Derek's love of games came at an early age when his parents first brought home the Nintendo Entertainment System. From then on, countless nights were spent hunting ducks, stomping turtles, exploring far off planets, and combing through dungeons with a trusty sword and shield. Originally growing up exclusively with Nintendo products, Derek's perspective grew to include other platforms ranging from Sony, to Microsoft, the PC, and more. As his views and opinions grew, so did the desire to connect with other players and video game fans. In 2011, his writing adventure began on his personal blog, eventually joining up with the GameRant crew in 2015. He currently covers everything from features and guides, to the latest breaking video game news. Fresh off a Golden Joystick nomination, Rebel Wolves is giving The Blood of Dawnwalker players a sneak peek at what they can expect when Update 1.2 launches, which is finally adding a highly requested feature. Despite being a new IP from a brand-new studio, The Blood of Dawnwalker has been a huge success, with developer Rebel Wolves utilizing post-launch updates to continue improving and strengthening the experience for players. Impressively, The Blood of Dawnwalker sold past 1 million copies in just the first weekend it was available, alongside positive critical and player reviews. While Rebel Wolves always intended to establish a Dawnwalker saga spanning across multiple games, this financial success has allowed the studio to move forward with these plans as a sequel has already been confirmed. In fact, The Blood of Dawnwalker director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz has provided a bit of insight, saying that nothing was yet set in stone in terms of features, including a potential return for the controversial time mechanic. For now, the studio continues working on the first game, with another new patch on the horizon. New Game Plus Finally Arrives to The Blood of Dawnwalker In a new social media post, Rebel Wolves gave The Blood of Dawnwalker players a first look at what's coming in Update 1.2. The update itself is planned for launch sometime next week, but the biggest piece of this patch for many fans will be the inclusion of a dedicated New Game Plus mode. For players that have already completed the epilogue portion of The Blood of Dawnwalker campaign, they'll be able to start up a new campaign. Players will retain their level, unlocked skills, and current inventory, while the level cap will be raised to 100. Enemies will be balanced and scaled to match the player and all items will be given New Game Plus versions with updated stats. Find the odd one out before the timer hits zero. While there's still plenty of details that haven't been shared, the post also went on to confirm that Blood of Dawnwalker Eclipse Edition owners will get an extended version of the in-game soundtrack, and everyone else will be able to enjoy the tunes through Spotify and other streaming services. In terms of changes and other improvements, Rebel Wolves highlighted that enemy health pools and ability usage have been updated, and the geometry of the terrain has been adjusted to allow for smoother travel and combat. Players will no longer weirdly get tripped up on invisible geometry while moving around in the world. Coming from a smaller studio, updates for The Blood of Dawnwalker have been slower to arrive, though it could be argued that the changes presented are on the more meaningful side. Update 1.1, which launched last month, introduced a number of major game-changing features, including a full skill respec option, new difficulty options for the main story, as well as further improvements to combat and traversal. All in all, Update 1.1 introduced over 1,100 improvements and fixes to the game. Despite the commercial and financial success, The Blood of Dawnwalker has left some feeling a little conflicted. One of the main features of the game is a mechanic where players accelerate time by doing things in the world, impacting how long they have until the final confrontation to save their family. Not everyone has been a fan of this feature, as completionists can't really do everything the game has to offer, though the mechanic itself is very important from a narrative perspective. Some modders have already attempted to circumvent this feature with a "Better Story Timer" that extends the time limit from 30 to 90, though with New Game Plus now on the way, fans will be able to start again and experience the things they missed on the first time through. Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content Rebel Wolves Bandai Namco Studios Number of Players Single-player Steam Deck Compatibility Unknown PC Release Date Xbox Series X|S Release Date PS5 Release Date Genre(s) RPG, Action, Adventure Platform(s) PC, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5 OpenCritic Rating Mighty X|S Optimized Yes File Size Xbox Series 80 GB
