The developer of "Blood of Dawnwalkers," Rebel Wolves, is somewhat special—or rather, because many members previously worked on "The Witcher" series, both they and their game "Blood of Dawnwalkers" come with a certain prestige.
But we all know that in today's highly commercialized game market, the claim of "created by the original team of XX" no longer guarantees quality. So while enjoying the halo effect, "Blood of Dawnwalkers" inevitably faces skepticism from veteran gamers.
Thanks to Bilibili for the invitation. During last week's "Game First Look" event, we played "Blood of Dawnwalkers" for four hours, exploring almost every corner of the open demo area—you can check out our hands-on report for details. If you're still curious after reading it and want to learn more about "Blood of Dawnwalkers," or if you'd like to build a general understanding of the game beforehand, I believe this interview with the game's writer, Piotr Kucharski, will definitely meet your needs.
Below is the specific content of this interview.
Q: After playing the demo, I felt that the combat performance and damage output of the protagonist as a human during the day differ significantly from his vampire form at night, with the nighttime performance seeming overpowered. Is this imbalance intentional?
A:Actually, this is one of the key features of "Blood of Dawnwalkers." We wanted to create an experience where the same character has different abilities during the day and night. As you said, the protagonist's human form is indeed weaker, but as you continue playing, you'll discover that humans also possess powerful magical skills. These weren't featured in the demo version but will be unlocked in the full release.
Meanwhile, when playing as a vampire, due to the thirst for blood, you need to constantly feed on creatures in the world to satisfy this hunger, which serves as a form of balance.
Moreover, for the same quest, the solutions available in human form and vampire form are different. If you undertake the quest during the day, you can utilize more dialogue options, whereas at night, you can use vampire abilities like teleportation and wall-climbing to solve it in another way. I believe this starkly different experience will encourage players to try switching between the two forms.
Q: Currently, I haven't seen any ranged attack methods in "Blood of Dawnwalkers." From the demo, I found that directional melee blocking is the core of the combat system—is the lack of ranged attacks due to this gameplay focus?
A:Yes, the reason there are no ranged attacks is that we wanted to make combat more intense, reflecting the primal nature of melee clashes. We hope players can experience the fun of this combat mode when attacking with swords and claws.
Q: In the prologue, an NPC dies from blood loss due to the protagonist's thirst after turning into a vampire. However, another player next to me kept the NPC alive because they hadn't reached the critical threshold for feeding. How can I know if an NPC who dies during gameplay is important? If they die, I might miss out on subsequent plotlines. How can I avoid this?
A:In "Blood of Dawnwalkers," you can kill most NPCs, and this action won't corrupt your save file. As an open-world RPG, we don't label NPCs as "important characters" when designing them. What we aim for is for every player's choice to have a permanent impact on the game world, just like in reality. This means each player will experience different outcomes—and I think discussions around this aspect will be one of the most interesting parts of the game.
Q: When the protagonist feeds on blood, his "Corruption Value" increases, which directly allows me to unlock more "Vampire Clan" skills. But beyond the skill tree, does this setting affect the protagonist's personality in the subsequent plot?
A:Yes. If you choose to embrace the "vampire" path and consume more blood, your related abilities will strengthen. This will also affect the protagonist's personality, making him appear more vampiric inside and out, ultimately influencing the overall direction of the game's plot. However, we don't want to reveal too much about this aspect right now.
What we can confirm is that the amount of blood the protagonist consumes does affect the game, but we hope players will explore the specific effects themselves after the official release.
Q: "Blood of Dawnwalkers" currently features a 30-day countdown for the main quest, where the player's objective is to rescue their family before time runs out. The game introduction mentions that players can continue playing even after the countdown ends. I'd like to know: after the countdown ends, will there be a different ending, or will the main quest fail, leading directly to the endgame content?
A:After the 30-day main quest countdown ends, the game doesn't end immediately but continues forward. However, if you fail to save your family, the game world will change accordingly. Of course, you can still reach the game's ending, but the journey there will be different.
Q: In the PV released at Summer Game Fest, the video starts in a modern setting, with the protagonist in a modern house receiving a package of blood from a delivery person, followed by an attack, before returning to the medieval timeframe of the demo. Does this mean the later stages of the game will involve modern content?
A:"Blood of Dawnwalkers" does not feature modern settings; the entire story takes place in 14th-century Europe. The reason modern elements were included in the PV is that we are already conceptualizing a whole series of stories, not just the plot of this single installment.
In "Blood of Dawnwalkers," you can experience the complete ending of the protagonist's story. But as you know, as a vampire, he is immortal. He will eventually live into modern times, where some modern troubles will await him.
