“Discovering the Time-Bending Mechanics of Blood of Dawnwalker: A Unique Vampire RPG Experience”

The Blood of Dawnwalker, the anticipated inaugural project from seasoned CDPR creators, features a “limited time” quest system that reminds me of aspects found in the Persona and Metaphor games.

Dawnwalker checks many boxes for me. It is an expansive open-world RPG developed by a group of industry veterans under the Rebellion Wolves label, it showcases truly intriguing vampires, and it seemingly draws inspiration from some of my favorite JRPGs to date. I was recently captivated by its time-sensitive main narrative upon hearing about it during the game’s showcase, although I was working with relatively scarce information at the time. I still am, but thanks to a few recent tweets from the developers, there’s a bit more clarity now.

It’s worth noting that time-constrained quests and events in video games can become frustrating if they make you feel pressured and stressed. Fortunately, the official Dawnwalker Twitter account confirmed to a fan that “The game itself doesn’t have a strict time limit and it doesn’t compel you to rush anything.”

Building on that, Rebellion Wolves senior PR manager Mateusz Greiner added, “In brief – the player has a limited timeframe to achieve the main objective – exploring the world does not advance the time, but each quest does. This plays a crucial role in our narrative setup, and we’ll elaborate on its implications later.”

This strongly reminds me of Persona, which largely allows you to roam the world as much as you wish until you decide to progress, at which point the in-game clock advances. It’s still not entirely clear how Dawnwalker will implement the overall system, especially considering the day/night cycle, but I appreciate how it sounds so far.

Greiner confirmed that “all quests” impact the in-game timer, but assured “it will always be communicated clearly to the player if an activity moves time forward (and by how much) – players will have control over it.”

Finally, much to my relief, Greiner indicated that it “won’t necessarily lead to game over” when the timer expires after 30 in-game days and nights, although he refrained from providing further details.

The Blood of Dawnwalker was officially unveiled just this week, nearly two years after the formation of Rebellion Wolves.