Hardware Ready Ready to Bench?
Rebel Wolves has announced that the first major update for The Blood of Dawnwalker will be available in early October and will introduce a new difficulty setting, designed specifically for players who prefer to focus on the story without facing challenging combat.
The information was shared by game director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz in an interview with Eurogamer, explaining that the decision was made in response to numerous requests received from the community after the game’s launch. The update will be available for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, the platforms on which the vampire RPG was released on September 3.
easier difficulty mode: why it matters
Currently, the game offers four difficulty levels: Story, Fair, Challenging, and Duelist. With the update, there will be five, as the Story mode will be moved to a lower level and renamed (the director suggested «Demanding» as a provisional name), while the original name will be used for a new, even more permissive option. The goal is to allow players primarily interested in the plot to complete the adventure without being hindered by combat challenges.
No details have been provided on how this accessibility feature will be implemented, nor whether it will be possible to avoid encounters entirely. In addition to this, the patch will focus on improving the overall quality of the game, with interventions on performance (particularly on PC) and a smoother system for interrupting combat. Changes are also planned for the camera and enemy targeting, as well as a revision of the stagger mechanic: according to Tomaszkiewicz, it will take three hits to deplete it, a solution the team intends to test further.
The addition of a New Game Plus mode has already been confirmed in a subsequent update. The game surpassed one million copies sold in its launch weekend (announced on September 5), a significant result for a new intellectual property developed with a budget of approximately $40 million. Reviews on Metacritic and OpenCritic stand at around 83 and 85 respectively, while reviews on Steam are very positive, despite the heated debate over the 30-day time system.
What Changes and What Are the Effects
Less than a week after the game’s release, narrative director Jakub Szamałek announced on LinkedIn that they are looking for a lead writer for the next chapter of the Dawnwalker saga, indicating that pre-production is already underway. Bandai Namco and the studio have always presented The Blood of Dawnwalker as the first title in a series destined to cover centuries and continents, with a teaser shown at Summer Game Fest suggesting modern settings for Coen.
In the meantime, attention remains focused on the October patch, whose exact date has not yet been announced.
Source and further reading on easier difficulty mode: original article.
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