The Blood of Dawnwalker Will Feature a Small Open World

gamingbolt.com:

While The Blood of Dawnwalker – an upcoming RPG from developers that worked on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – will be an open world title, creative director Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz has revealed that the game’s world will be smaller than the industry norm. In an interview with GamesRadar, Tomaszkiewicz said that this decision was made because the studio wants players to get to know the world.

In the interview, Tomaszkiewicz spoke about how his favourite open world games often featured smaller worlds rather than expansive ones. This allows players to explore the world at their own, more relaxed pace rather than making them think they have to rush through the world to find the interesting bits.

“It was an open world, but it was much smaller, and it kind of made me experience it differently compared to these behemoths where it’s just impossible to really know every nook and cranny because it’s so big, so you kind of rush through it,” Tomaszkiewicz said. “But when the world is a bit smaller and you explore it more calmly and more relaxed, you kind of get to memorize these places, and it feels more like you actually know the place. It makes you feel like you’re more inhabited.”

The relaxed pace that Tomaszkiewicz spoke about is interesting, since director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz has previously revealed that The Blood of Dawnwalker will also feature a time limit of 30 in-game days for its story. Since the game’s plot will revolve around protagonist Coen trying to rescue his family from doom.

Speaking about whether The Blood of Dawnwalker would feature optional mini-games like Gwent from The Witcher 3, Tomaszkiewicz said that players would have to figure out how to deal with side content while still not ignoring the main quest thanks to a sense of urgency brought about by the time limit.

“This is the most important thing for me,” said Tomaszkiewicz. “Because when you put it together, it makes something really unique – this feeling of urgency in the games can be upgraded. For