The Blood of the Dawnwalker has a clear identity split right down the middle. Rebel Wolves, a studio comprised of veterans from renowned Witcher developer CD Project Red, built an oppressively grim world that changes based on whether the sun or moon sits in the sky. When the sun shines, the protagonist walks through mud-soaked villages attempting to gather information from the locals. Once the sun sets, that same character ambushes watchtowers to drain the blood of corrupt guards. It is a dark fantasy experience, taking heavy inspiration from games like The Witcher but with a vampire twist that changes how combat, exploration, and problem-solving work.
The twisted tale centers on Coen. The locals call him a Dawnwalker. He bears the vampiric infection, but this monstrous transition has taken differently to him. Coen retains his humanity (including human appearance) and control during the daylight hours, but the curse demands blood when the moon rises. It’s a hunger that, left unchecked, may cause our damned hero to feed on allies and innocents, forcibly overriding dialogue options with a far more violent response to satiate the ever-growing impulses. Bleak choices and forced reactions punctuate the interactions spanning the various locales of Vale Sangora. It’s a balancing act between progressing toward that final showdown with Brencis to save Coen’s captive family and keeping the internal beast at bay. How you decide to straddle that line is what makes your journey unique. The Blood of the Dawnwalker remembers your choices, adding weight to those you help (or don’t help) through its most divisive mechanic: an in-game 30 day time limit.
From the moment Coen sets out on his part-rescue, part-revenge mission, a countdown begins. The timer isn’t active at all times, but certain actions progress the segmented bar making up each day. Choosing to free a prisoner, seeking additional dialogue options, gaining certain skills, or even looting some chests will come with a time cost. Looting all items from a given chest may cost one slot on the time bar; choosing to free a prisoner may cost three slots. The player has to be mindful of how they’re spending their time and where they focus their efforts. The Blood of the Dawnwalker is not a game for completionists aiming to finish every quest and explore every square inch of the map. Tough decisions will be made, ones that often bundle good and bad outcomes together. Coen can’t heal this world. He can only choose which scars to leave it with.
Night and Day Differences
The daylight hours focus heavily on preparation and investigation. Coen walks among various citizens selling herbs, weapon upgrades, and rumors. This is the grounded experience that sees Coen’s human side granted access to these resources and interactions. When trouble appears beneath a sunlit skit, combat turns into a ballet of directional parries, dodges, and stamina management. Coen swings his steel sword, creating satisfying arches of blood as he nimbly cuts down man and monster alike. It’s all very weighty, and far more demanding than Coen’s supernatural side. Here, he feels mortal. Vulnerable. And that’s why the daytime leans toward tracking down a character’s whereabouts by following their footsteps or running between NPCs with critical information. But it all changes when night arrives.
When the sun drops below the horizon, Coen becomes a different beast entirely. Our Dawnwalker sheds his human limitations, leaving behind those grounded fights and transforming into something far more lethal. Empowered by his vampiric abilities, Coen can sprint up the vertical sides of buildings; he can forgo the blade in favor of razor sharp claws; and it all moves much faster than the daytime pacing. It dives headfirst into the power fantasy of being a creature of the night, and the game wants you to keep this power difference in mind.
Early on, Coen had the opportunity to free a prisoner from a nearby stronghold. I took this quest on during the day and attempted to spring the character loose in a place brimming with guards. Human Coen was swiftly put down for my honorable intentions. So I told the poor man that I’d come for him later, and that’s exactly what I did when nightfall rolled around. Now I returned to the stronghold a stronger combatant, one able to infiltrate the stronghold from a different direction given Coen’s ability to walk up walls. Nighttime also meant fewer on-duty guards. The ranks present were torn through, and fed upon to heal Coen—those hoarded food items and health potions do Coen no good at night; only blood (either via vial or directly from the source) can return his health. It’s a visceral transition and incredibly satisfying to shift the power dynamic.
The stealth mechanics open up at night, too. As mentioned, Coen can cling to walls and ceilings, as well as teleport between points using shadowstep. The aforementioned assault was made simpler by watching guard movements from a safe, elevated position and choosing the moment to strike once targets separated from their allies’ eyesight. During the day, Coen’s focus is about survival, planning and avoiding becoming the prey. At night, it’s all about execution, made easier by Coen’s new status as the predator. But the moonlight doesn’t always make the situation easier. Sometimes a silver tongue is more important than sharp teeth.
In another quest, the time Coen approaches an NPC has two very different results. Approaching the NPC during the day provides the opportunity to have a discreet conversation, avoiding triggering the guards lying in wait to ambush suspicious individuals. Arriving for the same conversation at night immediately triggers the ambush, putting Coen on the back foot in the ensuing conversation and adds different potential consequences. The game does this repeatedly. It gives the player two distinct ways to solve a problem.
The progression system splits into three skill trees. Swordmastery enhances those daytime abilities, like sword damage and stamina. Witchcraft enhances consumables, improves gathering and even enables speaking with the dead. Vampirism is where the most brutal and fun abilities await. Enemies can have their blood boiled, forced to erupt in a bloody explosion, or ruthlessly eliminated with a death from above style takedown. Building Coen your way is part of the fun, whether you choose to build up corruption for those vampiric skills or focus on the human side of things.
So Many Tasks, So Little Time
Making a well-rounded Coen ensures that he’s prepared for anything. Because not all pursuits can be brute forced with bloodied fangs under the cover of night. Certain quests only trigger at specific times, and some operate on a strict timer. Waiting until night when that vampiric might is restored can carry high costs. For example, waiting too long to attack a bandit camp might see its captive die before Coen arrives. Rebel Wolves made sure the game pushes back against the player, making them fully commit to their decisions at each stage of the story.
Of course, there are far more than lowly guards and bandits awaiting Coen. Several spectacular boss encounters, optional and mandatory, are embedded in this world. The obvious ones are Brencis and his vampire court, showdowns that receive the most visual flair and spectacle. Others include discoverable foes, like the ravenous bear. Again, the timing chosen to take these fights can make all the difference. A daytime fight feels like a methodical, defensive puzzle. A nighttime fight is an all-out aggressive brawl.
Now we come to a major mixed component of The Blood of the Dawnwalker: its performance. Being an Unreal Engine 5 game, it has some rough edges. It’s nearly an unavoidable component of UE5 games it seems. The game manages to hit a respectable framerate during indoor scenes and small fights, but the frames start dropping while traveling large, open areas and engaging in higher headcount fights. It also stutters when the player runs through bustling areas, like a market. It’s a game that looks stunning in a screenshot, especially with ray tracing, but in motion it isn’t always consistent. And that can hurt the fast combat at night. These issues do not ruin the experience, but they do hold it back from shining as brightly as it could.
The Blood of the Dawnwalker Review Verdict
The Blood of the Dawnwalker: takes its bleak open world and splits it in half, balancing daytime planning and sword fights with the night’s ferocity and raw power. The choices carry heavy consequences and the time restriction reinforces them. It’s an ambitious game, slightly marred by technical woes, that already has us invested in Coen’s saga. – Joshua
[Editor’s Note: The Blood of the Dawnwalker was reviewed on PC and a copy was provided to us for review purposes.]
