The Blood of Dawnwalker

The Blood of Dawnwalker is an RPG from the Polish studio Rebel Wolves. This team is co-financed by the Chinese corporation NetEase, while Bandai Namco Entertainment took care of publishing its debut work.

The Witcher 3 director and other veterans from CDP RED

Rebel Wolves studio was founded at the beginning of 2022 by Konrad Tomaszkiewicz - a former employee of CD Projekt RED, who served as the director of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, as well as the production manager and sound director of Cyberpunk 2077.

Apart from Tomaszkiewicz, among the developers working on The Blood of Dawnwalker, veterans from CDPR are leading the way: Bartlomiej Gawel (art director of The Witcher 3), Daniel Sadowski (project director of the first Witcher), Jakub Szamalek (co-writer of Cyberpunk 2077) and Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz (holding the position of creative director, brother of the founder of Rebel Wolves, and previously the director of side missions in Cyberpunk 2077 and main quest designer in The Witcher 3).

Story

The Blood of Dawnalker takes us to an alternative, fantasy version of Europe in the mid-14th century, specifically - to the Sangora valley located in the Carpathians. After a wave of misfortunes swept over the land, led by bloody wars and the Black Death, another threat appeared - vampires led by a bloodsucker named Brencis. They plan to overthrow the feudal lords and gain freedom and power.

The main character of the game is Coen, a young man transformed into the titular Dawnwalker. As a being living somewhat in suspension between the realms of day and night, the protagonist is neither a human in the full sense of the word, nor a full-fledged vampire. Coen has 30 days and 30 nights to save his family from the captivity of vampires, and whether in trying to do this, he sacrifices his human nature for the sake of cursed powers and bloodlust, depends on our actions and the choices we make.

The game is planned to be the first part of a new saga.

Gameplay

In The Blood of Dawnwalker we watch the action from a third-person perspective (TPP).

Open world

The game provides us with an open world. Even before the official announcement of their work, the developers mentioned that its size would be comparable to the land of Toussaint from The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine expansion.

Quests, combat and day & night cycle

While exploring the Sangora valley, we get to know its inhabitants, carry out missions, and also fight against opponents - from hostile people, through vampires, to monsters. It is worth mentioning that the authors decided to abandon the clear division between main and side missions. This means that every quest can turn out to be crucial for the development of the plot.

The game has implemented a day-night cycle, which directly affects the protagonist's fighting style and the powers he has on the battlefield. During the day Coen uses a sword and black magic. Under the cover of night can he make use of his vampiric abilities.

Passage of time and choices

The specific actions of the hero, such as completing a quest, push the action forward, bringing him closer with each step to the final deadline to save his family. In addition to this, the game regularly forces us to make decisions that affect the further course of the story and its ending. All this makes it impossible to complete all quests and explore all storylines in one go.

Engine

The Blood of Dawnwalker runs on Unreal Engine 5.