The Blood of Dawnwalker

The Blood of Dawnwalker comes from a team made up of developers who previously worked on games like The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077, so there were some pretty big expectations going into it. What interested me most was its darker take on the RPG genre and the idea of playing a character caught between being human and becoming a vampire.

So, grab yourself a nice glass of… cranberry juice, and let’s get into The Blood of Dawnwalker.

Story

Let’s start with the story, because this game has one hell of a setup.

The game takes place in an alternate version of 14th-century Europe, specifically in Vale Sangora, a secluded region in the Carpathian Mountains. Europe is already going through an absolutely horrible time. Wars are tearing through the continent and the Black Death is devastating the population. So of course vampires are going to come out of the woodwork to take advantage of this and take over.

That brings us to our main character, Coen, a young man who already has plenty to worry about before vampires enter the picture. His family is struggling to survive, and eventually they find themselves caught up in the rule of the vampires who have taken control of Vale Sangora. Coen ends up being turned into something called a Dawnwalker, leaving him human during the day and a vampire at night.

From there, he has a mission. The mission is to save his family, and he has a limited amount of time to do that. The game gives you a surprising amount of freedom in deciding exactly what Coen does with that time.

And this is where the story gets really interesting, because Dawnwalker isn’t your typical open-world RPG where the game sets up the major plot, but you can somehow spend the next 200 hours running around like a crazy person doing who knows what. I’m looking at you, Bethesda.

With this game, time is of the essence and you have to manage it.

Certain quests move the clock forward, and there simply isn’t enough time to do everything in a single play through. You have to decide which people you want to help and which leads are actually worth pursuing. You can focus heavily on rescuing Coen’s family, pursue revenge, uncover more of what’s happening throughout Vale Sangora, or find people who might be able to help you.

I really like this approach because it gives the story a sense of urgency that I rarely see with Western-style RPGs. I’m so used to them giving me these massive worlds filled with quests and basically encouraging me to clear every icon I see. This game actively pushes against that mentality. I had to be strategic about how I used my time and what I wanted to pursue, which did give me choice paralysis at times, but I got over it.

And that’s ultimately what kept me invested in the story. Saving Coen’s family gives you a clear objective from the beginning, but how you spend the limited time you have getting there is what makes your journey through The Blood of Dawnwalker feel like your own.

Presentation

Moving over to the presentation, I think this is one of those areas where, if you’re a fan of The Witcher 3, you’re going to get a somewhat similar experience. That makes sense considering the overlap in developers who worked on both games, but The Blood of Dawnwalker still manages to create its own identity.

The world is probably the biggest highlight for me. This is a pretty miserable place when you actually think about what’s happening here, but there’s also something beautiful about exploring it. You have these dense forests, massive mountains sitting off in the distance, ruined buildings scattered throughout the countryside, and small villages that already look like they’ve been struggling to survive the Black Death. Then, just to add insult to injury, freaking vampires show up.

I also really like how much the atmosphere changes depending on whether you’re exploring during the day or at night. During the daytime, there are moments where the world can actually look pretty peaceful. Then nighttime hits and everything starts looking a lot more sinister.

The darker lighting works perfectly with Coen becoming a vampire, especially once you start moving across rooftops and reaching areas using his supernatural abilities. You really do get two different versions of some locations depending on when you decide to explore them.

The cinematics are another area where the game can look fantastic. Some of the major story scenes have excellent lighting and camera work, and they aren’t afraid to get pretty brutal either. This is a vampire game, so expect plenty of blood. And I mean PLENTY OF BLOOD.

Character models are where things become a little more inconsistent for me. The main characters generally look great, especially during the bigger cinematics, but some NPCs don’t receive that same level of attention. Facial animations can occasionally feel stiff, and there are some awkward hand and body movements during conversations. Also, the main big bad vampire guy… he’s just Voldemort, right? He definitely looks like Voldemort.

Overall, though, I came away really impressed with the presentation. There are some rough edges with the animations and a few technical hiccups, but visually, The Blood of Dawnwalker does a great job bringing this dark medieval world to life.

Gameplay

Now let’s get into the gameplay, because there is a lot to talk about.

