The Blood of Dawnwalker evaluation

Printed: August 31, 2026

Each second counts in The Blood of Dawnwalker. You’ve got 30 days to save lots of your loved ones, and people treasured moments tick away with each significant motion you are taking. I should not be ‘losing time’ – however I do. To make tea for an expensive good friend after a aggravating outing. To share a narrative with an previous woman giving instructions, moderately than brushing her off. To supply firm to a person past redemption. It is an RPG the place your selections matter, and penalties linger, but I discover myself making selections in opposition to my pure instincts. It is a world the place I query my beliefs, my morals, and who I belief – and the place I wonder if even these are sufficient to change my actions. It is one among my favourite video games in fairly a while.

The Blood of Dawnwalker drops me into 14th-century Vale Sangora, a fictional area loosely set within the Carpathian Mountains. It has been two years for the reason that space was abruptly taken over by 4 highly effective Vrakhiri – vampires with full units of razor-sharp enamel and claws (garlic positive, daylight completely lethal). Now, protagonist Coen and his household reside underneath the rule of Kynaz Brencis and his three subordinate counts. His solely demand is a daily trade of blood: that of the populace, taken in small quantities ‘willingly’ from each grownup, in return for a sip of his personal, which clears all illnesses, together with the more and more prevalent bubonic plague.

Sadly, Vrakhir blood cannot repair the whole lot. Coen’s mom, Esme, has retreated right into a shell following the demise of your brother, and refuses to eat. My early hours are spent mixing a concoction to offer her sufficient power to attend the month-to-month Blood Mass (you possibly can read my preview if you would like extra element there). Doing so appropriately is sufficient to maintain her alive – not a assured final result – however nonetheless earns a snide comment from Brencis that “this herd shall quickly want culling.” Determined for an answer, Coen and his father Pieter flip to native rebels, who’re planning to interrupt into the closed-down silver mines and spark the fuse of revolution.

It is a pitiful try at an rebellion – the final glimmer of hope from a individuals on the purpose of breaking, marred with shaky voices and a concern that issues will inevitably go unsuitable. Inevitably, they do. When the mud settles, Coen’s life is in tatters. His household is within the cells of Greifberg Fort, the place they’re being stored for the grand coronation in 30 days. He has been turned by Brencis himself – however the transformation hasn’t taken utterly, leaving him human by day and Vrakhir at night time. A “Dawnwalker.” With solely native witch (and shut confidant) Anca by his aspect, Coen should got down to discover a path to rescue his family members. Collect allies, forge tools, prepare his personal skills in battle – the alternatives are all mine, however the clock is ticking.

That is the debut sport from developer Insurgent Wolves, however many members of the studio, together with Sport Director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, are former CD Projekt Pink workers who labored on the likes of The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077. That heritage is instantly current within the foundations of Dawnwalker, seen in the whole lot from the dialog colours to Coen’s clue-finding ‘focus mode’ that highlights key goals, and it could be unusual to not point out it. I do not need to belabor this level, nevertheless, as a result of The Blood of Dawnwalker is worthy of standing by itself two toes.

The important thing hook to Dawnwalker is that 30-day deadline, which does not progress in actual time however as a substitute ticks ahead, section by section, with every accomplished quest. Exterior of the principle goal, your path is solely yours. It is each releasing and terrifying. What if I miss one thing nice? The reply is that you just in all probability will. Abruptly, serving to each troubled bystander on the aspect of the highway looks like much less of a fast checkbox to fill. It lends weight to the whole lot you select to spend time doing. But as typically as I make the plain selections – to hunt out the insurgent group’s base of operations, or pursue a rogue Vrakhir slinking the streets of Svartrau for assist  – I make ones that really feel fulfilling, or comforting, or supportive to these round me. Human selections.

The obvious plan of action is to disrupt the operations of Brencis’s three fellow Knyaz – swaggering ex-soldier Ambrus, Mongolian tyrant Bakir, and elder witch Xanthe. All three are incredible, and whereas they in all probability deserve extra display time than they get, their temporary appearances do really feel extra placing consequently. Every of them is operating a wide range of camps, patrols, and such which you can stroll into and wreck store, elevating your notoriety till they’re compelled to cope with you immediately. It is a stable framework to construct round, an effective way to develop stronger, and most of them also have a little story quirk to inform – a mom begging her son to not struggle, an investigation right into a doable betrayal, or an upsetting farm of human ‘cattle.’

