\u201cThe game doesn’t end when you run out of time,\u201d says Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz, creative director of The Blood of Dawnwalker. <\/p>\n
Time is, without a doubt, the most controversial subject when it comes to developer Rebel Wolves\u2019 debut RPG. And, unless you\u2019ve paid very close attention to what the creators have previously said, your idea of how time in The Blood of Dawnwalker works may potentially be far from the truth. There is no ticking timer. You do not have to complete the game in a certain number of hours. The journey does not end at some pre-determined minute. Instead, that much-discussed \u201c30 days and 30 nights to save your family\u201d applies to just that \u2013 saving your family. If you don\u2019t reach them in time, life goes on. The game continues and the story changes. <\/p>\n
\u201cI really hope some people will play it and let time run out,\u201d Mateusz continues. \u201cI think it’s very interesting, you get some content that you don’t get otherwise if you play this way.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s understandable why Dawnwalker\u2019s time system has caused so much confusion. While there are several games with similar approaches \u2013 Persona\u2019s calendar, or Fire Emblem: Three Houses\u2019 school year \u2013 there\u2019s nothing that works quite like Rebel Wolves\u2019 game. Following the prologue, the main quest puts Coen on the clock to save his family from the evil vampire Brencis. <\/p>\n
But that doesn\u2019t mean time is constantly running out. Each of the 30 days and nights is represented by a bar split into eight segments, and completing quest objectives will consume one of those pieces, pushing the world forward from day to evening, to night, to morning, and repeat. Only actions marked with an hourglass icon progress the day, and between those actions you can freely explore the world for as long as you please without the clock ticking by even a second. In short: think of time as a \u201ccurrency\u201d used to pay for unlocking quests, and you start the game with 480 \u201ctime dollars\u201d. That\u2019s a lot of time to spend. <\/p>\n
Since the time pressure only applies to Coen\u2019s quest to save his family, you can decide how long you want to endure it. If you\u2019re brave, you can make a beeline for Brencis\u2019 castle and rescue them right away, completing Dawnwalker\u2019s main quest in just a couple of days. But assaulting a heavily-defended vampire castle is more than a little difficult, and you\u2019ll likely need to spend time gaining allies and dismantling Brencis\u2019 power structures before making your final attack. That does mean time becomes a significant stressor, and you\u2019ll want to carefully choose which of the world\u2019s quests are worth taking on. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to think about how you want to play around with this resource,\u201d says narrative director Jakub Szamalek. \u201cAnother way of responding to it is that you may get to see all of the content if you don’t care about the fate of Coen\u2019s family. You’re very free to check every nook and cranny if you’re okay with them ending in a bloodbath. It’s another choice for you as a player to engage with.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebel Wolves is keen to frame the time system as something that facilitates choice and consequence, rather than something that exerts unwarranted pressure. For instance, if you do decide to ignore the 30-day countdown and let Coen\u2019s family die, that doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019ll get the \u201cbad ending\u201d. Instead, Mateusz compares it to playing a Dark Urge\/evil campaign in Baldur\u2019s Gate 3. \u201c[Developer Larian Studios] don’t try to frame it like you’re the good guy now and this [evil path] was right,\u201d he says. \u201cIt’s not morally right, but it’s a viable way to play the game. It’s not the fail state. And this is exactly our approach as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Regardless of how you play, the way the time system shapes your experience is something Rebel Wolves\u2019 staff feels very passionately about. \u201cSome people might be worried, \u2018Oh, my content got cut off. That’s actually a bad thing,\u2019\u201d says Mateusz. \u201cWell, yes and no. Yes, because you might miss out on some content. But on the other hand, you get a vastly different experience than your friends and you get to compare these experiences. It feels like your own thing that you shaped and not just the linear experience you consumed, then you moved on.\u201d<\/p>\n
But while the time system defines much of a player\u2019s journey, it\u2019s not the complete story. For many players, The Witcher 3 did not end when Geralt and Ciri\u2019s journey was over \u2013 there were dozens more hours of quests to complete. Not a post-game, as such, but the many, many side quests that you didn\u2019t get around to during the \u201cmain\u201d playthrough. The same applies to The Blood of Dawnwalker. You can continue to play long after those 30 days and nights are over, mopping up quests and finding the world\u2019s secrets. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s really important to understand that the time [system] is connected with the story, it doesn\u2019t end the game,\u201d explains game director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz. \u201cMost of the activities we have are not really connected with the event which happens after 30 days, and they still [make] sense after the 30 days.\u201d<\/p>\n
For those who are really concerned about the time system… well, The Blood of Dawnwalker is<\/em> a fantasy game. Time manipulation isn’t out of the question. We’ll explore more about that in a future IGN First article. <\/p>\n The time system works hand-in-hand with what Rebel Wolves calls its \u201cNarrative Sandbox\u201d, a seemingly fresh approach to structure that\u2019s actually incredibly old school. <\/p>\n \u201cWe really love these old RPGs, like Fallout 1 and 2, that did this kind of structure,\u201d explains Mateusz, \u201cwhere the majority of the game content, even the significant plot lines, you could cut off by just doing a rampage in the city or picking specific choices that basically cut off an arc or changed it significantly. It’s something that felt very right.\u201d<\/p>\n In The Blood of Dawnwalker, there is no linear sequence of main quests. Instead, the mission to save Coen\u2019s family is the only \u201cmain\u201d quest, and everything else is optional. That\u2019s not to say those other quests are inessential \u2013 they could provide you with allies and weapons to use in the fight against Brencis, or kill off one of his lieutenants in order to weaken him. They\u2019re as important as any other game\u2019s missions. But by breaking the idea of a \u201cchain\u201d of objectives, where one quest leads to the other, Rebel Wolves has been able to create a very different kind of RPG campaign. <\/p>\n <\/p>\nA Sandbox of Stories<\/strong><\/h2>\n
The Blood of Dawnwalker – IGN First Exclusive Images<\/h3>\n