The RPG Blood of the Dawnwalker is one of this year’s most promising games, being developed in part with ex-creators from CD Projekt Red, specifically those behind The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. With a release date set for September 2026, this vampiric role-playing experience divides a player between a supernatural night and an interactive day between people they meet and locations they visit. However, the way this title’s story is structured, the unique limitations posed to players demands crucial choices, where one decision could alter the rest of your playthrough.
Choice and consequence is nothing new to anyone who has played games like The Witcher 3, as that title has plenty of story direction tied to dialogue options you pick. Yet, Blood of the Dawnwalker is far different, with optional features that only have weight if you choose to give them attention. In that regard, the story of the game is one that you craft yourself, based on what you find interesting in the restricted time you have to accomplish your main goal.
The protagonist of Blood of the Dawnwalker, Coen, is afflicted with a vampire curse within this game, with your main goal to save your family and village from a powerful vampire lord in a time period of turmoil and death. Yet, this cool premise comes with a haunting truth — you only have 30 in-game days to confront the vampire lord before you succumb fully to the curse and your kin are destroyed. This time restraint immediately makes every decision matter, as you have to pick and choose what content to engage with to grow stronger.
Although an interview with PlayStation Blog had creative director Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz state that “you’ll still be able to complete a majority of the game before time runs out,” the pressure still remains. Real consequences for running out of time could prevent side quests from being completed, leaving many key characters in the dust in pursuit of actually beating the game. Choosing to engage with any other event has a cost, whether you take on a bunch of optional missions at once or choose to complete a few individually.
As rumors about The Witcher 3‘s DLC continue, Blood of the Dawnwalker gives far more weight to its NPCs than that RPG could. Choosing to ignore a side quest could result in a major or minor character dying to the vampire lord who cursed you, locking out their stories permanently. At the same time, some NPCs might betray you if you do help them, making it a better choice to leave them to their fate. Complex personalities mash with your player agency to craft an adventure that completely relies on the paths you take under the 30-day limit.
As you would expect in a vampire game, Blood of the Dawnwalker has a mechanic tied to Coen’s bloodlust, or hunger to consume blood. While you could gorge yourself on animals, starving yourself can lead to moments where you can’t help but feed on whatever NPC you’re talking to. Giving into your hunger is sometimes unavoidable, leading to character deaths the game’s story never recovers from. Due to the morally grey nature of various figures you meet, though, you may opt to satisfy your hunger in the long term by having certain people for dinner.
The day/night cycle of this game also sharpens your experience and choices related to various quests. Since Coen can only use his supernatural vampire powers at night, you’ll have to upgrade basic swordsmanship and alchemical witchcraft to have success during the day. Some characters and quests are only available at specific times, meaning you have to keep an eye on which abilities you can use for different situations.
The vampire powers you acquire are tied to your choices too, as draining another vampire can grant you their unique mutations or powers. These stack too, so stealing another vampire’s abilities can become crucial to growing strong before the 30 days are up. Fluid melee combat with parries and combos pairs with a growing arsenal of supernatural skills, which give you the tools to make deeper choices in any mission you end up agreeing to.
Having to do everything in Blood of the Dawnwalker in the span of an in-game month forces players to pay closer attention to every detail present in their adventure. Since every path consumes precious time, it has to be worth the effort in the long run, depending on what your personal definition of “time well spent” is. Other factors like a dynamic weather system might play a key part in your decision making, with sacrifices sometimes having to be made to preserve your adventure’s future.
The complete freedom of choice you have to engage with this game is nothing short of impressive, with developers even promising that you don’t have to pursue anything in the narrative at all. In fact, much like how The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is designed, you can simply confront the vampire lord at the start of the game, refusing to grow stronger in an attempt to beat them in a challenge run. This alone makes Blood of the Dawnwalker a vampire game to remember this year, for how it allows you to build a story your way.
No matter what tale you craft as Coen, it will be entirely yours, crafting an RPG experience that few other players will be able to match perfectly. In fact, the abundance of player choice, consequences, and personal investment in Blood of the Dawnwalker will likely make the game endlessly replayable, as “evil” and “good” runs diversify new journeys long after the first time players see the credits.
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