It’s funny sometimes how issues with a game can be overwhelmed by what it does well. Every gamer has a few titles that they adore that they’d admit don’t have the strongest storytelling, just addictive gameplay. There are platformers that are among my favorite of all time for which I could barely tell you what the story is at all. What’s rarer is for early technical and gameplay issues to fall away under impressive writing and world-building.
But that was exactly my experience with the surprisingly excellent “The Blood of Dawnwalker,” a new RPG from a co-creator of “The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt” and “Cyberpunk 2077,” but a title that could get lost in the wave of titles about to be released in one of the most crowded release windows in history. In September and October, before “Grand Theft Auto VI” takes all the oxygen in the gaming world, there are a dozen or so titles that I can’t wait to play. If half of them are as good as “Dawnwalker,” this will be one of the best gaming years of all time.
Fans of a little Marvel character named Blade can probably guess what the title of this game refers to already. In that world, Blade was known as a “daywalker,” but the idea here is the same: A human-vampire hybrid that can survive the sunlight that usually kills bloodsuckers. The developers at Rebel Wolves take that concept and apply it to an RPG experience that will feel very visually familiar to fans of “The Witcher.” However, the hybrid existence of the “Dawnwalker” that gives this game its title also creatively influences the way it’s played: Divided into alternating daylight and nighttime loops in which the player has different powers, experiences, and even story chapters. It’s one of the many aspects of this game that feels fresh and unusual, a new way to tell a familiar story instead of just another gimmick.
The Dawnwalker in this case is named Coen, a young man in 14th-century Europe, in a community so overrun by vampires that the townspeople are forced to bow down to their needs like cult members. When Coen’s mother becomes ill, she is unable to participate in one of the ceremonies run by the evil Brencis, ruler of Vale Sangora in the Carpathian Mountains. In retaliation, Brencis kidnaps Coen’s family and turns Coen into the Dawnwalker, a figure who becomes increasingly powerful as he amasses allies to rescue his family from the vicious King.
After the kidnapping, Coen has 30 days to save his family from Brencis, and activities take time segments that are tracked on the player’s HUD. A side mission to build an alliance might take one block; a deeper story mission might take four—after eight blocks, the clock shifts from day to night, or back again. You will not be able to do everything in Vale Sangora in the allotted blocks before Brencis kills your family, leading to a fresh new way to give players authorship in a manner that was reportedly conceived as a way to replicate playing games like Dungeons & Dragons around an actual table.
“Dawnwalker” isn’t just about choosing main and side missions on a pretty predictable track—it has embedded in it a remarkable sense of the passage of time, one of many things that gives both Vale Sanngora and the story that unfolds in it a three-dimensionality that these games often lack. You won’t be able to come back and save every NPC that asks for help. There’s not enough time. (Although, it should be noted, there are aspects of the game like character design and motion that look more than a bit visually dated, as if this is an expansion of a 2010s RPG instead of a 2026 one, but some of that could be patched out over time.)
Of course, being comparable to Blade makes Coen into kind of a badass. During the day, your sword will be your weapon of choice, and the game relies on a directional parry and strike system. If an enemy comes at you from the right, an icon will encourage you to parry right, making it easier to counter. (You can “Omniblock” in all directions, but it’s not advisable given how much harder it makes fighting back.) The physics of the combat, especially early on, feel a bit unpolished in the pre-release version, although they could be refined with patches. There were times in the review build when it felt like timing and damage weren’t reliable, but the game is more fluid in the “Vampirism” department, where Wolverine-esque claws and superpowers turn you into a killing machine. And, in both halves, the combat improves over time as the upgrades give you more toys with which to play, including even spells that Coen can cast during the day.
All of this is as fun as it sounds, a few graphics glitches aside, but what’s most remarkable about “Dawnwalker” is the storytelling. Vale Sangora is a detailed setting with fascinating characters throughout. While you’re mostly a lone warrior, the story of “Blood of Dawnwalker: requires Coen to make allies, and they are not just bland NPCs but fully considered supporting characters with arcs and backstories of their own that feel complexly written. Of course, like all good RPGs, these supporting players are influenced by your dialogue choices and actions. Who you romance, who you snub, and even who you kill can influence the endgame in a way that makes this story your own.
“The Blood of Dawnwalker” features many of the other expected elements of RPGs like crafting, skill trees, and inventory management. Like “The Witcher” games, you will spend a remarkable amount of time with your gear, either equipping, destroying, or selling it. And you will constantly be choosing perks or upgrades to your ability trees, which add another level of authorship. But make sure you have tolerance for weight management before you embark.
The final mission of “The Blood of Dawnwalker” left me a little cold, especially given how captivating some of the mid-game missions were structured, but that could be in part because of the choices I made to get there. Your final hours will be different from mine. And, without spoiling, I found the game’s epilogue surprisingly moving, a recounting of how the choices I made filled out the storytelling outline provided by the developers. I found myself honestly sad to say goodbye to Coen and Vale Sangora, and hoping the sun rises on both again in the future.
The publisher provided a review copy of this title. It is available on September 3rd for PS5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S.
