I have always enjoyed games that throw me into a world and let me figure things out at my own pace. All I ask is an interesting setting (that looks visually stunning), a well-written protagonist and enough freedom to explore. In such a scenario, I happily spend hours wandering around instead of following the main story. But when you have limited time to complete the main quest, things change drastically. That is exactly the case with Rebel Wolves’ very first game, The Blood of Dawnwalker. This isn’t your typical RPG where you follow the same playstyle throughout. It attempts to do things differently and succeeds.
The Standard Edition of the game is available for Rs 3,999 on the PS5 and PC. But should you go ahead and spend your money on this game? Read on as I answer that in this review.
The Blood of Dawnwalker takes us to a fictional city that is slowly being taken over by the Varkhiri, a group of vampires. Towering castles, dense forests, muddy roads, and predators around the corner, you see it all when you start walking and taking everything in. The world looks stunning and incredibly detailed.
But, there was one thought I could not shake while exploring – it looks a lot like The Witcher 3.In fact, there were moments when I thought that if you put Geralt into this setting, it would be difficult to tell the two games apart. That is both a compliment and a slight criticism. The Witcher 3 has set a very high bar for fantasy RPG worlds, and The Blood of Dawnwalker comes super close in some places. But at the same time, I would have liked to see a little more of the world’s own visual identity.
I have spent over 20 hours in the game and would gladly spend many more. But my first hour with the game was…confusing. There simply was a lot happening as the story took its time explaining itself. To be honest, in the beginning, I wasn’t even sure where everything was heading but I decided to stick with it anyways. And well, I am glad I did because the story becomes much more engaging as you understand the protagonist, Coen, and his world better.
We meet Coen in the very first cutscene. He is a young man who is seen taking care of his family which includes his ill mother, father, and sisters. The city they live in has been taken over by Vrakhiris who show no mercy to anyone. During a mass that goes horribly wrong, Coen loses his family and soon realises that they are being held captive by the vampire lord Brencis. His sole mission then becomes saving his family in time.
Now Coen isn’t a regular man either. He is a human during the day and a vampire during the night. And this isn’t just something that changes how he fights. It also changes how he interacts with the world around him.
During the day, you can approach people as a human and have conversations normally, while being a vampire at night can completely change how certain characters react to you. I liked this because it makes the day and night cycle feel like more than just a visual change. You actually have to think about when you want to do certain things.
There is also another gameplay decision that I really liked, even though I can understand why some players might not. The main storyline gives you 30 days to complete it.
Now for an RPG, that is quite unusual. Most games in this genre encourage you to take your time. You can spend hours completing side quests, exploring random corners of the map or simply ignoring the main story for days.
But The Blood of Dawnwalker puts a clock on that.
Personally, I liked it because knowing that I had only 30 days added a sense of urgency to the world. It made the main storyline feel like something that was actually happening rather than another quest that could sit in my journal indefinitely.
The side characters are also interesting, with several of them having their own quests and stories. You can even interact with almost every NPC you come across. Most of these conversations are super simple and the responses can sometimes feel repetitive, but I still liked having the option. It just makes the world feel a little more alive when you can stop and talk to people rather than simply running past them on your way to the next objective.
In a nutshell, after finishing more than half of the main story, I just can’t keep my controller down even if it is midnight already and I need to wake up early for work the next day. In the recent months, very few games have had that effect on me and I am glad that The Blood of The Dawnwalker is just one of those titles.
Combat is where my experience with The Blood of Dawnwalker became a little complicated. I found it too slow for my liking. It took me some time to get used to the direction-based attacks and blocking mechanics and after a while, swinging a sword at enemies started to feel more like a chore than something I was looking forward to.
The difficulty also does not always feel justified. I played on Normal difficulty and still died quite a few times. There were enemies that could kill me in barely two hits, while my own attacks seemed to do very little damage. I don’t mind difficult games. In fact, I enjoy a good challenge when it feels like the game is testing my skills.
Here, though, there were moments where the difficulty felt like it was there simply to make things harder. When this happens repeatedly across missions, it can become tiring.
But thankfully, the combat gets much better once you start leveling up. The abilities you unlock give you more options and make fights feel less repetitive. I found myself enjoying combat more as I progressed because I was no longer relying almost entirely on sword attacks.
When I first started playing The Blood of Dawnwalker, the game was capped at 40 FPS. While that was playable, it made the experience feel less smooth, especially when moving around the world or getting into fights.
Thankfully, the day-one launch patch changed things. The game now runs at 60 FPS, and the difference is noticeable instantly. The higher frame rate makes movement feel much smoother and improves the overall experience. Considering that I already found the combat somewhat slow, the jump from 40 FPS to 60 FPS made fights feel much better.
But performance wasn’t the only thing I enjoyed here. I also really liked the background music in the game. It fits the world incredibly well and does a great job of building the atmosphere without feeling overbearing. Whether I was exploring the world or simply walking around and taking in the surroundings, the music added another layer to the experience.
There were quite a few moments when I found myself paying attention to the music because it fit what was happening on screen so well. It complements the dark and eerie setting perfectly and, for me, became one of the game’s quieter strengths.
The Blood of Dawnwalker is not a game I would judge based on its opening hour.
At first, you might find the story confusing, the pacing slow and the combat somewhat frustrating. But, do not stop playing.
The story gets better, the characters keep you invested and the world is actually beautiful. The human-by-day and vampire-by-night system gives the game an interesting identity, while the 30-day limit adds urgency to what could otherwise have been another open-world RPG where you can take forever to get anything done.
If you enjoy RPGs and have not been hooked to one for a long time, this might just be it.
SKOAR! – 8.5/10
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