Revision 4

Design philosophy

KRAFTON describes the combat as "brutal, visceral, and overwhelming." The game is deliberately designed to feel "bigger and wilder" than traditional action RPGs, driven by "the raw chaos of battle." Players fight as a single Rekon warrior against groups of enemies that can number in the dozens or hundreds.

This is not a power fantasy where enemies fall over from a single hit. The design combines precise, mastery-driven personal combat with tactical decisions about where and when to engage across a larger battlefield.

The Rekon advantage

The player character is a Rekon, a towering humanoid bird being standing roughly seven feet tall. The size difference matters in combat. Rekon have superior physical reach and strike weight compared to human-sized opponents. The Hero King wields twin star-forged blades that take advantage of that reach.

Raw physical dominance is the starting point. The Rekon is bigger, stronger, and faster than most enemies on the field. But being surrounded by dozens of opponents means strength alone is not enough. You need to read the battlefield and make choices about where to push.

Battlefield dynamics

Thanks to Mass Entity AI, enemies on the battlefield react in real time. They do not wait in formation for you to approach. They flank, surround, probe for openings, and respond when you break through their lines. The combat system asks you to adapt constantly rather than memorize attack patterns.

Players fight within the chaos of massive engagements rather than commanding troops from above. You are in the thick of it, and your decisions about which direction to push, which flank to collapse, and when to retreat shape how the larger battle unfolds.

Weapons

The Hero King's primary weapons are twin star-forged blades made from Stariron, a metal forged at the Final Forge. In the lore, these blades are eventually combined into a single double-bladed weapon called Baragi after the Hero King loses his sword arm. Whether this transformation occurs during the game's story or is a fixed part of the backstory is unknown.

The twin-blade fighting style suits the one-versus-many design. Wide sweeping strikes can catch multiple enemies, while the Rekon's reach means you can connect with targets that smaller warriors could not. The pre-alpha trailer shows the Hero King swinging both blades in arc patterns that carve through groups.

Rekon limitations

The Rekon's defining weakness is a paralyzing fear of water. KRAFTON has confirmed this is both a narrative element and a core mechanic that affects navigation and tactical choices. Bodies of water become obstacles rather than shortcuts, and enemies near water have a natural advantage.

Design comparisons

Press coverage has compared the combat to Dynasty Warriors (large enemy crowds filling the screen) and God of War (visceral third-person melee with weighty animations). The actual feel likely sits somewhere between those reference points. Dynasty Warriors treats crowds as fodder; God of War focuses on smaller, more deliberate encounters. Project Windless aims for the scale of the former with the weight of the latter.

HUD and exploration

KRAFTON has emphasized a zero hand-holding approach. No glowing trails, no cluttered HUDs, no quest markers leading you by the nose. Organic exploration means you find objectives by observing the world rather than following interface elements.