The Blood of Dawnwalker review: the vampire RPG that would make Geralt proud, and delights GameBlog

If you loved The Witcher 3 and are looking for a demanding dark fantasy RPG with real moral weight in its choices, The Blood of Dawnwalker is worth buying, even if it means waiting for a day-one patch on the console version. On PC, however, the experience is already solid from start to finish, according to GameBlog's journalist.

Rebel Wolves, founded by CD Projekt RED veterans, delivers an RPG set in the 14th-century Carpathians. You play as Coen, transformed into a Dawnwalker - human by day, vampire by night - with 30 days to save his family from the clutches of the vampire lord Brencis. The narrative twist isn't just cosmetic: it infuses the entire gameplay.

What works

The writing is clearly the game's real masterstroke. The choices between humanity and bloodlust don't just display a hollow morality bar: they can literally kill a major NPC if you neglect to feed mid-conversation. It's cruel, it's memorable, and it puts The Blood of Dawnwalker above many recent RPGs on that front.

The day/night duality also delivers on the gameplay front according to GameBlog. In human form, you'll find modernized Witcher-like sensations, sword and blood magic. In vampire form, the game shifts to something more visceral: teleportation, wall climbing, devastating claws. The combat, with its four-directional system reminiscent of Kingdom Come Deliverance, is clearly more proactive than The Witcher 3's, especially during boss duels.

On the content side, the title doesn't seem to skimp: camp sabotage, monster hunting, exorcisms, ruin looting. Expect around fifty hours to complete the essentials on Hard difficulty, without it becoming overwhelming.

What falls short

The open world, meanwhile, feels dated. Modeled on The Witcher 3's formula, it offers a large playground that's largely empty between points of interest, with minimal filler outside of scripted activities. Eleven years later, the formula no longer surprises.

The bestiary also lacks variety - two or three patterns per enemy type, quickly memorized - and target locking goes haywire as soon as you face multiple opponents. Technically, GameBlog's PC session on ultra at 1440p ran at over 100 fps, except in the main city where drops below 60 fps during the day raise questions, as does the fate reserved for the Xbox Series S, capped at 30 fps.

Verdict: a dark fantasy RPG with genuinely inspired writing and dual gameplay, slightly held back by a dated open world and a few technical rough edges to fix.