Version: Digital retail review code provided by the distributor
Independence & Ethics
Region Free is entirely reader-supported and maintains full editorial independence. For more on my scoring and standards, see the Review Guide.
I'm a huge fan of the Witcher series, vampires, werewolves, and European folklore. By all accounts, I'm the exact target audience for The Blood of Dawnwalker, a game with a surprisingly difficult title that I keep getting wrong.
This is the first game from Rebel Wolves, a group of former CD Projekt RED alumni who broke off to create something different after finishing their mammoth epic, The Witcher 3, in 2015. The result looks and feels a lot like their most famous project, but with just enough newness to keep things fresh, and some jank that reminds us there's still room for improvement.
The Blood of Dawnwalker is set in Vale Sangora, somewhere in the Carpathian Mountains, during the 14th century, at the tail end of the Black Plague. Times are not kind for anyone, as you might expect, and things are not made easier by the vampires and other mythic beings, who've come down from the mountains to take control of the sleepy vale and its occupants.
Their leader, Brencis, is an ancient soldier from the Roman Empire, who controls his court with an iron fist. He promises the people of the Vale protection from disease and outside influence, but at the cost of making them effectively cattle for his kin.
Our hero, Coen, lives in a small village at the northernmost tip of the Vale, where he cares for his ailing mother and two younger siblings, along with his father, who hides a violent past. The villagers plan an uprising, but Coen and his father want nothing to do with it. That is, until one day Coen's mother is too weak to survive the next culling, a ritual event where Brencis and his court demand blood sacrifice to keep their subjects in check.
As things escalate, Coen suddenly finds his family captive, and himself a victim of a curse that will change his life forever. No longer human, he is now a Dawnwalker; part man, part vampire, and uncertain if he is a hero or villain.
Now, forced to find his family before the next ceremony, Coen must also decide the fate of the Vale, and his own humanity, as he takes his first steps into a larger world that extends far beyond his home – and this timeline.
The Blood of Dawnwalker is immensely ambitious. It isn't just a single game, but the beginning of an entire media empire, if Rebel Wolves has their way. While the initial experience works as a period piece that builds its own coherent lore, this is just a first step into an expansive world that will hopefully grow in the telling.
For any other game, such lofty goals would spell immediate doom, yet somehow Rebel Wolves has managed to make the scope work in their favor. Even as Coen fixates on his singular purpose, bits and pieces of stories and rumors hint at something grander at stake, and a mythology that Coen can only glimpse as he peeks behind the curtain of reality.
As a roleplaying experience, this approach proves immensely rewarding. Every piece of parchment, book, or sidequest feels textured and real, and there's a grand tapestry that slowly reveals itself the further you pick at the strands. The endings, and there are multiple variants to discover, feel unique and earned – as if this was my story to tell all along, even as I know that millions of others will experience the same things.
I'm also captivated by how Rebel Wolves paces their narrative. They're never afraid of slowing down to deliver a heartbreaking moment or push the story in unexpected directions. The bookends of the campaign, which I won't spoil, are among my favorites in any game I've played this decade. They feel like parts of a grand novel in the style of Herman Melville or Umberto Eco, where I can chart out the epic journeys of everyone I've come to love.
The world itself is packed with interesting missions and superbly written characters, most of whom feel like genuine parts of a greater whole rather than the busywork this genre attracts. Because the scope is limited, developer Rebel Wolves has spent far more time refining what's there, and the quality shows throughout.
There are issues; how could there not be? Once you get the hang of things and start to dismantle Brencis' court, Blood of Dawnwalker hits a familiar groove, one that proves surprisingly hard to break out of. You scope out watch towers, chart what's in nearby hamlets, and work your way to an inevitable boss battle with one of the top lieutenants, each with a special gimmick for the fight. At the end, you can choose to kill them or drain them of blood, which grants you more vampiric abilities, but also raises your corruption.
Every battle with the court raises Brencis' awareness of your actions, as he sends more troops after you. Eventually, depending on your choices, you'll have multiple allies or none at all by your side. If you're cocky, you can head straight for the main castle and try your luck at an immensely difficult boss run. For my playthrough, that's exactly what I did, grinding away at levels and doing the hardest sidequests possible, before throwing myself at a solo run of the final dungeon.
It wasn't fun. But it was worth it to see how far the game lets you go your own way.
On later runs, I've discovered an earlier ending where you can leave the entire world behind, bypassing the entire adventure. Elsewhere, I spent all my time with Anca, one of the best new characters in any RPG around, and forgot all about saving my family until it was too late. At one point, I simply hunted for treasure and explored every cave system in the Vale.
This is to say, Blood of Dawnwalker is a surprisingly deep and immensely rewarding action-adventure. Whatever you put into it, it gives back in multiples. I'm not a fan of how spongy the enemies are, or how clumsy the boss fights always end up. The endgame is also a little too linear once you realize what's window dressing.
But those are arguably minor complaints when the story itself, the main draw of things like this, is this good. It's easy to see why Rebel Wolves feels confident this will be a massive multimedia franchise. There is a rich foundation to build from, and Coen is an immensely compelling tragic hero whom I would follow into any adventure.
It isn't perfect, but it is the perfect start to something greater.
