The Blood of Dawnwalker’s time limitation finally let me slow down and enjoy side quests
06
Oct 26
When it comes to games in any genre, my goal is always to focus on the main story. Get in, get it done, get out, and move on to the next adventure. One look at my Steam library, and you’ll see plenty of games with the “finish main story” achievement unlocked, but little else past that. When it comes to RPGs, despite the immersion that many offer, I still find myself falling into that same pattern. Side quests? Just boring little extras that get in the way rather than additional content worth exploring. The Blood of Dawnwalker’s interesting time mechanic made me pump the brakes on my usual habits in an odd, reverse-psychology kind of way. And for that, well, it earns my seal of approval.
As a sucker for bloodsuckers, I was always going to play The Blood of Dawnwalker. Vampiric abilities in a Witcher-like experience? That sounds like a great RPG in the making, but I went in with the familiar plan. Get in, get it done, get out ahead of Onimusha — the next game on my list. I made my way through the opening part of the story and returned to Coen’s family home after spending some extra time with the local witch-in-a-hut, Anca.
At this point, the time on the first day was later into the morning, according to the in-game clock. Usually, I’d sprint back to the next part of the main mission, fully aware that I’m running out of in-game time. But for some reason, I found myself stopping to help someone tending a farm, despite the fact that it was a random side quest that, in reality, had nothing to do with Coen or my main objective.
The Blood of Dawnwalker
And I loved it. I found myself in a cave with a mural depicting an ancient warrior fighting the vampires that now rule the small town, before coming face-to-face with an ancient creature that, sadly, didn’t let me have a good ol’ chat before deciding to try and beat me up. I was rewarded with the same bracers that the warrior wore, as well as a swanky new sword for Coen, and despite the pressure of time ticking away, I found myself smiling as I left the cave.
Why did I finally break my habit? I can’t tell you. I just found myself engaging with the people and places in Dawnwalker’s world. The only thing that changed in this open-world RPG was the fact that I had a limitation. Time is a resource, and each mission, regardless of its importance, takes up those valuable hours. For some reason, that has freed me from my habitual chains. When everything has some degree of importance, well, it makes everything feel genuinely exciting.
I write a lot of these deals for the latest games, or favourite RPGs from my collection, but The Blood of Dawnwalker has changed my perspective on the genre. Whether it's Persona 5 or Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, my ideal playthrough has always been the same: get through the main story, delete the game, move on to the next. Now, The Blood of Dawnwalker has completely switched my attitude, and I can't wait to enjoy more of those little side stories that will allow me to spend more time in these worlds.
If you want to give it a try, you can grab The Blood of Dawnwalker at Fanatical, giving you a discount on the newest RPG. Considering it just released last month, it’s a great deal, and you still get a Steam key, so you can add it to your library and hopefully not have it become part of your backlog. If the idea of a time limit doesn’t work for you, there’s already a mod that extends the amount of time available for the main story. However, I seriously recommend discovering how engaging having an in-game timer as a resource is in The Blood of Dawnwalker. It works ridiculously well.
Callum Self is a videogames journalist who has spent more than six years writing about games, from guides and gaming trends to the weird little details that make a game worth talking about. His bylines include GameSpot, Wargamer, PCGamesN, IGN, Gfinity, and Pocket Tactics. When he isn't writing about games, he's probably playing them, collecting Pokémon cards, or wondering why his backlog keeps getting bigger despite knowing full well he doesn't have time to play it.