At its core, this is a third-person action RPG, and once again, the easiest comparison is probably The Witcher 3, but I would also sprinkle some Shadow of Mordor, which I’m a huge fan of, into the mix.

Instead of just hitting an attack or block button, Dawnwalker uses a directional combat system. Enemies can attack you from different directions, and you need to match that direction when defending yourself. This requires you to move the left analog stick in the direction and hit the corresponding attack and block button. Time it correctly and you’ll pull off a perfect block or parry. You can also dodge attacks, which becomes especially important against enemies that have specific attacks you can’t block.

The same idea applies when you’re attacking. You can choose which direction you want to swing, which has you using your whole brain to manage a battle.

I had seen some early impressions saying the combat was complicated, but I actually had a ton of fun with it. You know how when you read some sort of fantasy novel and the main character is learning to fight, they describe it like a dance? This game makes you that character.

On top of the directional combat system, you have two versions of Coen, and his fighting style changes depending on whether it’s day or night.

During the day, Coen is human, so you’ll primarily rely on weapons and Witchcraft. Once the sun goes down, though, you become a vampire and gain access to abilities like Shadow Step and Shadow Walk, allowing you to teleport short distances and move across walls. You can also use your claws in combat and feed on enemies or other living creatures to replenish your blood.

During the day, I spent more time talking to people and taking on quests because at night, Coen’s hunger can actually affect conversations. As he gets hungrier, your normal dialogue choices can start disappearing until eventually, you’re forced to give in and feed on the person you’re talking to.

It’s a really cool mechanic that made me think twice about who I talked to at night because the last thing I wanted to do was accidentally eat the person I was trying to help.

Progression is divided between Sword-mastery, Witchcraft, and Vampirism. Sword-mastery focuses on your weapon abilities, Witchcraft expands your human magic, and Vampirism gives you access to increasingly powerful supernatural abilities.

You can’t simply level up and immediately unlock whatever you want. Sword-mastery and Witchcraft abilities can require manuals that you have to find while exploring. Vampirism works differently, with abilities requiring you to raise your vampire level before you can unlock them.

Spending skill points also costs you a piece of your limited time during the day or night, so I really had to balance whether I wanted to get stronger or work on a quest.

Then there’s the Court Tree, which is probably one of the more interesting systems in the game.

Brencis has several powerful vampires serving underneath him, and the Court Tree gives you a visual representation of that hierarchy. As you explore Vale Sangora, you can interfere with their operations and start weakening their control over the region.

And this is where I started getting some serious Shadow of Mordor vibes.

Now, this isn’t the Nemesis System exactly since you aren’t getting that many changes in terms of leadership and rank across the enemies as you disrupt things. The similarity comes from this idea of having a hierarchy of enemies that you’re slowly disrupting while the people above you react to what you’re doing.

As you cause more problems, your Infamy increases, and Brencis and the vampires serving him start responding to your actions. That makes working your way through the Court Tree feel connected to what’s actually happening throughout the world.

The game constantly has you balancing how you spend your time. Whether you’re taking on quests to make yourself stronger, finding people to support you, or weakening the vampires controlling the region, there are plenty of choices that can make each play through feel different.

And I think that’s where the game’s gameplay really shines, because you’re constantly deciding what’s actually worth your limited time.

Closing

So after spending all this time with The Blood of Dawnwalker, I came away really impressed with what Rebel Wolves has created here.

I just had so much fun with the combat and the balance between the defensive and offensive mechanics. Everything really clicked with me, and whenever I got into a battle, I would completely lock in. So yeah, I’m addicted.

The 30-day system also gave me the freedom to explore and do what I wanted without letting me spend 200-plus hours aimlessly running around an open world. I really appreciate what they did with that mechanic and how well it ties into the story.

At the end of the day, there really wasn’t much about the game that I didn’t enjoy. Sure, enemies can feel a little spongy here and there, and you might run into a glitch or two as you make your way through the game, but those issues felt minor compared to how much fun I was having.

I already know there are quests I missed and decisions I could have handled completely differently, which makes me want to jump right back in and see how another play through would turn out. Yeph, I’m already adding a second playthrough to the backlog.

If you’re someone who loves games like The Witcher 3 with a sweet mix of Shadow of Mordor, I think The Blood of Dawnwalker is absolutely worth checking out.