Even After Just A Few Days, The Blood Of Dawnwalker Has Its Teeth In Me

The Blood of Dawnwalker is a game I've been excited about for some time now, and I'm happy to say that it has lived up to my expectations and beyond, providing a great take on vampiric fiction and utilising a very common formula to craft an all-round unique experience that leaves you wanting to keep playing and playing after every quest. Although it stumbles a little within the first few hours following the prologue, it makes up for it very swiftly after a few skill points are gained and a couple of levels are raised.

I couldn't talk about The Blood of Dawnwalker's initial impressions without mentioning its amazing prologue to the main story. The first few hours of the game set up protagonist Coen's motivation, links to characters, and vampiric origin phenomenally, truly allowing you to immerse yourself in the world of Vale Sangora while hooking you into the main story and giving you reasons to want to progress it.

This time also brings you up to speed with the combat, both human and Vrakhiri (Coen's vampire form), very early on in a "dream" sequence, meaning that you are accustomed to the change to vampire when it does happen.

It can't be stressed enough how great these first few hours are at truly immersing you in Coen's journey, and I think that while others may find the 30-day time limit oppressive, it adds a certain feeling of urgency not felt in many other games, providing great motivation.

However, I found that the well-paced and engaging introduction was undercut by some very aggressive difficulty for the next few hours (as expected from an RPG of this fashion). I realised very quickly that after the prologue, the game doesn't like to hold your hand (which is, in a way, commendable) and instead leaves you to your own devices. I discovered that even on the "fair" difficulty, the combat felt very "unfair", which could lead to some confusion if you aren't sure where to go or what to do, or, more importantly, how to.

My main advice is to explore and feel out each quest without being afraid to die. Pay close attention to the 'skull' icons next to the quest text; they are your best friend in finding out where to head next, as they correspond to the difficulty of said mission.

This does sadly mean that you might have to swallow your pride every now and again and go for the easier option (I know, I didn't like doing it either), which in the long run will really improve your experience with the game as a whole. Even with these tips, be prepared for quite a brutal combat challenge if you want to play on any difficulty fair or above; unlike a lot of games, "challenging" really means challenging!

Speaking of the combat, The Blood of Dawnwalker has a simple but enjoyable combat style that embodies how you fight, with direction-based attacks and defensive moves, akin to Kingdom Come: Deliverance, which all feel smooth and fun to execute. This can, however, become slightly repetitive, along with the lack of enemy variety; that's not to say it's unenjoyable, but for people looking for a lot of variation in combat, you might be a little disappointed by the battles you face in Coen's shoes.

To remedy the lack of variety, Coen's Vrakhiri form brings new combat styles to sink your teeth into, such as razor-sharp claws and blood-sucking bites that you can perform mid-battle. There are also various skills you can learn from the skill tree for both of Coen's forms, along with sword arts that come with certain weapons, which provide a much-needed mix-up to combat encounters.

The skill tree, for reasons mentioned before, is very important not only for combat, but also for exploration and looting. It can provide perks from anything as small as damage buffs or crit chance, all the way to full skills you can learn to use in combat. Split into 3 sections: witchcraft, swordmastery, and vampirism, the skill tree really allows you to create a play style that leans more into one side of Coen than the other. Will you lean into the darkness of the vampire, or retain as much of your humanity as possible? It's a tantalising balancing act that I found instantly appealing.

Now that we know what the first few hours are going to look like, I can finally delve into the meat of the game, which for me began after around 2 to 3 in-game days out of the 30-day limit. This mechanic is partially deceiving, but in a positive way.

The way the time limit is set up makes you think you have less time than you do, when in reality, you also have the 30 nights to accompany the days (which, looking back, should have been obvious, this being a vampire game and all). It was a pleasant surprise, as going into the game I was a little sceptical of the time limitations, but having actually experienced it, I now couldn't think of playing the game without it, and I'm sure a lot of people will agree.

The limitation of 30 days instantly gives more weight to all of your choices and relationships with the characters, which is backed up by the way that your decisions impact the people and world around you. Each quest feels full and real, and I often have moments where I really have to think about a decision, as it could impact the rest of my time in the game – a rarity these days, but one I think is really positive.

Another example of the meaningful NPC interactions is the possibility that, in vampire form, you may get too hungry, accidentally lose control and drink the blood of whoever you are talking to, be they friend or foe, leaving whatever they had to say lost forever, potentially even locking you out of full quest lines (at least until your next playthrough). This is only one example of how deep this game's NPC mechanics can be; with sprawling quests and intricate characters, each conversation carries weight, and each outcome affects someone in the valley, which is equally deep and intricate.

The world of Vale Sangora is one of my favourite parts of The Blood of Dawnwalker, feeling lived in and grounded. Small huts and destroyed buildings are scattered, punctuating the green pastures as snowy mountains loom on high, while colossal walls and cities guard their cities within. Despite the fact that there are certain areas that do feel slightly empty, I believe that this adds to the overall experience and is fitting with the harrowing narrative. Both these bustling cities and empty villages contrast each other nicely, providing great depth to the world.

Enemy bases and draining camps are also littered around Vale Sangora, the sabotage and destruction of which will increase your "infamy level" and unlock different quests tied to the 3 lords as their anger increases (this feels similar to Shadow of Mordor's much-praised 'Nemesis' system). Your level of infamy will also affect the world, such as an increase in patrols and more enemies stationed around the valley as your infamous reputation increases.

Exploration feels, most importantly, rewarding and fun, as you will find yourself coming across quests you would maybe have missed had you not taken a small stroll through the woods, for example. This really encourages you to take your time, and since exploration doesn't advance the day/night timer, you can do it as much as you want; I would definitely encourage any player to do so.

Despite the quite painful difficulty at the beginning of Coen's adventure into the valley, The Blood of Dawnwalker had me hooked from the start, providing concise tutorials and a journey just begging to be set out on. While some aspects may be lacking – such as variation in combat – overall the recipe that new studio Rebel Wolves have created is one that "tastes" amazing and is a joy to experience. Stepping out of the shadow of The Witcher isn't easy, but The Blood of Dawnwalker definitely manages to bring enough new ideas to the table to be worthy of your time.