The Witcher sequence actually did properly to seize that sense of exploring a brutal fantasy world as a protagonist who knew get their fingers soiled. However within the upcoming darkish fantasy RPG The Blood of Dawnwalker, a brand new sport from a group of former creatives behind The Witcher 3, it leans additional right into a morally ambiguous setting as you resolve which path its protagonist will take – one which maintains his human kind and beliefs, or one which embraces newfound powers as a half-vampire.
Simply forward of Gamescom 2025, we obtained an prolonged walkthrough of The Blood of Dawnwalker from the devs at Insurgent Wolves that put a highlight on the parallel playstyles of human and vampire action-RPG gameplay. To date, The Blood of Dawnwalker is placing forth some robust ideas for its tackle a dark-fantay RPG that is all about navigating two completely different worlds in crafty vogue.
A part of what makes vampires so compelling as horror characters is that they are often tragic figures. Having to take care of supernatural forces that doubtlessly put them at odds with humanity is an idea that may be nice to discover in video video games. That concept is on the coronary heart of The Blood of Dawnwalker.
Set in a supernatural model of 14th-century Europe, The Blood of Dawnwalker focuses on Coen and his vendetta towards a strong coven of vampires that search to take over Europe with violence and even some old style medieval-era politicking. After Coen has a violent encounter with the vampire chief Brencis following the kidnapping of his household, the protagonist develops a particular pressure of vampirism that transforms him right into a half-vampire that may navigate the more and more blurry line between human and supernatural.
Our prolonged preview centered on a quest known as “A Monk and a Saint,” which noticed Coen journey to the settlement of Svartrau to uncover a hidden tomb – and the city’s extra nefarious aspect. This quest incorporates a spherical of fight sequences towards some foes able to withstanding Coen’s skills in each his human and vampire types. It initially appeared commonplace fare for an RPG quest, however the place Dawnwalker differs is in how the search can change relying on the time of day and which kind you tackle to finish it.
The main narrative hook carrying gamers ahead is the month-long time restrict, giving Coen solely a restricted interval to rescue his household. You may largely advance the day at your selecting, and Dawnwalker does not essentially stress you to make some time-specific selections. That mentioned, your strategy to development will very a lot affect the course of occasions in Coen’s journey – particularly with which aspect of Coen is taking the lead. Time is basically a useful resource that you simply spend with every passing quest and exercise, and relying on what you do and while you do it.
The builders gave us a run of the preview’s principal quest from two completely different sides, as each Coen’s human and vampire types. When enjoying because the latter, Dawnwalker shifts to a stealth-action playstyle, the place the protagonist should keep away from detection from guards and civilians. Coen’s vampire skills are additionally unleashed on this state, permitting gamers to stroll on partitions, teleport, and use blood skills and vampiric claws to chop down foes. And sure – you may additionally be capable of drain the blood from people, foe and non-combative alike, for stealth takedowns or outright executions.
I used to be impressed by how a lot the motion and pacing seemed like a mixture between The Witcher’s grand scope and the immersive-sim components of Dishonored when seeing Coen in his vampire kind – you possibly can actually leap throughout rooftops and get the soar on some foes, which was very satisfying to see. Nevertheless, it exhibits how gamers should grapple with some ethical selections, as Coen, who must feed to take care of his vampire skills in the course of the night time, should do. Whilst you can feed on animals to supply some momentary aid, the bigger payout comes from human targets.
The vampire kind appears to current a extra direct and action-heavy strategy to partaking with the quests. Nevertheless, Coen’s human kind presents an attention-grabbing distinction by focusing extra on investigation and tactical strategies. As a result of Coen can mix in with others in his human kind, there are much more alternatives to interact with the completely different characters and uncover pathways for fulfillment with out the necessity for bloodshed. It was additionally fascinating to see how the characters react to realizing that vampires are actually in charge of the area and that life is, understandably, far worse off.
When issues pop off, fight exhibits the stark variations in Dawnwalker’s playstyles. I adopted the tactical-action strategy, which appears like a mix of The Witcher 3’s versatile swords and sorcery fight stream, mixed with the calculated nature of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s swordplay. It presents a possibility for gamers to really feel highly effective as Coen, the place they’ve to take advantage of vulnerabilities. In his human kind, Coen depends on his swordplay, together with devices and hex spells, to beat some enemies. Much like The Outer Worlds, you possibly can pull up a tactical menu to focus on an enemy to execute assaults that may stun foes or ship killing blows.
Fight will get a bit extra hectic when in Coen’s vampire kind, which sees him unleash his supernatural blood-based skills. Along with his sword, Coen’s large claws can tear into enemy defenses, and he can pull off fight finishers the place he can lay into foes. Nevertheless, Dawnwalker nonetheless presents some challenges with elite foes, such because the human Blood Guards who’ve armor and weapons to face as much as Coen’s vampiric skills, together with some extra harmful monsters and the rival vampires that may overpower the protagonist when you’re not cautious.
An attention-grabbing element that the builders highlighted in the course of the presentation was that gamers may make a beeline to the first objective of the sport early on – consider how gamers may attempt to defeat Ganon within the opening hours of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Nevertheless, the group acknowledged that it will be a problem to tug off, because the core sport is all about powering up Coen with new gear and talents. Nonetheless, I’ll be curious to see if it will be doable for gamers to clear the marketing campaign early on in Coen’s journey.
I want we had extra of a possibility to see what the bigger world could be like, however to date, The Blood of Dawnwalker captures that feeling of navigating two completely different worlds as a half-vampire, which is a really compelling premise for a role-playing sport. In comparison with The Witcher 3 or developer Dontnod’s Vampyr, The Blood of Dawnwalker captures that open-ended, freeform nature of traditional role-playing video games like Gothic 1 and a couple of, which is thrilling to see. Hopefully, the total sport will be capable of ship on the idea of a vampire RPG with some world-changing stakes.