Merely working by means of these shortly grows a contact monotonous, nevertheless. After coping with Ambrus, having picked up some respectable gear and some fight methods alongside the way in which, I take an extended trek south to fulfill again up with my witch good friend Anca, who steered visiting her previous convent to seek for data that may assist our trigger. That is an absolute firecracker of a quest, and a clue that the actual magic of Dawnwalker’s narrative chops is to be present in pursuing the opposite missions – people who deal within the varied factions and key characters who’ve the potential to help Coen in his unattainable activity.

I may sit right here and wax lyrical about so many of those, giving instance after instance of distinctive setups and agonizing character moments. How I dedicated, on a number of separate events, to selections that made me bodily uncomfortable. How I pushed myself to say ‘sure’ at occasions when my mind was screaming ‘no.’ How I swallowed my burning anger at what felt like a mindless demise, and located a good looking second of shared sorrow in return. How I grew surprisingly keen on a lonely, grubby previous man with a grimy mouth and little regret for his actions, at the same time as he helped me uncover secrets and techniques that may have been higher left buried.

A big a part of that success outcomes from the nuances in character writing. The Blood of Dawnwalker is full of individuals caught in horrible conditions, and most are simply attempting their finest to get by. Folks heat to you as you assist out, however hardly ever to the simplistic extremes so frequent in RPG companions. I develop notably nearer to some as I work alongside them, equivalent to insurgent chief Crake or the mysterious, cool-headed Vrakhir Lacra, however there’s all the time a way I am being stored at arm’s size by each. We’re allies of circumstance, not buddies.

There are terrible individuals in search of redemption, and there are those that crave nothing greater than embracing their monstrous aspect. There are the Uriashi – large mountain-dwellers inspired into society by Brencis, solely to largely be used as pawns and considered by many with mistrust or concern. Dawnwalker additionally engages its foremost subject material head-on, pondering the ‘curse’ of vampiric immortality. The Vrakhiri do not concern a lot, however the issues they do scare them on a deep degree. I encounter these left to a destiny worse than demise… Then, later, I begin to surprise if maybe avoiding what comes after is a blessing in disguise.

As the times tick on, my power grows – and so does my influence on the world. I can really feel Vale Sangora shifting round me in response to my actions. Most clearly, this occurs by means of the notoriety system, which builds as you decide aside Brencis’s infrastructure. Additional patrols are stationed in cities, taxes and curfews are imposed, and folks start recognizing me. That opens some doorways, equivalent to a smuggler approaching me in an alley to supply a rumor of potential allies, but it surely closes others. What may have been a peaceable mid-mission guard interplay escalates when one reaches for his sword: “Wait, you are bloody Coen of Laslea!” At its very highest, shopkeepers rush your trades fearfully, and you’ll’t take greater than a few steps within the large metropolis of Svartrau with out somebody calling for the guards.

The time restrict sits ever-present on my display, but it shortly feels much less of a mechanically urgent concern than I feared. My first encounter with a pop-up warning about potential ‘factors of no return’ for the principle mission’s closing act, that are clearly marked as such, comes when I’ve 14 days to spare, and extra such choices observe in fast succession. Regardless of this, the clock nonetheless carries weight – it even creates fascinating circumstances the place I’ve to think about when to improve my expertise (in all probability three-quarters of your skills require each time and factors to be taught), or if I ought to really assist a bystander being hassled by bandits.

With that mentioned, I’ve had what appeared like ‘minor’ encounters at first escalate into map-crossing adventures that earned me a few of my finest tools, so you possibly can by no means write something off utterly. Most often, I get the impression that there are many methods to stumble into the ‘large stuff’ – you would occur upon any of the milestone areas a quest takes you to, meet one of many concerned characters in passing, and even snag a missive from a fallen soldier that clues you in to the chance. Insurgent Wolves clearly needs to provide the likelihood to pursue the creations it is proudest of, even for those who select to not.

The developer is not afraid to wrench alternatives away, nevertheless, and the more than likely incidence of that is failing to maintain Coen’s well being sufficiently topped up at night time. Whereas common salves can heal him throughout the day, in Vrakhir type you have to depend on consuming blood – recent or bottled. Failure to take action will see dialogue choices in each single dialog start to flicker: “Give in to the starvation.” If he will get thirsty sufficient, you will not even have the selection to again out – you will merely drain whoever’s in entrance of you to demise, whether or not or not it’s an harmless shopkeep or a vital companion equivalent to Anca.

