After 4 hours, The Blood of Dawnwalker feels like a true Witcher 3 successor

Date:
Tue, 07 Jul 2026 16:00:00 +0000

Description:
The Blood of Dawnwalker's opening four hours show some impressive ambitions for the debut RPG from Rebel Wolves and I've been left excited to play more.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Game intros are hard to get right. Many are boring and over-tutorialized. Most fail to get you invested
in what youre about to play. Some are random sections of action just to get something flashy in front of you. The Blood of Dawnwalker s may not be perfect, but it does set out a very compelling snapshot of what Rebel Wolves has as a goal for its upcoming open-world RPG.

The opening hours Ive played in the games prologue are an impressive mission statement for the studios debut game, distilled into a smaller and more approachable environment.

Its clear that were in for a story-first and choice-driven adventure, and while some elements of the game feel a little rough, Im more than willing to accept a few missteps for the sake of ambition and personality. Latest Videos From Watch full video here: (Image credit: Bandai Namco) Unsurprisingly,
given a large chunk of the talent involved in the games creation, the structure and pacing of The Blood of Dawnwalker s first few hours are very reminiscent, in a way, of the introductory White Orchard segment in The Witcher 3 . It introduces Coen and his family, who are living in a small town as part of a kingdom thats under the grip of a vampire lord named Brencis.
His rule demands that the populace pay a regular blood tax at night, allowing him to feed from them, while they also take on his blood so they remain free of any sickness or disease. You may like The Blood of Dawnwalker director
says without previous experience from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Cyberpunk 2077 'it wouldn't be possible to create a game like this' The Blood of Dawnwalker director says the game's time limit system won't 'punish' players 'Youll be able to complete a majority of the game before the time runs out' 'Clair Obscur showed that you can take a genre and do it in a different and interesting way' The Blood of Dawnwalker director says the ambitious game
was made out of a 'love for RPGs'

Understandably, not everyone is too pleased with this forced arrangement, so theres growing discontent among some of the townsfolk and a plan is hatched
to strike back after this latest feeding to reclaim independence. Try not to get distracted However, my first task towards that goal is a much simpler
one: collect some medicine for Coens mother so she can attend mass. Seems
easy enough, but weve got The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 veterans working
on this, so the small path through the town is littered with potential side quests and distractions and the kicker this time is that I couldn't do them all. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

Yes, The Blood of Dawnwalker has an ever-present timer, where certain actions and quest progress will progress time forward by a specific amount. So, when theres only a set amount of time available, I have to decide where to focus
my attention and what to ignore and face the consequences of those choices.

Is it a nightmare for completionists? Maybe. But it did get me to think more about the choices I made, which quests I wanted to tackle, and how I spent my time in those opening hours. (Image credit: Bandai Namco) Helping Coens
family catch some fish for a nice family bonding moment and finding a stolen banner to prevent an innocent person from being murdered by Brencis and his lackeys? Yeah, those feel like good ways to spend my time. Hunting a lost pig and chasing down a local whos going around calling people rude names? Maybe less so. What to read next 'We said it's expensive as hell, but we thought it's worth it, because it's unique and different' The Blood of Dawnwalker director says the RPG's day and night system with its human and vampire gameplay loops is 'almost two different games' 'The world is living and it's not waiting for you' The Blood of Dawnwalker director says the RPG's 30-day timer gives the story a 'sense of urgency' and 'emotional impact' I was worried that the Gothic remake would water down the unapologetically tricky 2001 original, but seven hours hands-on has put my mind at ease

That was my view, though. And what I liked was that the game didnt break down all these options as right or wrong, as good or bad, or as benevolent or
evil. I just chose what I wanted to do with my limited time.

But there will be consequences. Speaking with a few others who played out
this same section, it was interesting to hear what different outcomes were possible in the nighttime mass that serves as a pivotal moment in the prologue, with events unfolding differently and characters living or dying depending on earlier choices. (Image credit: Bandai Namco) Naturally, at this early stage, youre still being funnelled towards the same kick-off point for the main story, but its good to see that the quests you complete and the decisions you make are reflected right from the very start.

The challenge Rebel Wolves faces is carrying this choice system into a much larger and wider sandbox where events arent quite so focused.

And while I did get a chance to see what awaits beyond the games
introduction, it was only a very small glimpse. What it promises right from the word go, though, is more choice. Cut the head off the serpent Somewhat similar to Shadow of Mordor s excellent Nemesis system, Brencis and his lieutenants assert their control over different areas of the kingdom. Its up to you to undertake various quests or participate in several different events to reduce their influence over a region and make rescuing your family easier be that disrupting supplies, reducing their forces, and so on.

Obviously, they wont stand idly by as you destabilize their rule. As you
start to become more of a disruptive menace, theyll enact edicts that will make it harder for you to continue your fight back, with more defenses or tougher enemies to stand in your way. But youll be gaining more power all of the time, too. (Image credit: Bandai Namco) Another major part of The Blood
of Dawnwalker is that Coen has two forms. During the day, hes your fairly average RPG protagonist with some sword skills and a bit of hex magic. At night, he goes half-vampire mode, gaining clawed hands, surprising agility
and a taste for blood.

While the games directional combat is the one throughline, it does feel different to fight or impact how you choose to tackle certain situations depending on whether its day or night.

In the darkness, I might choose to scale a wall in secret and try to take out guards from the shadows. During the day, conversation might be the better approach to explore an area and avoid combat. Fighting fang and claw When you do have to draw swords or claws, though, I found the games combat to be a competent but not flashy experience. The main gimmick is that small
indicators on opponents tell you which direction they will attack from, so
you can block, or when you need to dodge more powerful attacks.

Simple enough at first and not unlike many similar systems Ive seen before, but with a few early upgrades, you elevate it a little beyond basic
swordplay. There are perfect parries that reduce the stamina cost if you
block right before an attack lands, which can also allow for powerful counterattacks when you swing in specific directions.

Mix in a few spells and some brutal vampiric powers and you have a combat system thats fun enough to play but not something I found to be the main draw of The Blood of Dawnwalker . Maybe once theres time to dive into the skill trees, find some good equipment, and get into more testing battles, itll open up more. In any case, it certainly hasnt done anything to dramatically put me off the game.

I came away from these opening hours exactly how you want to feel after an introduction to a brand new game. Im drawn into its choice-heavy
storytelling, intrigued by how the constant timer will affect how events unfold and suitably teased by some of the exciting possibilities that await
in the games open world.

Hopefully, the full game can raise the stakes even further and deliver on
this promising start. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/gaming/after-4-hours-the-blood-of-dawnwalker-feels-l ike-everything-i-want-from-a-witcher-3-successor


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