The Blood of Dawnwalker: vampires, choices and time — when story becomes cameplay

In its technically rough and unpolished nature, The Blood of Dawnwalker by Rebel Wolves reminds us that, at the heart of a good RPG, the story should always come first.

The story takes center stage

We find ourselves in the Carpathian Mountains, around the 14th century. The population has been devastated by the Black Death, which has claimed the lives of men, women, and children indiscriminately. A group of Vrakhiri, mysterious and dark entities belonging to the vampire family, enters the story by killing the tyrannical ruler and promising to save the population from the disease by making them drink their miraculous yet cursed blood. In exchange, however, they demand a very high price: the population must take part in black masses and, from time to time, sacrifice the inhabitants of Sangora Valley.

It soon becomes clear that the inhabitants find themselves trapped in a state of terror. A group of rebels from Laslea, one of the villages in Sangora Valley, makes the difficult and dangerous decision to drive the Vrakhiri out of the valley and finally restore the peace they deserve. What follows, however, is a one-sided confrontation: the Vrakhiri decimate the rebels, kidnap the remaining inhabitants, and turn our protagonist, Coen, into one of them — a Vrakhir forced to feed on blood in order to survive.

What they do not know, however, is that Coen mysteriously manages to partially break the curse, allowing him to live a double life: human by day and Vrakhir when the moon rises. Our protagonist has 30 suns and 30 moons at his disposal to free his family and the inhabitants of Laslea from the dungeons of Brencis' castle, the leader of the Vrakhiri, and free Sangora Valley from their grip.

A deep and well-crafted RPG

With these premises, Rebel Wolves builds The Blood of Dawnwalker around storytelling and player choice, within a dark world shaped by the syncretism between paganism and religion, deeply rooted in the historical context of the era and reflected in written documents, frescoes, and the stories behind the various quests. Every character and line of dialogue is carefully crafted, and no one is introduced into the story without a specific purpose, often prompting us to reflect on their intentions, the consequences of our choices for them, and the boundary between what is right and what is necessary to survive in such a context.

It is no coincidence, then, that the writing was entrusted to Jakub Szamałek, the writer who contributed to the development of some of the most acclaimed RPGs of recent years, including The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Cyberpunk 2077. Each quest is designed to have specific and meaningful consequences for the ending: ignoring a request for help in one village while focusing on another may cause NPCs connected to those regions to die or flee, permanently locking us out of their questlines. Helping an inhabitant in need, on the other hand, can give us access to their shops and upgrades.

The Time Mechanic

But it is through Coen's unique nature that The Blood of Dawnwalker truly manages to turn its story into gameplay. The day-and-night cycle is not simply a narrative device: every action performed by the protagonist advances one or more of the eight segments that divide the passage from day to night. It is therefore up to us to decide how to use the limited time available, choosing which quests to complete and which ones to sacrifice. There are no main and side quests in the traditional sense: each one brings us one step closer to defeating Brencis or to succumbing in the attempt.

This rule applies not only to quests but also to character progression. Coen has three distinct skill trees, dedicated respectively to witchcraft, sword mastery, and his vampiric form. Unlocking some of these abilities requires reading manuals found throughout the world or purchased from merchants, while the vampirism tree can be developed by drinking the blood of enemies and unlocking specific vampiric abilities.

Directional Combat System

Where the otherwise excellent work falls short is the combat system. Coen can attack in four directions, just as incoming attacks can come from four directions, meaning we must have the mental and physical responsiveness to block from the correct direction. What helps break up what can otherwise become repetitive combat is the use of the protagonist's magical abilities and vampiric form, allowing him to drain an enemy's life force, materialize behind them and launch a surprise attack, or use his claws instead of the equipped weapon.

What stands out most negatively in this context are situations in which we have to face large groups of enemies. During these encounters, the automatic lock-on system can suddenly shift the camera from a defeated target to another enemy, sometimes selecting one completely outside our field of view and making the fight more difficult to manage.

The graphic section

Aside from this aspect, it is in the visual direction that The Blood of Dawnwalker pays the price for being so ambitious on the RPG side. Facial animations are often inconsistent, especially among the NPCs populating the world, with the notable exception of some of the main characters. The game does, however, perform at its best during cutscenes, where the quality of the facial animation and overall realism are considerably stronger. The open world of Sangora Valley, aside from its villages, also feels almost deserted, with little more than some hostile wildlife and a few enemy camps scattered throughout it.

Accessibility in Sangora Valley

On the other hand, despite its ambition and the complexity of its RPG structure, Rebel Wolves has not neglected accessibility, offering several options designed to make the combat system less punishing. The studio has effectively split the game's difficulty into two separate categories: the RPG difficulty, which affects health and enemy damage as well as Coen's stamina, and the action difficulty, which determines the speed of enemy attacks and the timing windows for perfect blocks.

The visual side of the combat system is also taken into account. The directional enemy indicator is enabled by default, showing the direction of incoming attacks through an arrow. It is also possible to activate automatic blocking, allowing Coen to block an incoming attack even when the direction of the parry is incorrect, at the cost of some of his stamina. Alternatively, players can choose to slow down time after successfully performing a perfect parry.

Outside of combat, the remaining accessibility options mainly concern interface management. The map, for example, offers several settings that determine whether undiscovered locations, the positions of discovered merchants, various activities, and all available quests are displayed. Within the interface settings, players can also choose whether to display tutorials, indicators for activities that advance the time slots, and the objective marker directly on screen.

Control remapping is limited to mouse and keyboard, while controller users can choose between the default configuration, which assigns combat controls to the triggers, and an alternative layout that assigns them to the four main face buttons. The audio accessibility options are less comprehensive: subtitle settings are limited to simply enabling or disabling them, while volume controls are more detailed, allowing players to adjust the different audio components separately.

In Conclusion

The action RPG The Blood of Dawnwalker is at its most convincing when it allows its story, characters, and player choices to take center stage. Rebel Wolves has created an adventure in which time becomes a genuine resource to manage and every decision can concretely alter the fate of the protagonist and the inhabitants of Sangora Valley, giving our actions real weight.

Not everything, however, maintains the same level of quality and polish. The combat system, particularly during larger encounters, reveals some limitations that can make the experience less fluid, while the technical presentation highlights a certain inconsistency in animation quality and world density.

Accessibility is also an interesting aspect of the game, particularly thanks to the numerous options dedicated to difficulty and combat management. However, there are still some shortcomings when it comes to control customization and subtitle options, as well as the lack of color-blind features and a fully customizable interface.