Vampires have been a topic in media for almost 300 years. Across that time, varying creatives have added their own spin to these fictitious monsters creating imaginative and horrific worlds for fans to enjoy. Developer Rebel Wolves has recently offered their own installation into the long and storied history of vampires with The Blood of Dawnwalker. And while some vampire stories fail to hit the mark, this game achieves greatness and much more.
A Land Befallen By a Dark Fate
Players step into 14th-century Europe as Coen, a young man with a strong love for his family living in a sticky situation. This time-period was by no means kind to humanity with wars and the Black Death claiming hundreds of lives. Humanity finds itself begging for something or someone to save them. This gap is filled by a group of vampires who offer safety and protection with the expectation of loyalty in return. The humans agree in desperation, not prepared for the consequences of the deal. The vampires’ demand for loyalty results in the humans they care for living in fear and being killed.
Even a simple quest that isn’t completed can spell death. It becomes apparent far too late that this deal was not an altruistic one. Instead, the people of Laslea Glen find themselves more as hostages than as cared for citizens. Fear permeates the small settlement, and the idyllic countryside village finds itself worrying for its future. Characters like Coen’s father consider desperate measures, including violent upheaval.
“He becomes a Dawnwalker: human by day, vampire by night”
During a common ritual, held in a church of all places, the townsfolk find themselves lining up to drink the blood of the vrakhiri, this world’s word for vampire. Coen’s mother is ill and during the ceremony, her weakness becomes noticed. Much to the dismay of Coen and others Brencis, the leader of the vrakhiri, announces that a culling must occur. He is telling them that he intends to kill those he deems as “thin-blooded”. In the aftermath of this announcement, Coen finds himself turned into a vampire by Brencis himself. Only the full transformation doesn’t take effect. He becomes a Dawnwalker: human by day, vampire by night. A bastard to his sire and perhaps the small valley’s only chance at freeing themselves from the grasp of the bloodhungry vrakhiri.
Every Second Counts
One of the most mechanics in the game is the passage of time. Players have 30 days and nights to complete quests, gather equipment and allies, as well as rise in strength to attempt to save their family from their demise at the hands of Brencis. However, despite the “strict” time schedule, the game offers a completely open world experience. Icons dot the map offering varying options to explore new questlines. Questlines don’t dictate the pacing, instead player agency does. And even within these quests, players have options such as sparing or taking a life and varying dialogue choices that come with very real consequences.
Certain tasks or dialogue options cost time and will be marked with a numeric value and an hourglass. For example, choosing option A over option B will cost the player 3 in-game hours under certain circumstances. Another added layer is that during the day, Ceon is a human. He has certain human skills and traits that are of use during the day. By night, unique perks and traits tied to his vampire side appear. One of these is the need to stay satiated. Coen can feed off of humans and animals when the need arises. Deny the beast within for too long and you may find yourself eating an NPC whose quest you were attempting to complete.
“Vale Sangora is rich with civilizations”
A true open-world experience can be daunting to players when given the freedom to do anything they desire. But here, the ever-ticking clock reminding you that the very lives of your loved ones rely on you and your choices adds the haste needed to make choices and not become overwhelmed. I enjoyed the open world aspect as it truly made me feel like I was getting a hand in writing my version of Coen and his story. Don’t mistake freedom of roaming for lack of a quality narrative, however. Vale Sangora is rich with civilizations, people to meet, and both towns and countryside to explore. Strong writing and fun gameplay enjoy a stunning visual world with incredible art direction.
Taking Up Arms
Fighting is a common occurrence throughout the game, and I found combat to be quiet refreshing. There are difficulty settings that are initially set at the beginning of the game and can be later changed at any time. While fighting during the day, Coen can use bare-fists or a myriad of weapons found across the map, looted, or attained as rewards for completing quests. At night, he can swap out fists for claws or wield his weapon of choice. There are also spell options that can be built into as well. Skill points are attained when leveling up and can be spent at roadside shrines. Not unlike certain quests, leveling skills can also have a time cost.
Within the freedom to fight how you see fit is the way in which fights play out. At the beginning of a fight, an enemy will have a diamond indicator on their trunk. While the enemy is being passive, a cross will be inside the diamond. Coen can attack to his heart’s delight. When the image in the diamond switches to a shield, that means an attack is coming. On one of the four sides of the diamond, an arrow will turn the same color as the shield icon which tells the player which direction to block in. Holding the block button and the correct direction will deflect the attack and allow for an attack window for Coen. If the symbol turns into a red skull, this is an unblockable attack and instead you must dodge.
“This game finds a way to make [directional combat] fun”
At first, I struggled with blocking effectively because I was constantly trying to move my character while attacking. This often meant that I would be moving him in the direction that did not correspond to the block mechanism and I’d get hit every time. My suggestion is to not worry about moving Coen in battle directionally and instead let his attacks pull him to the targets. It’s a little nerve-wracking but the tracking and pathing can be trusted and now I’m nearly 99% effective at blocking attacks.
The fighting mechanics turn battles into minigames that actually make me enjoy them. I play games usually for something other than large battles and in general am not someone who professes to enjoy boss encounters. However, by adding button prompts and directional indicators, this game finds a way to make it fun and I find myself starting fights just to experience the battle system.
Verdict
The Blood of the Dawnwalker is a homerun debut for Rebel Wolves. The world is stunning and filled with incredibly written characters. Some you’ll love, others get under your skin, and neither is less brilliant than the other. Coen is loveable and flawed in ways that make him believable and endearing. The combat mechanics alongside expansive skill trees make battling fun and customizable to how you best prefer to play. The open world aspect allows players to shape Coen’s fate in unique ways and offers replayability should your first thirty days not go as intended. Better yet is that Rebel Wolves has admitted this is just the first installation of Coen’s story and that we will get to come back to his world in the future in upcoming games.
Score: 10/10
The Blood of the Dawnwalker is out now on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5.
