The Witcher: Monster Slayer gameplay looks like Pokemon Go if Pikachu wanted to eat you

The Witcher: Monster Slayer gameplay is revealed in a new sneak peek trailer for the augmented-reality mobile game.

The minute-long trailer from developer Spokko shows quick snippets of several parts of Monster Slayer: there's a lot of fighting the Witcher series' trademark gruesome monsters in a first-person augmented reality view, but there's also world exploration, interaction with NPCs, and even some grisly investigation scenes.

The bits of combat we see include rapid sword swings punctuated by putting up guards against powerful enemy attacks. It looks like tossing alchemical bombs can do some extra damage and potentially stagger your quarry, while tracing sigils on the screen allows you to cast Witcher signs like Igni to light them up with a burst of fire.

When you aren't cutting down shrieking monstrosities, you'll explore on a top-down map screen that converts your real-world surroundings into grassy fields, footpaths, and wagon trails. Traveling merchants will help you keep your monster-hunting essentials stocked up, and you can also find travelers in distress who will likely give you quests to complete. Witchers don't work for free, so expect these to be a good source of rewards.

A couple of scenes hint at an investigation system that will let you zoom in on points of interest, potentially to help you track down especially valuable monster bounties. Sure, you've inspected severed horse heads before, but have you ever done it in augmented reality?

Spokko is planning to bring The Witcher: Monster Slayer to both iOS and Android devices, and you can expect launch date announcements to arrive later this year.

Find more to look forward to in our guide to the upcoming games of 2020 and beyond.