Developer: Rebel Wolves
Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment
Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S
Tested on: PS5
The Blood of Dawnwalker – Review
We’re not going to lie here: every time we hear about a new vampire movie, series, or game, we roll our eyes a little. The vampire story is often overdone, and many new iterations just copy past work or add nothing new to the experience. We also feared the worst when we initially heard about The Blood of Dawnwalker, a new game revolving around vampires. Our opinion already shifted a little bit when we first saw gameplay footage, and we had some hope again. Now that we finally were able to give the game a go, we can honestly admit how wrong we were to assume the worst, as this is a great new tale in the vampire mythos.
Story
The Blood of Dawnwalker revolves around Coen, a 14th-century young adult who just wants to lead a peaceful life. Sadly, the Black Death is culling the human population, leaving the world in a bad state. In comes a group of vampires who see an opportunity to rule the humans and, in many ways, treat them like cattle. Brencis, the vampire leader, forces humans to donate their blood, but in exchange he offers them vampire blood to cure many illnesses. Even so, those deemed too weak are culled to ensure only the strong survive. Coen eventually gets caught up in a ritual meant to turn him into one of Brencis’ henchmen, but he ends up as a so-called Dawnwalker. This means he is human during the day but a vampire at night. This also ties into the game’s day and night cycles.
We can easily say that The Blood of Dawnwalker is a very cinematic experience. The story is in the foreground for most of the experience, and this is also because the game requires you to complete your main objective within a specific time frame. Luckily, there is still some room to explore side-plots and to even romance certain characters if you wish to do so. The story presentation was great, and we really loved seeing where everything was heading.
Graphics
Graphically, The Blood of Dawnwalker looked great. While some stiff animations still occurred during dialogues, all the characters looked amazing. We were impressed by the overall quality of the facial animations, and there was a lot of diversity when it came to different character models. The world was also a joy to explore, even though our time in it was somewhat restricted due to the time constraints of the game. Nonetheless, it gives us something to look forward to in a second playthrough, as we’ll be able to explore new parts of the map. We didn’t notice many hiccups and frame drops when discovering our surroundings, and things also went smoothly during combat. We loved the animations here as well, and some of the finishing moves looked rather (satisfyingly) brutal.
Sound
In terms of sound design, The Blood of Dawnwalker does not disappoint. The soundtrack is very cinematic, which is very fitting for the different story beats. There is enough variety to keep this interesting, and the music manages to captivate during key moments. The sound effects also provide great audio feedback and help set the atmosphere. The star of the show here, however, might just be the voice acting. All the dialogue in the game is voiced, and there are a lot of lines in the game. We loved the overall cinematic quality of the soundscape.
Gameplay
The Blood of Dawnwalker is an open-world action RPG in which you’ll play as Coen while he comes to terms with his new abilities as a vampire. You’ll explore the world around you, talk to other characters, engage in combat, and gradually play through the story. If you mainly focus on the main content, the game isn’t extremely long, but if you are a fan of side content and additional dialogue options, you’re in for a treat. Keep in mind, if you want to explore all the side content, you’ll have to do so in multiple playthroughs, as you’ll be restricted by a time limit. While we are usually not a huge fan of this, in The Blood of Dawnwalker, it felt like a logical choice, and we actually enjoyed making decisions on what we would spend our time on. Would we go on a small side-adventure, or did we want to spend a bit more time with some of the main cast members? It was a cool system, and we can see ourselves doing a second playthrough in the near future.
While we enjoyed combat for the most part, some parts did feel a bit clunky. Even so, the block system did keep us on our toes. Having to choose the direction of our blocks, we were a bit more engaged with the battles. Thanks to this system, The Blood of Dawnwalker avoided the pitfall of many similar titles where eventually you wade through combat on autopilot. The game also changes up combat with its day and night cycle, as during the day, you are limited to your ‘human’ powers, where you use a sword and runes to perform magic and skills, while during the night, you turn into a ravenous vampire with a totally different skill tree. This system also made sure there was enough variety to prevent combat from growing too stale after a while. Of course, it’s almost impossible for games such as this to make sure that every single battle remains interesting or entertaining. After a while, a lot of smaller fights feel the same.
Conclusion
The Blood of Dawnwalker is a great action RPG with a lot of personality. While the game doesn’t necessarily tread new water, it implements many tried-and-true mechanics into one coherent, enjoyable whole. We loved how the story unfolded while having to make time-sensitive choices when it came to exploring the world around us. Even though the combat didn’t immediately blow us away, it was enjoyable, and the block system managed to keep us invested. If vampires are your thing, or you’re just looking for a solid action RPG, then you really can’t go wrong with The Blood of Dawnwalker.
