This is an action role-playing game in which players assume the role of an adventurer in a fictional medieval world. Players can freely visit towns, interact with characters, complete quests, and pursue various career paths in the "open-world" environment. The game depicts on-foot and on-horseback combat: Players use swords, axes, hammers, maces, and crossbows to attack enemies. Battles can be frenetic at times, with intense audio fidelity—loud and constant battle cries, sword slashing, flesh-impact sounds; some scenes involve more protracted melee-style (i.e., close-quarter combat) battles against multiple enemies. Small spurts of blood are briefly visible during these battles, and faint bloodstains sometimes develop on characters' clothing, their skin. Character dialogue covers a wide range of topics and can include references to suggestive behavior (e.g., "[S]he beds her stable boys and anyone else she can lay hands on while her husband is away,""leaving a string of love-sick women and cuckolded husbands in my wake," and "my prowess in the art of the bedchamber, in which I must confess a modest degree of skill."). The game contains several references to alcohol (e.g., "a jar of your best wine,""Now I'm here getting drunk," and "fight, plunder, and drink"); and one quest involves delivering units of ale to a tavern. Expletives such as "bastard" and "damn" can be heard in the dialogue.