Upcoming open world RPG The Blood of Dawnwalker will place quite a bit of emphasis on its day-night cycle owing to the fact that its protagonist, Coen, also happens to be a vampire. During a recent Q&A, developer Rebel Wolves have confirmed that players will have to be careful at night thanks to the Blood Hunger mechanic which will compel them to hunt for some blood to satisfy Coen’s cravings.
Explaining the mechanic, Rebel Wolves has confirmed that if Coen isn’t able to drink enough blood, he might end up losing control of his body and go into a frenzy where he ends up attacking nearby NPCs to get his blood fix. The studio has also noted that this Blood Hunger mechanic only activates during the night, so Coen won’t have much to worry about in this regard during the day.
A game featuring a vampire protagonist with a Blood Hunger-styled mechanic isn’t too out of the ordinary; plenty of games have featured similar kinds of mechanics in the past, especially in RPGs. A notable example comes from 2004’s Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, where a player with a low enough humanity stat and starving for blood will end up going into a frenzy and start mindlessly killing those closest to them.
The fact that Coen can end up attacking nearby NPCs if his Blood Hunger runs deep enough should be especially interesting since the game promises players plenty of freedom when it comes to stories they can find and NPCs they can kill. Referring to the concept of the “narrative sandbox”, creative director Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz had revealed back in February that player agency and freedom of choice are the core design decisions behind The Blood of Dawnwalker.
“It’s how we allow you, the player, to interact with it,” said Tomaszkiewicz. “So the core of it is maximizing players’ agency and freedom of choice, while, at the same time delivering the high-quality narratives that we are known for crafting in the past.”
More recently, Tomaszkiewicz had also confirmed that players will also have freedom when it comes to how they deal with Coen’s status as vampire. He noted that players can choose to embrace their vampire side, or instead cling to Coen’s humanity and “reject the monster within”.
“Some players might embrace their vampire side and give in to its temptations,” he explained. “Others might cling to their humanity and reject the monster within. You can align with the human rebellion or finish the game without ever meeting them. You can take the fight to Brencis at any time, choosing from multiple paths to do so.”
“This open, player-driven approach is what we call the narrative sandbox. It’s the philosophy at the core of our storytelling.”
The Blood of Dawnwalker got a gameplay overview trailer just last month, which revealed that the title will have a combat system that seems quite similar to the one in Kingdom Come: Deliverance, allowing players to pick directions for their attacks to take advantage of enemy weaknesses.
The Blood of Dawnwalker doesn’t yet have a release date aside from a 2026 window, and it will be coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.