The Blood of Dawnwalker, the new RPG from a team of former The Witcher 3 devs, offers such a free-form approach to its main quest that you can run right to the final boss at the very start of the game.
Speaking to the Future Games Show, game director Konrad Tomaszciewicz outlined the story of The Blood of Dawnwalker - playing as Coen, you'll have to save your family from Brencis, an ancient and powerful vampire, within 30 days. Fail, and they'll probably suffer a grisly fate - but it's also possible to speedrun the entire rescue mission.
"You have only one goal in front of you, and everything else is optional," explains lead quest designer Rafal Jankowski. "We give you the pieces, but it's up to you how you put them together. The story follows your lead, wherever you take it."
The story is so flexible, in fact, that Jankowski says "it's even possible to storm Brencis' castle right away." Much like Hyrule Castle in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, you can make a beeline straight for the final boss, but at the beginning of the game "it would be extremely difficult." Instead, Jankowski explains, "we encourage you to explore the world, finish different quests, find allies, and level Coen to make the task at hand easier."
However you choose to tackle Brencis and his fortress, you'll be able to do so when The Blood of Dawnwalker releases next year.
If you’re looking for more excellent games from today's Future Games Show, have a look at our official Steam page.
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I'm GamesRadar's Managing Editor for news, shaping the news strategy across the team. I started my journalistic career while getting my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also worked as Games Editor on the student newspaper, The Boar. Since then, I've run the news sections at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and also regularly contributed to PC Gamer. As you might be able to tell, PC is my platform of choice, so you can regularly find me playing League of Legends or Steam's latest indie hit.
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