The Blood of Dawnwalker Review

Qui inter mundos ambulat…

In our initial hands-on with The Blood of Dawnwalker, we came out brimming with praise for its cinematic direction, writing, voice-acting and its “pull no punches” approach to maturity in storytelling. At the close of our review time, all of that remains as intact as ever, and the deeper into your personal journey with Coen of Laslea you get, the more layered and confident all of the above presents. It’s just that those things are only half the tale, with Dawnwalker also presenting as lacking in numerous areas of import for this type of game, many of which actually drag the experience down. It’s a technically-challenged game in this way, in the modern scheme of things, and while it looked and played great on our PC build for preview purposes, the Xbox Series X|S build we played for review did not offer up the same fidelity across the board.

Still, when looking past some of the pitfalls and more at the latent potential here for both Rebel Wolves and this title as an ongoing series, it’s easier to forgive and even get wholly drawn in to. And we’ll address the ‘ugly’ deeper into the review proper, but know this going in -- The Blood of Dawnwalker challenges the open-world action-RPG status quo and serves up a fresh and rewarding take on things with decisions and moments of emergent agency genuinely surprising us all the way through. Meanwhile its heavily-touted (and rightly lauded) day/night and time economy system continually has you thinking about how you approach the world in a very different way.

Variety being the spice of life (and unlife) and all.

Bolstering all of the pluses above is a cast of central figures, all blurred in service to their own morality and therefore never entirely good or bad, who help Coen move his way through this new world not only as something entirely above human, but something even somewhat mythological to vampires or, as they’re known in Dawnwalker -- vrakhiri. In this way, Dawnwalker is a myths and folktale-lover’s dream; a quasi cryptid-laden journey with meaningful history as told through the Internet of ye olde times in books and missives and frescos, all of which you’ll be doom-scrolling through as you work to save your family from “the coronation” taking place in 30 days from the moment you find yourself as something that walks between worlds, which is incidentally where your true journey begins.

The Blood of Dawnwalker

Genre: Action-RPG
Developer: Rebel Wolves
Publisher: Bandai Namco
Release Date: September 3, 2026
Classification: MA15+
Author: Stephen Farrelly
Date: September 03, 2026

Plot Twist

Dawnwalker cleverly doles out its vrakhiri lore over the journey in dribs and drabs. This allows us, as Coen, to continually question why we can walk between worlds other vrakhiri can’t, such as sunlight, but also why, after being turned almost out of spite by the game’s big bad, Brencis, (who wasn’t all that pleased with a dawnwalker outcome and even looked surprised) he is what he is. And none of this is written out of a sense of gameplay convenience. Genuine depth in Dawnwalker’s world-building is constantly on show and shifts in and out of known ancient history and Rebel Wolves’ version of historical events to great and cohesive aplomb (read our “Would you like to know more?” box out for… MORE!). 

"It’s actually a fantastic setup and is just one part of how this action-RPG breaks the rules for the better..."

In addition to being a “dawnwalker” Coen is thrust into a world of witchcraft by the not-so-haggy coven-crawler down the road he fancies, Anca, who imbues him with powers his day-time self can call upon (Witchcraft became our favourite). This also allows for a tactical approach to the day/night neutral quests and encounters on offer, and as combat is very, very central to proceedings, also truly helps you work out which style of gameplay is for you. This goes beyond a favourite gear-set or sword and shield combo, with the game actually offering you up both a day and night loadout option. Both of which you’ll be changing all the time because loot is everywhere in Dawnwalker with Coen constantly finding or buying or building even better gear as the game draws on. It’s actually a fantastic setup and is just one part of how this action-RPG breaks the rules for the better.

Of course not all missions and encounters are neutral with many only able to be tackled in either sphere. This forces us to embody both parts of Coen’s renewed personality across the board, but can also present as thinking about the game in two parts. At night, for example, Coen’s HP is purely feed-focused and he can even succumb to his hunger during conversations with both non-important and very important NPCs, regular or not. We only found ourselves doing this electively though, and so never found it to derail things too much, which we also thought was a bit of a shame -- agency here might not have been the best option for Rebel Wolves. Among other things promised… 

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While Vale Sangora is a fictional place, Rebel Wolves has woven it into traditionally accepted history from the region, while also tying in pagan myths and beliefs in a more than believable manner. Elements such as the plague work very well to set up the region and its lot, but other aspects such as the history of Dawnwalkers themselves, work to build on the fantastical here where even the game-world's crafted ancient history could be considered academic. It's truly excellent in this way.

Eye of Newt

As mentioned, we leaned as deeply into our Witchcraft loadout as possible. Most of the Active Abilities centred around this were ‘ranged’, which helped us handle the myriad mobs the game throws at you. During pre-release hype Rebel Wolves often referred to choice and consequence and hinted at a passive way to play, but that’s not wholly true. 

"You can sort of decide more loosely if you’re going to give into “the hunger”, be a badass, be a full Lost Boy or try your best to be a vampiric Witcher..."

Guards, soldiers, bandits and more will be killed -- by you. There is no intermediary here and no room for your own gift of the gab. This also means you can sort of decide more loosely if you’re going to give into “the hunger”, be a badass, be a full Lost Boy or try your best to be a vampiric Witcher. It might seem harsh, but the reality is, this is what the studio throws at you and it’s not as fluid as we were promised. There are moments where you, as a man with scars who can turn into a wolf right in front of people, doesn't elicit a response, or even a gasp from them and it’s these slightly lacking elements of reflective dynamism that would have sold this fantasy even more. Too often were we just walking about town in Svartrau and soldiers would aggro with the only real outcome being to kill them, but then there was practically no negative outcome for doing this. Allowing us the agency to surrender or talk our way out or run would have been great. And while in some situations you can run, when Coen goes into a battle stance, he tends to get locked into a bit of an invisible arena, which can also hinder that option and is absolutely not fluid at all.

