I’m spending my summer trying to figure out which titles from the tidal waves of new games dropping in September/October I’m going to make a priority before GTA 6 arrives. Originally I had The Blood of Dawnwalker, the upcoming fantasy RPG from debut developers Rebel Wolves (which includes several ex-Witcher 3 devs), edging towards the skip column.
I was intrigued by this role-playing game set in 14th-century medieval Europe (but with a fantasy, vampire twist), but wasn’t fully convinced that it needed to be on my must-play list in what’s shaping up to be one of the most overcrowded months for new games I’ve ever seen. And then I got to play four hours of The Blood of Dawnwalker at a recent preview event…
I guess I’m going back to the drawing board pronto to figure out how to fit this RPG into my fall gaming schedule, because having gotten a taste of The Blood of Dawnwalker’s excellent third-person combat, compelling day/night system, and dark fantasy story, I’m very eager to get back to the sprawling and content-rich Kingdom of Vale Sangora as soon as possible.
The RPG apple doesn’t fall far from the tree
As noted, The Blood of Dawnwalker comes from new studio Rebel Wolves, led by Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, a former developer at The Witcher-creator CD Projekt Red. It’s fair to say that under Tomaszkiewicz’s direction, Rebel Wolves are sticking with a role-playing formula that works well.
With a dark European fantasy setting, an eerily familiar UI and inventory screen, a musical score that feels ripped straight from The Wild Hunt, and even a protagonist complete with facial scars and flowing locks, The Blood of Dawnwalker takes plenty of obvious cues from The Witcher series.
Taking lessons from one of the best RPGs of all time is certainly no bad thing, and if you spent hundreds of hours adventuring as Geralt of Rivia, I think you’re going to feel right at home in The Blood of Dawnwalker. Within a few moments of picking up the controller, I felt comfort.
You play Coen, a human male, living with his family in a small village under the rule of an ancient vampire, Brencis. After a prologue sequence, Brencis turns Coen into a creature of the night, but rather than going full vampire, he becomes a Dawnwalker, essentially a being with human characteristics in the day and vampire abilities when the sun sets.
It’s a great setup for an RPG, allowing Coen to walk on both sides, somewhere between man and monster. And while my access to main story missions was limited beyond the prologue portion, I got a sense that much of The Blood of Dawnwalker will focus on deciding whether Coen retains his humanity or fully gives in to his new darker impulses.
Clashing steel swords, sharp claws and more
If much of the RPG trappings of The Blood of Dawnwalker crib from The Witcher 3, one area it does strike out on its own is the combat. Yes, it’s a third-person title, where you’ll often clash steel with guards and larger beasts, but the combat is built around a directional system. Think a third-person equivalent of the system in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2.
When you press the attack button, you also push the right joystick in one of four directions to strike left/right or up/down. The same goes for blocking; you have to block in the direction an enemy swings at you. You can’t just hold the block button and expect to emerge unscathed.
It took me a few encounters to get my bearings, but once I did, combat became rhythm-like. When I got into a flow, the satisfaction was immense.
Even more so when I took on an enemy camp I was clearly underleveled for, and managed to come out victorious (after multiple failed attempts) without taking a single hit. My feeling of victory was short-lived when I proceeded into a dungeon and came face-to-face with a tough miniboss.
Of course, just swinging a sword for dozens of hours could get pretty dull, so combat is spiced up with vampire powers, like being able to chomp on a foe's neck, both dealing damage and healing Ceon in the process.
During the day, when Ceon reverts to human, these powers are locked, but he can use magic to compensate. These all tie into the game’s deep skill trees, which offer your usual standard buffs like increased health or stamina, to more intriguing options that augment your vampire powers.
One slight concern with the combat is the camera, which is prone to erratic movements as it tries to account for enemies attacking you from off-screen while still giving you an indication of which way they’re swinging so you can block. I took several hits (and Ceon can’t take many even on the base difficulty) because the camera had lost its bearings.
Questing all day, and all night
Up to this point, I’ve been holding back what is The Blood of Dawnwalker’s most interesting and refreshing mechanic: Its day/night cycle.
For story reasons, which I won’t spoil, Ceon has exactly 30 days and 30 nights to defeat Brencis and his trio of vampire generals (each controls a different area of the open-world map). While the game doesn’t go full Dead Rising with a constantly ticking clock, your time isn’t infinite.
Progressing certain quests moves time forward. For example, I began a quest to destroy a barrel of blood-sucking leeches, used to nourish Brencis and his loyal allies, during the dead of night. Completing this simple quest cost me several “chunks” of time, pushing me closer to the dawn.
The game always warns you when a quest/activity will move time forward, which creates a great sense of urgency. In other RPGs, it’s easy to neglect the main quest to wander the world and complete all manner of side-quests, and while you are free to do the same in Blood of Dawnwalker, there is an ever-present feeling that you haven't got time to waste.
Moving the clock forward isn’t something to fear — after all, sometimes it’s necessary; certain quests and activities can only be completed as a vampire at night, others are locked until the brightness of daytime as a human — but it did result in me auto-failing a quest at the final hurdle.
I didn’t have the required time allowance left to complete the quest before a mandatory storybeat triggered. I’m curious to see if, in the full game, you can “waste” your time and get essentially locked out of major quests.
My early outlook on The Blood of Dawnwalker
The Blood of Dawnwalker gave me the exact feeling you always want after a hands-on session. I entered curious, but somewhat skeptical, and I left a full convert — and more than a little frustrated that I won’t be able to continue Coen’s adventure until the game’s launch in early September.
Its RPG nuts-and-bolts feel very familiar, but its more precise combat kept encounters engaging, and its day/night system, built around a looming deadline, made deciding what to do next feel surprisingly weighty.
Speaking to some of the team at Rebel Wolves afterward, they stressed that “choices” will play a significant part in The Blood of Dawnwalker, so I’m eager to see what tough calls lie ahead as you progress the main story.
The competition for my fall playtime will be fierce. However, after playing The Blood of Dawnwalker for four hours, I’m chomping at the bit to experience more, and already know I’m going to be carving out several dozen hours to experience everything it has to offer later this year.
The Blood of Dawnwalker launches September 1 on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Stay tuned for Tom’s Guide’s full review closer to launch.
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