The Blood of Dawnwalker’s Vampire Protagonist is Minimize From a Totally different Material

Vampires could also be prevalent in gaming, however there are surprisingly few video games which might be centered particularly round being a vampire. This fascinating dichotomy created each a problem and a possibility for Insurgent Wolves because it was designing and creating the upcoming The Blood of Dawnwalker, an motion RPG the place gamers get to step into the sneakers of a newly cursed vampire. Whereas there are features of Coen that may really feel acquainted to followers of vampire fiction in Blood of Dawnwalker, he is additionally distinctive from the playable vampires in video games which have come earlier than.

Much like the conflicted protagonist from Dontnod’s Vampyr, The Blood of Dawnwalker‘s Coen is torn between being a human and a vampire, compelled to decide on between his morality and satiating his bloodlust. However the sport’s particular day and evening cycle, wherein Coen solely transforms into his vampire self when the solar goes down, created an fascinating alternative for Insurgent Wolves to think about video game player agency relating to how gamers select to deal with quests. It is this facet of selection and branching paths between day and evening variations of particular quests that assist separate Coen from what gamers may anticipate out of a vampire protagonist.

The Blood of Dawnwalker’s Coen Has Human and Vampire Halves At Odds With One One other

Whereas most vampires spend their days sleeping and their nights stalking, The Blood of Dawnwalker‘s Coen has the advantage of nonetheless having the ability to entry his human self in the course of the day. It isn’t till the solar goes down over Dawnwalker‘s model of the Carpathian countryside that Coen’s vampire half comes out, and that day and night cycle performs an enormous half in how gamers strategy the sport’s crucial path.

Lead quest designer Rafał Jankowski states that Blood of Dawnwalker is “very open, and one other layer of it’s that a lot of our quests have two paths — the day path and the evening path.” Selecting whether or not to finish quests as both a human or a vampire has a serious affect on each Coen’s humanity and the way he is perceived by different characters.

Along with that day and evening cycle altering how sure quests play out, gamers additionally need to deal with Coen’s rising starvation as a vampire. The protagonist’s rising bloodlust takes form in an in-game mechanic referred to as Blood Starvation, which Jankowski additional elaborates on:

“Coen’s powers come at a value; he must feed on different beings, and if that is ignored by the participant, it might trigger some unexpected penalties.”

That battle between human morality and a current vampire curse is a key battle in a number of iconic items of vampire fiction (movies like The Misplaced Boys and Close to Darkish, for instance), nevertheless it additionally helped Insurgent Wolves put its personal spin on a well-recognized mythology.

Coen’s Place as a ‘Child Vampire’ Circumvented a Gameplay Problem

Vampires are well-trodden territory each in conventional folklore and in trendy popular culture. That stated, one of many best challenges in adapting these characters to video video games will be making them truly enjoyable to play.

Too highly effective, and all semblance of significant problem and progress goes out the window. Too weak, and gamers really feel like they’re lacking out on the facility fantasy that taking part in as a vampire ought to present. Curiously, developer Rebel Wolves‘ answer to this was to make Coen, as author Piotr Kucharski places it, a “child vampire,” described as “a really contemporary Dawnwalker, so he isn’t overpowered; he isn’t probably the most highly effective being within the valley.”

Finally, Insurgent Wolves is aiming for Coen to be one of many uncommon vampire protagonists that is capable of circumvent the problems that different related online game heroes have confronted. Talking on how Coen’s place as a newly cursed vampire shapes the expertise of taking part in as him, Kucharski elaborates:

“Each human and vampire Coen — he has his weaknesses, his strengths. Designing that may be a problem, however I feel that we’re actually getting there.”