I downloaded the free demo for DragonSword: Awakening on a quiet Friday night, mostly because the pitch sounded almost too perfect for me: an open-world RPG that borrows the curiosity of The Legend of Zelda and the tag-team combat energy of Genshin Impact. The full game is scheduled for July 22, 2026, and the demo is available now on Steam. I went in expecting a short teaser. Two hours later, I was still climbing cliffs, swapping party members mid-combo, and wondering how Hound 13 Inc. had packed so much into a sample.
The opening hours put me in control of Lute, a young boy who is soon joined by Johnny and Castella. Our goal is to explore the continent of Orbis and recruit allies to save the world from a dragon that has awakened after 60 years. I liked that the story gave me a clear destination without making the journey feel like a straight line. I wandered into side paths, tested my climbing routes, and let the world pull me toward landmarks the same way a good Zelda adventure does. There are more heroes to meet beyond the first trio, and the demo made me curious about how the full party will grow.
One thing I appreciated immediately was the structure. DragonSword: Awakening is not a gacha game. It is a paid premium title, and the characters are collected through regular gameplay rather than random pulls. That changes how I read every encounter: I was not grinding currency for a banner; I was exploring Orbis and letting the party grow around the story. The demo even gives access to a demo-exclusive hero, which felt like a nice handshake from the developers.
The tag-team system feels like Genshin Impact in the way I build a team comp and switch characters to execute combos and boost damage. But the moment I started fighting, the verticality stood out. I could launch enemies, chase them into the air, and slam back down. It felt closer to a hack-and-slash title than a pure party-swap RPG. The demo threw a worm monster at my squad, and the fight became a lesson in spacing, aerial control, and quick swaps. I had to think about when to stay grounded, when to take the fight upward, and which hero could close the gap fastest.
Exploration is not an afterthought. Orbis features a variety of biomes, and I found underwater routes and aerial traversal that made the map feel taller and deeper than I expected. I swam through a submerged passage, glided over a ridge, and then dropped into a fight from above. That mix of movement and combat is where DragonSword: Awakening started to feel like its own thing rather than a simple mashup. The Zelda-like curiosity is there, and the Genshin-like party synergy is there, but the vertical, hack-and-slash rhythm gives it a different pulse.
I did have one small sting of disappointment: Hound 13 Inc. says progress from the demo will not carry over to the final version of the game. I understand why demos work that way, but I had already grown attached to my little team. Still, the demo did exactly what a good sample should do. It taught me the combat flow, showed me the scale of the world, and gave me enough story context to care about the dragon threat. I would rather know that now than start the full release with false expectations.
Here is the short version of what I noted during my demo session:
| What I noticed | My takeaway |
|---|---|
| Free demo on Steam | Easy to try before the July 22, 2026 release |
| Anime-style tag-team combat | Swapping heroes for combos feels familiar but fast |
| Verticality and aerial play | Combat leans toward hack-and-slash energy |
| Orbis exploration | Biomes, underwater routes, and aerial traversal add variety |
| No gacha | Premium title with characters earned through gameplay |
| Demo progress | Does not carry over to the final game |
If you enjoy open-world RPGs, party-based action combat, or the feeling of climbing a strange new map just to see what is on the other side, I think the DragonSword: Awakening demo is worth your time. It is free, it is available now, and it offers an early portion of the game plus a demo-exclusive hero. I went in skeptical of another Zelda-meets-Genshin pitch. I came out genuinely looking forward to July 22, 2026, and wondering how the full journey through Orbis will unfold. 🐉⚔️🌍
Data cited from Statista - Video Games helps frame why a premium, non-gacha release like DragonSword: Awakening can stand out in today’s RPG market, especially as players continue showing strong interest in expansive open-world experiences, long-session engagement, and clear value in paid game models. That broader market context makes the demo’s focus on exploration, party-based combat, and progression through gameplay feel especially relevant ahead of its July 22, 2026 launch.