Rebel Wolves has finally released its first open-world RPG with The Blood of Dawnwalker, and it seems there are some players who don’t particularly enjoy one of the game’s core mechanics. With the studio comprised of many former Witcher 3 developers, including Konrad Tomaszkiewicz and Daniel Sadowski, The Blood of Dawnwalker taps into the theme of being in a fantasy-like medieval area within the Eastern European-based Carpathian Mountains.
However, one mechanic that helps the game stand out, and a feature that is a core element to the narrative of The Blood of Dawnwalker is with the flow of time. The protagonist has 30 days and 30 nights to attempt to save his family, who has been captured by Brencis and his Vampiric Council. Players have a bit of control over time, as it doesn’t run in real time, allowing players to choose how they spend precious moments as taking on missions and other activities will show you how many hours, or segments, in this case, will be used. This system is in place to push players to spend their time wisely and make decisions feel more meaningful than they would otherwise.
The Blood of Dawnwalker Better Story Timer Mod
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Image via Game Rant; Source: Rebel Wolves -
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Image via Game Rant; Source: Rebel Wolves
Even though The Blood of Dawnwalker doesn’t seem interested in being a game for completionists, some players are trying to change that. The timer mechanic isn’t sitting well with some players, pushing others to actively do something about it on the PC version. One user named Caites has created a new mod called Better Story Timer that takes the 30-day time limit and triples it to a full 90 days. Not only that, perks no longer have a time cost associated with equipping them and the individual time segments that make up a day or night has been expanded from 8 to 32.
Who’s That Character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Needless to say, the mod basically removes the game’s core mechanic, reducing the need to make impactful decisions in Blood of Dawnwalker, and giving those who want it enough time to go around to see and do everything without feeling any pressure. Obviously, this hasn’t sat well with everyone as discussions have broken out online on sites like Reddit and Twitter. Some, like a user named DireRavennn argues that modern gamers aren’t interested in experiencing friction or discomfort in games, while openly complaining about games that are too easy or offer to hold the players’ hand too much. Another post from Gamewithdave understands the appeal, but ultimately believes that it defeats the point of the game’s mechanic in the first place.
That’s not to say everyone isn’t a fan, because the Nexus Mod page has over 200 endorsements and well over 400 comments already, with many of them praising the option. In fact, the mod has already been downloaded over 35,000 times and is approaching over 100,000 views at the time of publication. The debate has even spawned discussions over the potential for Rebel Wolves to add more options to allow players to tweak the experience for themselves. One user even recommended an option where players experience the game as the studio intended, and then, through New Game+, the unlocked skills would already be available, eliminating one method where time is forced to progress.
Lost in a lot of this discussion is the fact that the game doesn’t actually end after the 30 days. Prior to release, Rebel Wolves confirmed that The Blood of Dawnwalker continues forward after 30 days and players have not rescued Coen’s family, unlocking a new ending and content to experience. In fact, players can even attempt to fight the final boss as soon as the prologue portion of the game ends, though Rebel Wolves warns that the fight will be extremely challenging.
- Released
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September 3, 2026
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content
- Developer(s)
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Rebel Wolves
