168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Blood of Dawnwalker, the new game from a collection of former 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The Witcher 3 devs, is shaping up to be very i💦nteresting. Though we won't see full gameplay footage until summer, a recent narrative trailer revealed the game's premise (and existen🧜ce), showing our hero, Coen, fleeing from corrupt knights with his plague-ridden daughter. She’s saved by seemingly benevolent vampires, and he joins their cause. It's a great hook.

We learned a few things about the game at this reveal. It’🎐s channeling "Medieval X-Files" in its mythological🔯 world-building, and may also have 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:teased the inclusion of a jiangshi - a Chinese riff on the vampire legend. While we won't know exactly how the powers work until the gameplay trailer, we also know that it will be 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:"less flashy" than many expect, and will not include things like fireballs. We also know there is romanℱce. This is what especially piqued my interest.

Romance Is A Key RPG Selling Point

I'm not made of stone. Part of the appeal of an RPG is the romance element. Many times when I replay a game, it isn't to play as a new class or make new choices, but to pursue a new romance. In 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Mass Effect, I have my Liara run, my Thane run, my Miranda run. I feel very strongly that Cloud belongs with Aerith, and so forth. There is part of that here - vampires are typically exciting, exotic creatures (I made special mention of BloodRayne ꦐon TheGamer's podcast episode on vampir✨es), and there is obvious intrigue there.

But it's more than just a personal curiosity over who the romance options may be. The first thing we learn about our character is that he is a father, one willing to risk his life at the hands of both disease and the blade of the realm to protect her. We currently don't know any more than that, but this is a foundational part of his character. Much like how Joel in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The Last of Us is 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:shaped by Sarah, whatever happens to the girl will have deep🌳 ramifications for Coen. Therefore, they should also impact romance.

The bes🍒t gaming romances involve characters who feel like they become part of your life. Not just a couple of responses changing in dialogue or an often poorly animated kissing scene, but impactful to the point where it feels impossible to imagine your character without them by your side. The Witcher 3 managed this - it's why everyone who played it vehemently sides with either Triss or Yennefer (Triss, for the record). For that to work in The Blood of Dawnwalker, the romances must acknowledge the other forces in Coen's life.

Coen's Romance Has Three People In It

There is some disagreement online about whether the girl is Coen's daughter or younger sister, and we don't know whether she will l𒆙ive or die. But any version of that (daughter/sister, alive/dead) still has a major impact on Coen and the women he would let into his life. Even if she is a younger sister, it seems he is the only one left to defend her, and that would give him a protective bond with her - and she, if she did not trust his lover, a protective streak over him.

For a trulyꦺ captivating romance, it would need to acknowledge the rift the presence of an o🐼utsider would cause in the established relationship between Coen and (let's go with…) his daughter, as well as whether that person would accept the responsibility of a caregiver or would drive a wedge between the two. Giving Coen a person he cares for deeply is an excellent way to provide intimate stakes in the narrative, and it has me invested in where Blood of Dawnwalker goes. But the romance and other elements of the game need to work in harmony with that, not exist as an optional appendix.

As with any game, a loไt hinges on Blood of Dawnwalker's gameplay. The atmosphere, premise, and cast seem to be holding up their end of the bargain, and in downplaying the flashiness while looking to atypical inspirations like The X🌠-Files, I have a lot of hope. If the gameplay can match, this might become one of my most anticipated games. If it does, I'll be rooting hard for the romances to stick the landing.