The fact that The Blood of Dawnwalker’s main story revolves around a time limit may have made completionism-oriented players nervous about whether they’ll get to tackle everything before being forced to continue the story. Narrative director and main writer Jakub Szamalek, however, hopes that these players “step out of their comfort zone” with the RPG. According to Ungeek, Szamalek addressed the subject of the thirty days and thirty nights time limit during a media Q&A.
A major reason behind developer Rebel Wolves going with a time limit for its main story is the fact that open-world RPGs often tend to lack a sense of urgency to drive players forward. Szamalek said that the studio wanted to bring back this feeling of urgency and even confirmed that players likely won’t get to complete all of the side content The Blood of Dawnwalker has to offer in a single playthrough.
“When you open up the main part of the game, you have thirty days and thirty nights to rescue your family. That should let you complete most of the quests, but not all of them,” he explained. “The reason for introducing the time limit was that open-world RPGs lack a sense of urgency. You’re often entrusted with a very important mission, but then everything [can be put] on pause, and you can explore the world for as long as you like. So, you stop believing in the urgency of your quest. We wanted to bring that feeling and increase the investment of players in the main story.”
When asked about whether this time limit would set players who prefer to complete all side content before continuing the main story up to fail, Szamalek acknowledged that the game might force some players out of their comfort zones, but expressed hope that they would still try it out since “growth and new experiences happen when you do step out of your comfort zone.”
“I wouldn’t say it’s that it sets you up to fail, but I would encourage players, even completionists, to consider playing the game twice to really experience everything,” he said. “I understand that for some people who are used to playing a certain way, it might be asking them to step out of their comfort zones. But I feel that growth and new experiences happen when you do step out of your comfort zone.”
“We really wanted to create a game that feels fresh and takes risks, and we believe those risks paid off. This game is unique; it has a particular flavor, and it’s different from the games you’ve played before. So, I would say, be open to these new mechanics we’re introducing, because we’re doing this for a reason.”
Interestingly, director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz had recently confirmed that The Blood of Dawnwalker won’t be afraid to let players fail. While many RPGs tend to avoid presenting players with failure states, Tomaszkiewicz said that actions that result in failure are “really interesting”, since they bring in interesting changes to a player’s experience.
The Blood of Dawnwalker is being developed for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S and will be out on September 3rd.
