toward this kingdom when the main story begins.

Environments

The regions Hound13 has shown and described in the lead-up to launch include:

• Beautiful meadows and rolling countryside.

• Watchtowers with secret cellars hidden beneath them.

• Treasure-filled deep seas.

• Hidden caves and dungeons.

All of these are explorable on foot. Movement is on-foot first, with Familiars layered in as mounts once the player has collected one, and some regions only becoming reachable once the player has the right mount.

The Dragon and the Heroes of Old

Sixty years before the events of the game, a Dragon brought the continent to the brink of destruction. Six legendary Heroes rose to drive it back, and the continent settled into a long peace. Now, as the game opens, a Dragon has reawakened on Orbis, and the modern cast is sent to trace the footsteps of those six Heroes of Old, uncover their hidden secrets, and decide whether any of them can take up the title of the Dragon Sword.

Factions

Hound13 has said the continent has "factions entangled in complex interests," and has now named the five factions present at launch: the Johnny Mercenaries (the mercenary band Lute joins, led by Johnny, alongside the Elf Castella), the Red Fox Mercenary Corps (to which Kalien belongs), the Organa Order, the Orbis Kingdom (the Orbis Royal Castle's knights), and the Lentus Rebellion Army. Further factions may surface as more of the nineteen Heroes are revealed.

World Structure and Future Expansions

Exploration Tools

• Foot traversal: The entire continent is explorable on foot as the first-tier traversal option.

• Familiar mounts: Collectible Familiars grow from a miniature follow-along form into full-size mounts when ridden. Each Hero begins with a mount.

• Dragon riding: A core aerial traversal feature. Hound13 has said the freedom-of-movement design is inspired by The Legend of Zelda series.

• Cooking: Ingredients found across the continent are combined to create new dishes, giving exploration an in-world reward loop beyond combat and loot.