The Blood of Dawnwalker might be one of the year’s best

Have you ever chuckled to yourself playing an action RPG in which the world is in grave danger, yet you spend hours on end carrying out menial tasks for townsfolk just so you can earn some coin? The Blood of Dawnwalker, the debut title from Rebel Wolves, a studio founded by industry veterans who have worked on the likes of The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077, tackles this head on, making it so that you can’t dilly-dally if you want to achieve your goal.

And what is your goal in The Blood of Dawnwalker? Saving your family. After a planned rebellion against your vampire rulers goes awry, The Blood of Dawnwalker finds you becoming a vampire of sorts yourself, and your family being taken by the lord of vampires, a freaky-looking guy called Brencis, to be bled. Now you have 30 days to save them, but the question is, can you grow powerful enough in time?

Thankfully you can make full use of those 30 days, because while the protagonist you’re in control of here, Coen, has acquired vampiric powers, he’s still somehow able to walk around in the daylight. So, by day you’re just a (fairly) normal man, perhaps making use of the odd bit of magic. And by night you’re a powerful creature, able to rip enemies to pieces with your claws, defy the laws of gravity, and a whole lot more.

Anyone who has played The Witcher 3 will find The Blood of Dawnwalker somewhat familiar. It has a similar visual style, for example, as well as great writing and a world that feels fantastic to explore. But it’s where it deviates from The Witcher 3 that’s most exciting.

The combat, for example, is much improved, with a system that feels a little inspired by Kingdom Come: Deliverance. That is to say, to fight effectively, you need to watch for the direction an enemy attack is coming from and block appropriately, and you can attack from various directions, too. There are, of course, also a wealth of skills for you to learn and master, so you have plenty of options available during any encounter.

The most standout thing about The Blood of Dawnwalker, however, is undoubtedly its time mechanic. With each day and night split into multiple segments of time, you’ll find that each quest you complete will take up one or more of those segments. Some other actions you can perform take up time, too, such as learning advanced skills. You don’t have time to do everything that’s available to you, so you’ll have to make some impactful choices.

Is it worth fixing a shrine you’ve found on your adventures that acts as a fast travel point, for example, or would that unit of time be better spent upgrading a skill? You could even decide to forgo upgrading your vampiric abilities if you wish, instead focusing on your swordsmanship skills. How you make your way through The Blood of Dawnwalker is up to you, which means there should be scope for multiple engaging playthroughs.

It seems pretty polished, too, and there’s a day one patch yet to come that will introduce a new Performance mode to the game on consoles. With that in mind, and the fact that I want to spend more time with it, I’m going to wait a little while before I put a score on The Blood of Dawnwalker. From what I’ve played so far, though, it’s undoubtedly one of the highlights of the year. If you love exploring engaging open worlds and like the sound of a game that makes you think about the impact of your actions, don’t let this pass you by.

The Blood of Dawnwalker launches 3rd September on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.