The Blood of Dawnwalker is a brand new action RPG from some of the developers behind The Witcher 3, who left CD Projekt Red to form their own studio called Rebel Wolves. For a brand new studio that has just launched such an ambitious new IP, it is a highly impressive RPG considering the massive scale of the game. I must admit that I wasn’t really keeping an eye on the game and went into it completely blind, aside from knowing the basics of the story and gameplay. I was pleasantly surprised by how it turned out.
The story of the game is set in 14th-century Europe, during a time when the Black Plague was a major threat around the world. This is a fictional setting and world where humans live alongside other kinds of beings, such as beasts. Set in the fictional valley of Vale Sangora, the story deals with a group of Vampire Lords who have taken control of the leadership of the valley, making demands of the ordinary villagers. Coen is the main character of the game. He might seem like an ordinary villager at first, but after taking part in an uprising against the Vampire Lords, he is left in an almost dead state. After drinking the blood of one of the vampires, he is transformed into a Dawnwalker, a vampire and human hybrid.
The story is basically a race against time, as Coen has to face the Vampire Lords led by one of their leaders, Brencis, and save his family and villagers within a set amount of time before the game ends. The game is rather open-ended in how the player chooses to play out the story, and time plays a key role in both the gameplay and the narrative. Certain quests pass time or can only be attempted at a specific time, and there is a lot of side content that can be missed due to this restriction. While the game gives you the choice of picking each major objective, the story still reaches its eventual outcome, while leaving the door open for a potential sequel.
I played the game on a PC that meets the recommended requirements, and my experience was mostly smooth. The game automatically detected the hardware and switched to the Ultra quality preset. However, I had to use frame generation and DLSS to get acceptable performance. I also noticed slight hitches now and then when exploring the world, as well as minor visual issues related to image quality (IQ), but most of my experience was great. I was able to reach an average of 80-100 FPS with 2x frame generation, and the controller response felt great.
The story might not offer a morality system where choices affect how our main character is perceived, but the writing is strong, and so is the character development. I never felt like I had to skip a cutscene or dialogue because the game is quite engaging and has a brisk pace. The prologue, in particular, is one of the most impressive introductions to a new IP for me personally. Side quests also offer emotional stakes, with a lot of great writing to back them up, even though they might not reach the heights of their peers in the RPG genre.
The combat system in The Blood of Dawnwalker is a clear step above The Witcher 3, which is not exactly a major feat considering how much it sucked. The game has an actual day and night cycle that carries a lot of importance. Every day in the game is split between a day and night segment that complements the Dawnwalker persona of the main character. Time does not pass in real time, though. Instead, some of the actions that can be performed during the story or side content pass time. I also really enjoyed how some of the activities that are normally played out as cutscenes in these games actually involve us in the action by turning them into quick-time events.
The combat in The Blood of Dawnwalker is simple to grasp but also becomes more complex if you dive deeper. The game has a standard attack button, while defence is given a bigger emphasis with a focus on blocking and dodging. Directional buttons are used to give players the option to perform a perfect parry or perfect dodge against enemy attacks, which can lead to benefits such as lower stamina consumption and increased attack power.
As a Dawnwalker, Coen can act as a human during the day. He is also able to use Witchcraft abilities as part of the magic system, which can help with resource gathering and can also be used as a weapon against his enemies. During the night, he gets access to his full vampire powers and can perform more vertical movements, such as climbing surfaces and teleporting, or use his claws to kill enemies. His health is also significantly improved at night. However, using abilities has the drawback of consuming health, which can be replenished by draining blood from enemies.
There are a lot of other interesting mechanics interwoven with the main game, such as Coen having a hunger system that can lead to NPCs being targeted if he is running low on health. For progression, the game uses a skill-tree system divided across three different types: Sword Mastery, Witchcraft, and Vampirism. There is also a reputation system that changes how aggressive the security is in the world.
While The Blood of Dawnwalker might feel like it is packed with content at a glance, there are some issues. One of them is that the enemies do not really feel satisfying to fight, as they hardly react to hits. There is also a low variety of enemies, meaning most encounters end up feeling the same. The game does offer multiple difficulty settings to provide a greater challenge for those who seek it. The traversal and climbing are also in a rather janky state right now, meaning it is not as satisfying to explore the world.
Since the game was mostly played in the pre-release state, there are quite a few bugs that I encountered. They might be ironed out for the official launch, but it feels like this was less polished than other major AAA releases. I also did not really enjoy exploring the open world as much, even though the side content was engaging most of the time.
Overall, as a brand new IP and debut game from a new studio, The Blood of Dawnwalker is mighty impressive and establishes a new benchmark for others. It has some issues that can hopefully be ironed out with updates, but the strong character development, story, and writing, along with fun but repetitive gameplay, make it an easy recommendation.
The Blood of Dawnwalker Game Information
- Price: $69.99
- Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment
- Developer: Rebel Wolves
- Platform: PC (Reviewed)
- Disclaimer: A review code was provided by the publisher