Q: In "Blood of Dawnwalkers," completing each quest or event consumes corresponding time slots. Once the current phase's time slots are exhausted, the game directly transitions between day and night, advancing to the next time stage. Can I understand this to mean that the number of quests and events players can complete is fixed? If some side content isn't completed before the countdown ends, will it be cut off? According to the current design, what percentage of the total content can players complete within these 30 days?
A:First, when designing quests, we didn't divide them into main or side quests. In fact, the main storyline is very clear: saving your family. Within this context, Everythinggj you do contributes to your progress—meaning it's all part of achieving that ultimate goal.
Regarding proportions, players can complete about 70% of the content during their first playthrough. Of course, we've designed various choices with different outcomes, which inevitably means players won't experience Everythinggj in their first run. So, fans of "Blood of Dawnwalkers" may need multiple playthroughs to experience the full content.
Q: In the demo area, I noticed that nighttime gameplay is primarily combat-focused, including battles with guards and wild animals. As mentioned earlier, the vampire form is stronger at night. Was this intentional?
A:In the demo area, the creatures you encounter at night are indeed mainly soldiers or wild animals that attack on sight. After all, medieval nights were very dangerous. However, in later stages, you will also encounter characters who can communicate peacefully at night.
Q: Earlier, it was mentioned that during the day, players can resolve issues through conversation in human form. Based on your previous answer, can I understand that those characters who can communicate peacefully at night also fall into this category?
A:Yes, you can also interact with NPCs in vampire form, but the behavioral orientation will differ from daytime. For example, you can use your vampire form to threaten and intimidate certain NPCs, forcing them to obey your commands. This experience is different from daytime, where choosing the right dialogue options is more important.
Q: What is the cultural background of "Blood of Dawnwalkers"?
A:Our overall story and character backgrounds are original. Of course, we drew inspiration from various European cultures, including those of Poland, Romania, the Balkans, and even Germany. The region where the game's plot takes place doesn't actually exist in reality; we blended the history and culture of places like Slovenia, the Czech Republic, and Germany to create it.
Q: "Blood of Dawnwalkers" clearly distinguishes between human blood and animal blood in its design. The protagonist feels repulsion toward profane acts like using magic or drinking blood, regrets feeding, and disapproves when shrines are destroyed. Does the game have a hidden morality system? For instance, if I stick to drinking only animal blood and behave respectfully towards NPCs, will the subsequent plot develop differently? Conversely, if I consistently do bad things, will NPCs refuse to help me later on?
A:Yes, there is indeed a system related to this behavior in the game, but it's not determined solely by how many good or bad deeds the player performs—strictly speaking, it's more like a reputation system. Every action you take affects how NPCs perceive you.
If you choose to fight against evil, the villagers will worship you, seeing you as their savior. If you frequently drink villagers' blood and massacre them, the vampire faction will treat you more warmly, and the protagonist will consequently behave more like a vampire in subsequent plot developments.
Q: I noticed that the relationship between the protagonist and the witch in the prologue is somewhat ambiguous. However, in some scenes, such as when applying medicine to her, the presentation is quite conservative. So, does the game feature designs for developing intimate relationships with NPCs? If so, what is the extent of these interactions?
A:Haha, you're right. In the game, you can indeed develop romantic relationships with other NPCs, involving several different characters. By completing quests related to them, you will successfully establish a romantic relationship—of course, you can only choose one person to commit to (laughs).
At the same time, remember that the game has a time system. If you get too absorbed in these activities, you might delay your goal of saving your family.
Q: As a "half-vampire," why is the protagonist called the "Dawnwalker"?
A:Without spoiling anything, I can tell you that the content in the demo is just the beginning of the "Dawnwalker's" journey. Beyond the entire valley, there is a vast amount of content. Many characters and clues will reveal what it means to be a "Dawnwalker," allowing you to understand all the settings associated with this title.
Of course, players can also act like true vampires and eliminate these NPCs. In that case, the explanation of the "Dawnwalker" title won't be conveyed to the player.
Q: Whether in games or movies, theme is a very important element. So, why did you initially choose vampires as the protagonists for your story instead of other fantasy creatures like werewolves or undead?
A:When the project first started, our initial idea was to make the day-night cycle the core mechanic. So, we initially thought of werewolves—they are indeed the most obvious choice for a day-night cycle theme. However, as mentioned earlier, we hope to launch multiple sequels, spanning the story across different eras... Therefore, we ultimately chose vampires, who are immortal.
