![](https://cdn.80.lv/api/upload/content/17/images/678a04601897c/widen_920x0.jpeg)
The official teaser trailer released earlier this week for The Blood of Dawnwalker, Rebel Wolves studio's long-awaited single-player dark fantasy action RPG, offered us a glimpse at the title's gameplay. One of the interesting mechanisms that captured the community's attention and interest is how it asks players to manage their time wisely.
Daniel Sadowski, the game's Design Director, has detailed this time-as-resource mechanic, which is a "core element" of the narrative sandbox, in a talk with PC Gamer.
"It [time system] moves only when you do the content (such as a quest or task), because we do not want the time system to be there to rush the player or to stress them out. We want the time system to be part of the narrative experience, and part of the whole 'both action and inaction have consequences' [approach].”
It sounds a bit tricky to strike a balance between avoiding pressuring players with time limitations and offering the freedom to make choices that won't bring negative feelings due to the different results. Sadowski explained further about how the system is designed to encourage players to consider and decide wisely.
"It will work in interesting ways. It will definitely force you to make choices at some points, like what to do, and what to ignore, because you will also have to choose which content you want to do, and which content you want to ignore, in order to maximise your chances of defeating the main enemy. But you will be able to choose between different ways to approach the problem, and that all ties into the narrative sandbox again."
Rebel Wolves
The development team of the upcoming action RPG consists of many ex-CDPR key talents who used to work on The Witcher 3, and they are under the leadership of The Witcher 3 Game Director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, who also shared insights about introducing this feature and how it might affect the overall gameplay experience. Tomaszkiewicz naturally uses The Witcher 3 as an example to explain the system's role:
"For example, when you're playing The Witcher 3 and you know that Ciri needs help, but you decide to go play Gwent – it's something which, you know... you feel that it's a game, and it's a really good game. But it's a game. And maybe if you had some resource, and you know that maybe if you don't go, something would happen – then your thinking about this game would be different, and maybe the immersion would be better, and maybe your emotions would be different.”
The Blood of Dawnwalker is coming to PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S, although the release date has not been revealed. You can learn more about it here and don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.