And this is equally where the game trips up a fair bit -- movement through animation as well as a lacking sense of weight tend to remove any groundedness the studio intended. We get that Coen is part vampire, but his floatiness at times can be downright cringe.

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One of our biggest gripes with the game is in its lack of truly standout points of interest. World design in fantasy games tends to rely on things peaking out over tree-lines, or odd structures nestled in mountainside and more. The Witcher 3's original world design mandate was that no matter where the player looked, there was always something teasing a mystery to explore off in the distance. The Blood of Dawnwalker fails in delivery of this which means players rely far more on their map than on an enticing element embedded in the world. We hope this is something that's addressed in future content and its inevitable sequels (or even prequels).

Colour and Physics be Damned!

As a vampire you can Shadowstep and Planeshift which are teleport and wall-walking, respectively. Shadowstep is actually a need traversal tool, but when it comes to Planeshift we found ourselves more often than not fighting the environment to get to where we needed to go, which wouldn’t be so bad except that using it costs stamina -- run out and you need to literally claw your way down from where you are. The game serves up vantage points not too dissimilar to Synchronisation perches in Assassin’s Creed and from these you can scour specific parts of the world in front of you to mark your map with points of interest, but climbing these can only happen at night and the above issues tend to make doing so more a chore than something revelatory.

"The auto lock-on is annoying and it can be frustrating trying to switch targets..."

There are also many issues when in combat with the camera, especially in tight spaces, and while the directional block and perfect parry system is serviceable and can be fun, the auto lock-on is annoying and it can be frustrating trying to switch targets, some of whom will attack from off-screen meaning you either have to Omniblock or if you try to guess the direction, potentially just wear a blow. It doesn’t help that Coen’s ‘floatiness’ around all of this feels more of a hindrance and definitely less grounded.

Outside of combat, he’ll just float down walls, take forever to actually grab a ledge to climb or will even auto-mantle parts of the world you don’t want him to. In all honesty, it’s the part of the game we just felt needed the most attention, which is saying something because the pop-up, repeated, drab assets and lack of visual POIs from a topographical perspective were also aspects we just felt lacked overall (read our second “Would you like to know more?” box out for… MORE!). Not to mention the frustration of moving your Investigation icon to specific parts of what you’re gawking at only to miss or not even get there at all. 

For all of the game’s brilliant writing and characterisation and its RPG script-flip, it’s technically lacking from a visuals, animation and functionality perspective and while it can be forgiven and some things will likely be fixed in post-launch updates, they absolutely do need to be mentioned here.

Moral Compass

The Blood of Dawnwalker is still an incredible first effort from Rebel Wolves, and while the Witcher blueprint feels strong in the early throes, the studio unleashes those shackles and Coen’s adventure fast becomes entirely unique. The world, while drab and relatively colourless in design, is still filled with rich history and Rebel Wolves has not held back on diving deep into its crafted lore here. We already know the series is set to be ongoing and that we’ll see Coen in future settings, but we also feel that Vale Sangora has a lot more to offer beyond this first effort.

"There’s often no altruist path to success, which might be the most successful part of everything Rebel Wolves has crafted here..."

From your character progress across Witchcraft, Swordmastery and Vampirism to management of your priorities through key story quests, side-hustles and just building out your notoriety where time is concerned, the game continually serves up compelling reasons to push through its technical pitfalls. Like the beating sound of pumped blood inside a warm body, driving bloodlust, so too does the game’s myriad turns, mysteries and unique characters in driving an overall quest for knowledge, and absolution.

It’s a slow burn early, but you’ll start to feel the weight of the lessening days left to the coronation more quickly than you realised, which in turn may have you questioning past decisions, skills accrual or even basic conversations to the tune of “did I need to spend two time bars on that?”. You’ll also likely guide your Coen in unique ways by making decisions that fit the moment more than your own moral guidance of ‘right or wrong’, because with the clock always counting down, there’s often no altruist path to success, which might be the most successful part of everything Rebel Wolves has crafted here. 

And we’re excited to see where this team and studio goes next, hopefully with big learnings and even more in the budget coffers to tighten things up from a technical and art perspective.

What’s Boss?

  • Coen is a genuinely well-written and portrayed character
  • Leverage time as your choice of how quests play out as you watch a veritable countdown clock move closer to the demise of your family
  • Excellent support cast of characters
  • So much lore to dive into thanks to incredible world-building
  • Character progression through Witchcraft, Swordmastery and Vampirism is unique and compelling, and dynamic

Not Boss Enough?

  • A technical mess at times with poor load-ins, copious pop-up and overly repeated assets
  • Movement through the world isn't always smooth and can actually hinder
  • Coen is simply too 'floaty'
  • Auto lock-on in combat needs tweaking
  • A lack of choice around avoiding combat or aggro skirmished which is at odds with the game's original mission statement around choice and consequence

An action-RPG where you play as a 'Dawnwalker' - an entity with vampiric powers and bloodlust, but able to survive the day as a human empowered with witchcraft and sword swinging skills. Choose your path based on an economy of time rather than a traditional day and night cycle, where every choice you make could cost your family's life!

Learn about our reviews

About the Author

Written By Stephen Farrelly
Stephen Farrelly is a veteran journalist and editor with more than two decades experience in the worlds of gaming, entertainment, lifestyle and sport. He is a proud pug dad, loves art in all forms (particularly street and tattoo culture), and is the director of Swear Jar Editorial and Media Pty Ltd, this site's owner and publisher. When not dispensing words, he's also dispensing boutique beers as a taproom fixture at Bracket Brewing in Marrickville, NSW...
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