There’s one large factor nonetheless to be mentioned, and it is one among my favorites: fight. The Witcher 3’s motion was all the time its least fascinating side, however I gleefully anticipate each encounter in The Blood of Dawnwalker. Whether or not you select to struggle with sword or claw, the whole lot revolves round directional assault and blocks. You possibly can depart your motion impartial for a ‘protected’ protection that all the time works, however including within the appropriate route removes the stamina value, and blocking with exact timing opens a window to counterattack. Insurgent Wolves recommends a controller once you first begin taking part in, but it surely feels nice on keyboard and mouse, with WASD a exact and responsive software.

I constructed into these core fundamentals for a lot of the sport, favoring passive expertise that make my excellent blocks stronger and let me observe up with particular directional counterhits. While you get right into a movement state, weaving excellent parries with counterattacks and fight expertise, you are feeling so unstoppable that I started to surprise if I ought to bump the issue up. Then I might lose my rhythm, and take blow after blow as I fumbled to get well. In case you do need extra problem, you possibly can regulate the influence of your stats and the ferocity of foes independently, and even flip off directional indicators altogether and depend on animations alone. For a better time, you possibly can carry the penalty on incorrect defensive inputs.

In addition to enhancing Coen’s swordplay (my favourite capability being a precision slash that offers excessive harm, with the prospect to immediately decapitate your goal), you possibly can construct into both Witchcraft or Vampiric powers, though every of those can solely be utilized by day or at night time respectively. Whereas I dabble in each, I find yourself pursuing the latter extra, and the shift in power that outcomes is exceptional. As soon as darkness falls, I’ve extra well being, can regenerate by means of assaults and blocks, and ultimately acquire the power to easily explode all however the greatest threats right away with my thoughts. It prices three ‘activation expenses,’ positive, however my chosen loadout quickly fills these again up with profitable excellent blocks.

Gear feels equally helpful, and lots of quests open the door to highly effective weapons, armor, and equipment – whether or not intentionally so within the narrative, or coincidentally. The boosts they supply are easy however significant, and you’ll equip Coen with day and night time units to play to the strengths of his twin varieties. My Vrakhir garments shorten vampiric cooldowns, amplify lifesteal, and increase claw harm; my outfit as a human bolsters my shallower well being pool in that mode, and reduces how a lot life pressure I expend when casting magical hexes. You are additionally in a position to spend money on bringing gear items as much as your degree to maintain them related for longer.

Dozens of hours into my journey, I am charging by means of the forest in wolf type, and I come throughout a small camp manned by Xanthe’s elite Blood Guards. They instantly acknowledge me, however that is no hassle; I am right here to wipe them out. Having carried out so, a scrawny ‘blood addict’ approaches, and begs me to offer him the phial of Xanthe’s blood that is still. I have been fairly pleasant to the commonfolk of Vale Sangora, however that is totally different; I am eyeing up the highly effective ability that consuming the Boyaress’s blood will grant me. As his physique falls to the ground, I envision how my allies would react: unhappy sympathy, disgust, smugness. Greatest I maintain this one to myself. It is a tiny second, however one which drives dwelling how a lot this world means to me.

The Blood of Dawnwalker is an excellent first outing for Insurgent Wolves, and a should for followers of choice-driven RPGs and vampire games. There are parts that may very well be improved. Whereas the fight thrills, I discover myself in arenas with the identical handful of enemy sorts too typically, and neither of the 2 totally different lock-on mechanics is flawless. The framerate can take successful within the busy streets of Svartrau (my ageing rig is perhaps partly in charge, however many individuals are working with older {hardware} now). It is a good looking sport, however not groundbreakingly so, and the facial animations specifically can really feel dated, though the developer tells me it is presently engaged on enhancing these in a day-one replace.

Within the second, none of that bothers me. I am too misplaced within the fantasy, and the emotional beats land nicely even with out big-budget manufacturing values. The prospect of replaying a 30-50 hour RPG (extra for those who depend time spent reloading) is an intimidating one, but I have already got designs on a second playthrough. I might model it my ‘evil’ one, however I do not assume I can name this primary run really ‘good.’ I’ve made selections I am unsure have been virtuous. I’ve refused tearful final requests, let individuals I care about carry out unspeakable acts, and left poor, misplaced souls to fend for themselves with out guardian or steering. Every time, I believed I used to be doing the perfect factor I may – however I could not say for sure whether or not that is true. I can not wait to do all of it once more.