Now that I’ve finished The Blood of Dawnwalker, I keep seeing reports that the developers are considering removing the game’s controversial time-keeping mechanic from future games. In an interview with Eurogamer, Dawnwalker director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz acknowledged that the mechanic isn’t for everyone and that future games might dispense with it.
“If we will have parts of the story, or the whole story, to which it fits, then we will use it,” he said. “If we will have stories where it does not fit, we will not force it.”
Here’s the thing: it should be forced. I understand that many people don’t like timer mechanics. The most popular mod for Dawnwalker is still the one that gets rid of it altogether. But the timer is the most innovative thing Dawnwalker has going for it. Eliminate that, and it becomes a typical action RPG with slightly above-average storytelling. As I said in my review, I think developers should force hard choices on their players and really commit to that.
The flip side of this is that gamers need to start getting comfortable with the idea of being uncomfortable. So much of why everything sucks right now, especially with regards to genAI attempting to take over every part of our creative lives, is that we’ve somehow become conditioned to hate friction. That goes triple for gamers, and I can understand the impulse. Games are more expensive than they’ve ever been while consumers have less spending power to buy them. We also have so many things competing for our attention that when we make the choice to play a game, we want to feel like we’re getting our money’s worth. “I spent my hard-earned cash on you game, so you better make me feel good.”
With respect to video games, that impulse needs to be reined in if not killed completely. Games as a medium improve when devs are daring enough to do unique shit. The biggest argument I’ve seen in favor of getting rid of the mechanic is that players wanna see everything in one playthrough. What’s funny is that you can complete a good chunk of everything the game has to offer with the ample time you’ve already been given, a point Tomaszkiewicz brought up in his interview.
“We balanced it in a way that it’s possible to do around 80 percent of the content with the time mechanic so it’s not so bad,” he said, correctly.
“But Ash,” you say. “Shouldn’t gamers get to play how they want?” Have you ever been able to play “how you want?” Sure, mods permit that for PC players, but those depend on the efforts of volunteers motivated enough to program something to meet a specific need, while console players have simply never been able to implement the kinds of tweaks mods offer. Players have always largely been subject to the whims of a game’s developers. You’ve never been able to play how you want; only within the bounds of what a developer permits. I am asking, no, begging, for players to cede a little bit more of that control to a developer’s vision. In short, let them fucking cook!
Despite dramatic headlines about the time mechanic being on the chopping block for Dawnwaker‘s sequel, it sounds like the developers at Rebel Wolves understand what made Dawnwalker so unique and are carrying that innovative energy forward to their next game. “We are also considering and researching some other crazy ideas which can make the RPG genre different to surprise people in the future,” Tomaszkiewicz said.