Q: Besides the valley map shown in this demo, does "Blood of Dawnwalkers" have other maps? What is the approximate scale of the game's overall world map?
A:The story of "Blood of Dawnwalkers" unfolds entirely within the valley region. According to the setting, this area is isolated and easy to control—which is why the vampire forces chose it for their rule, as they didn't want the outside world to know of their existence.
Q: The main storyline of "Blood of Dawnwalkers" lasts only 30 days, meaning there won't be significant seasonal changes in the map scenery during gameplay, correct?
A:Yes, since there's only one month, the environment won't change significantly. However, because the demo area is limited, the rich environments within the game weren't fully showcased, such as snow-capped mountains, swamps, fields, and forests.
Q: Many team members come from CD Projekt Red and participated in the development of "The Witcher" series. Since "Blood of Dawnwalkers" is also a European medieval-themed game, how did you approach content creation for this original IP without a pre-existing source material?
A:There is undoubtedly a significant difference between adapting an existing IP and creating an original one. Personally, I find writing original content easier because I can freely express my inspiration without having to check lore references to determine what is right or wrong before making decisions.
Of course, writing original content has its own difficulties—since there's no prior material to draw from, every detail must be filled in gradually, and created content must be constantly checked to ensure consistency. But as a writer, I really enjoy this work because it allows me to unleash my creativity freely.
Q: Regarding the plot details and other aspects of the game, how much effort did you devote to them during the creative process?
A:I can't give a strict specific number for this question. But what I want to say is that writing specific storylines and dialogues between characters involves a huge workload. If you want the world you create to be convincing, this is necessary work.
When you start designing dialogues between characters and arranging their relationships, you need to quickly arrive at answers for these elements to prove that the world of the work feels authentic. Achieving this inevitably requires piling up a large amount of detail behind the scenes.
Q: As a half-human, half-vampire, the protagonist experiences much conflict between his humanity and bestiality in the plot—for example, when he first awakens his vampire powers, he uncontrollably bites a companion, which is a very impactful scene. So I'm curious: will the subsequent characterization of the protagonist follow a traditional, positive arc, or will it lean towards a darker portrayal influenced by his vampire identity, presenting chaotic and complex behavioral tendencies?
A:Yes. In the game's narrative, we extensively depicted the protagonist's struggle between humanity and bestiality. As you said, I also believe the conflict between the protagonist's human side and inner beast is highly dramatic. As the writer, I'm very satisfied with how this conflict is presented in the gameplay. I think it allows players to empathize more deeply with the protagonist's situation.
In the game's narrative, we also wrote content about the protagonist's struggle and resistance against his vampire identity as a human. If you choose to constantly resist your vampire nature, the game will show the results of your efforts. Additionally, there are many important companions among the NPCs, each having personal stories with the protagonist. We hope these designs make players feel the depth of the game's plot.
I believe that in any excellent story-driven game, whether player choices have tangible impacts on NPCs is a crucial evaluation factor. Therefore, we hope that in our game, any choice made by the player will affect the protagonist and alter the overall plot. You can keep the protagonist as an upright, good person just like at the start of the story, or fully embrace darkness.
Q: Although the main storyline of "Blood of Dawnwalkers" has a 30-day limit, since the protagonist can romance other characters, it seems the pace isn't that tense. So, does "Blood of Dawnwalkers" include mini-games?
A:As mentioned earlier, developing romantic relationships with characters in the game can sometimes advance time, so you need to consider how much time these matters consume. However, we haven't adopted this design for mini-games.
For the protagonist, time is extremely tight when trying to save his family. But as an outsider, players might feel the main storyline isn't that urgent. At such times, if you want to go horseback riding or fishing, feel free to do so—the game time will pause for you, allowing you to better explore the open world.
Q: During the demo, besides vampires and humans, there were soldiers belonging to a horned race, as well as ghost-like enemies. Are there other undiscovered races in the game's worldview?
A:Yes, the game features several fantasy races other than humans and vampires, most originating from Eastern European legends. For example, the goat-like race you just mentioned is based on a creature from Romanian folklore.
In the original myths, they were giants hiding in deep mountains, isolated from the world. But in the game, we portrayed them as larger and stronger than humans, yet behaving similarly in many ways. In other words, while we drew from real-world mythology, we also made our own adaptations.
Q: Finally, do you have any message for Chinese players?
A:Thank you very much for your attention to "Blood of Dawnwalkers," and thanks to everyone who came today. We hope you can experience the full game on September 3rd and find plenty of enjoyment in it. We put a lot of heart into creating this game, and we hope you'll like it.