The Blood of Dawnwalker
About
Overview
The Blood of Dawnwalker is a dark fantasy action role-playing game developed by Polish studio Rebel Wolves and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Played from a third-person perspective, it follows Coen, a peasant who becomes a Dawnwalker, human by day and vampire by night. The game is built around an open-ended narrative structure rather than a linear main quest, with the overarching story adapting to player choices, quest resolutions, and time management.
Gameplay
Players control Coen across a campaign framed by a 30-day limit to rescue his family. Time does not advance through free-roam exploration or real-time passage. Instead, major narrative quests and key character actions consume parts of the day.
Gameplay centers on Coen's contrasting day and night states. During the day, Coen is in human form, allowing broader peaceful interactions with non-player characters, non-violent quest solutions, and combat focused more on directional swordplay. At night, he takes on a vampiric form with enhanced agility and traversal, allowing access to areas typically unreachable during the day. Night combat shifts toward claw strikes and bite attacks.
Operating at night also requires managing Coen's bloodlust by feeding on humans or animals. If unmanaged, important characters such as quest givers or traders may become victims of his Bloodthirst. Character progression uses three skill trees, where earned skill points unlock active abilities and passive enhancements. Wayside shrines function as fast-travel waypoints and resting points for upgrading skills.
Setting
The game is set in the mid 14th century in Vale Sangora, a fictional gothic valley in the Carpathian Mountains. The region is ruled by vampires after Brencis, an ancient vampire lord, seizes control during a plague outbreak. Coen becomes a Dawnwalker after a failed attempt to turn him into a vampire, while Brencis abducts Coen's family and gives him 30 in-game days to rescue them.
Release
The Blood of Dawnwalker was announced in January 2025 and released on 2026-09-03 for Windows, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. It was developed by Rebel Wolves and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It is Rebel Wolves' first game and is intended as the first entry in a series of self-contained stories following Coen across different eras.