Review: The Blood of Dawnwalker
Thirty Days and Thirty Nights to Save Your Family and Discover How Far Your Humanity Goes
In 14th-century Europe, while the Black Death devastates entire populations and leaves communities completely vulnerable, an even more terrifying threat emerges from the shadows. The Vrakhiri, a powerful lineage of vampires, take advantage of humanity's weakened state to seize control of Vale Sangora.
It is in this scenario that we meet Coen, a young man who sees his own family threatened and ends up transformed into a Dawnwalker, a creature that exists between humanity and vampirism. For 30 days and nights, he must travel across Vale Sangora, deal with humans, vampires, and different characters while trying to save his family before Brencis's coronation. What makes this particularly interesting is that this time limit is not merely a narrative element: it determines the pace of the adventure, influences which quests we can undertake, and constantly creates the feeling that putting something off until later could mean losing an opportunity forever.
GAMEPLAY
In control of Coen, the foundation of the combat is familiar to anyone who has played other medieval action RPGs, but there is one difference that particularly stood out to me: the direction of attacks and defenses. By moving the analog stick to the right or left, we also change the direction of our attack and block. This means that even a simple encounter requires much more attention than simply pressing the attack button repeatedly. There is also a universal block, which is less effective but useful when we need to react quickly. Dodging can also be directed, and together with the blocking system and parry timing, this creates a very enjoyable combat experience when facing a single opponent. The problem appears when multiple enemies enter the fight at the same time. The difficulty increases very sharply, mainly because the camera and aiming system do not always provide the precision needed to keep track of several opponents. The AI also has noticeable limitations in certain situations, such as when I attracted guards away from their positions and they simply stopped at a specific point, taunting me without advancing any further.
The abilities expand this structure considerably. Coen has three main skill trees involving Swordmastery, Witchcraft, and Vampirism, along with passive and special abilities. Some abilities allow us to absorb blood and energy from enemies, while others completely change the way we explore and fight. Special attacks have activation charges and need time before they can be used again, with some requiring one or more charges. The animations for the attacks are excellent, especially the special abilities, and movement through vampiric powers also stands out. The ability to walk on walls was one of the things I liked most at the beginning of the adventure, especially because it completely changes our perspective on exploration. It consumes a significant amount of stamina, but opens up vertical routes through castles, cliffs, and other structures that would normally just be part of the scenery.
The map is gigantic and features shrines, towers, merchants, doctors, haunted areas, bounty hunters, soldier camps, daytime and nighttime quests, and countless locations that can be discovered while traveling. There is also a very modern inspection system, similar to what we see in current games, allowing us to identify interactive objects and preventing important elements from being overlooked. The verticality adds even more possibilities, while shrines serve as fast travel points.
At night, we can also take advantage of the wolf transformation to increase our mobility, while certain abilities, such as Haste, help Coen cover long distances during the day. Because of this, the absence of a mount bothered me much less than I expected. A horse would fit perfectly with the historical period and the scale of the map, but after unlocking these alternative movement options, its absence becomes far less relevant.
The major element connecting exploration, quests, and progression is time. Almost everything needs to be carefully considered before being done. Helping an NPC can consume hours, removing rocks blocking a path can cost nearly half a day, and learning certain abilities also requires time at a shrine. There are activities exclusive to daytime and others that can only be performed at night. This creates an interesting sense of pressure, because accepting a quest at noon is completely different from accepting the same activity when nightfall is approaching.
The side quests also carry a strong familiarity with The Witcher, ranging from searching for something that has been lost or finding someone's brother to more elaborate stories involving specific characters. There are also activities such as stealing, with the possibility of being spotted by NPCs, camps that increase our Infamy, and a Cutscene Tree that provides information about Brencis and his vassals, strongly reminiscent of the modern structure used in Assassin's Creed. The Infamy system also influences the world, eventually unlocking specific side quests when we reach higher levels.
VISUALS AND SOUND
Visually, The Blood of Dawnwalker is one of the most impressive aspects of the experience. The vampiric atmosphere works especially well at night, with full moons, church bells, medieval structures, forests, and areas consumed by darkness. Even in the darkest locations, there is clear attention to lighting and the composition of the landscapes. The physics also stand out in small details: a simple jump has a perceptible impact on the ground, accompanied by the corresponding sound, while Coen's movement during combat conveys weight and a convincing sense of physical contact.
The cinematics are particularly well produced, with facial expressions and animations that help bring the game closer to a cinematic presentation. The soundscape also works well alongside the medieval setting and vampiric atmosphere. There is, however, one technical detail that slightly hurts the first impressions on PC: the excessive shader compilation the first few times we access certain areas and visual elements. In addition, cinematics locked at 30 frames per second create a noticeable difference when transitioning back to normal gameplay.
ACHIEVEMENTS
The 46 achievements in The Blood of Dawnwalker are relatively creative and make good use of the game's different systems. There are objectives tied to combat, such as performing five Perfect Blocks in a row, making an enemy explode with an Active Ability, or using specific combinations of abilities, as well as achievements related to the three progression trees, exploration, Legendary equipment, Infamy, and even specific activities such as selling fish, destroying Vrakhiri transports, climbing every tower, and traveling a certain distance using vampiric abilities.
The problem becomes apparent when looking at 100% completion. Some achievements require specific decisions during the campaign, while others are directly tied to the chosen difficulty and the different possible endings. There is, for example, an achievement for completing the entire game while saving the people of Laslea on the Duelist difficulty preset, as well as objectives related to defeating Brencis alongside different allies or facing him alone. This means that a single playthrough is not enough to obtain everything. Since several of these situations can also be missed depending on the choices made during the 30 days of the campaign, anyone aiming to complete all the achievements will need to plan carefully and inevitably replay important sections of the adventure.
TRAILER OFFICIAL
FINAL THOUGHTS
The main issue that bothered me during my playthrough was combat against multiple enemies. The directional attack and blocking system works very well individually, but the camera and aiming system end up significantly hurting the experience when several opponents surround Coen. The stealth could also have been much more developed. For a game starring a vampire, with all the importance given to nighttime and hunting, I found the stealth possibilities far too simple. Basically, we crouch and try not to be detected, while certain actions, such as opening a door, can immediately alert enemies to our presence. The AI has some good moments during combat, but its limitations become obvious in certain chase situations.
Even so, it is difficult to ignore how well the time structure works to create constant tension. Having only 30 days to save our family makes every decision feel important, even when we realize that there is enough time to build a very satisfying adventure. Before accepting a quest, I often found myself wondering whether that activity was really worth spending several hours of the calendar. Combined with the day and night cycle, activities exclusive to each period, vertical exploration, and the different skill trees, the system creates a dynamic that makes the world feel much more interesting than simply an open map filled with question marks. The ability to use a sword and vampiric claws, switch between different ability styles, and walk across walls also reinforces the feeling that Coen is becoming something different from a conventional medieval warrior.
And it is precisely this combination that surprised me most about The Blood of Dawnwalker. The vertical exploration, vampiric movement, directional combat, dark atmosphere, and time-based quest structure create an experience I did not expect to find at this level in a vampire game. The influence of The Witcher is evident in several details, from the structure of certain quests to the presentation of characters and the object inspection system, but this did not bother me because there is a very natural evolution of these ideas within its own proposal. The combination of urgency in the story and the freedom to decide what to do creates a dynamic that works extremely well throughout the adventure. At any moment, there is a feeling that we could be doing something else, following another quest, or exploring a different path, and that uncertainty ends up being one of the most interesting and distinctive aspects of the experience.
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