The Blood of Dawnwalker Devs Explain Why They’re Targeting Smaller Open World; Side Quests Will Impact Main Story
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While The Blood of Dawnwalker is being crafted by former staff of CD Projekt RED, and its Creative Director Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz is the former Lead Quest Designer of The Witcher 3, don’t expect developer Rebel Wolves’ new vampire action-RPG to have the same open world size, and it’s by design.
According to Tomaszkiewicz , they opted for a smaller open world design so that players will feel like they actually know the game’s locale.
The Blood of Dawnwalker Open World Will Be Smaller Than The Witcher 3’s
Speaking to Games Radar, Tomaszkiewicz states, “It was an open world, but it was much smaller, and it kind of made me experience it differently compared to these behemoths where it’s just impossible to really know every nook and cranny because it’s so big, so you kind of rush through it.”
Adding to that, Tomaszkiewicz says,”But when the world is a bit smaller and you explore it more calmly and more relaxed, you kind of get to memorize these places, and it feels more like you actually know the place. It makes you feel like you’re more inhabited.”
Even if Blood of Dawnwalker’s world is smaller than The Witcher 3, the game won’t feel any less epic, especially since Rebel Wolves is implementing what they call a “narrative sandbox” in terms of game design.
Tomaszkiewicz explains this in the latest issues of PC Gamer (via Games Radar), stating, “”It’s how we allow you, the player, to interact with it. 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.”
Design Director Daniel Sadowski also weighed in on this and explained the development team doesn’t want their “dynamic” world to feel like it’s “waiting for the player all the time, so both action and inaction in Dawnwalker have serious consequences.”
The Blood of Dawnwalker’s Side Quests Will Affect the Main Story
Tomaszkiewicz also confirmed that side quests or “seemingly inconsequential, smaller activities in the world” will somehow impact the game’s central storyline, which is similar to how The Witcher 3 handled its side content.
As someone who has a family to look after, and a ton of other real-world activities, the fact that I don’t need to face a 100-hour RPG and super massive open world is music to my ears. Not only do you usually get sidetracked in games like these, but my attention span is too active to not get lost in the open world as well.
Earlier this month, Rebel Wolves also confirmed they are targeting The Blood of Dawnwalker to be around 30-40 hours long, which is a fine story gameplay time for me.
The Blood of Dawnwalker has no release date yet, though it is confirmed for release on the PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. Rebel Wolves has announced that we’re getting our first official gameplay look in Summer 2025.
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