Plenty Of Ambition
There have been a few games trailed on various showcases that have immediately piqued my interest over recent months, and The Blood of Dawnwalker from Rebel Wolves and Bandai Namco is one of them. The game’s trailers have shown a tantalising world of vampire powers and human exploration: like Blade if he found himself in a fantasy world. I mean, who wouldn’t get excited at the prospect?
Of course, trailers can make even the most dog’s dinnerish of games look worth your time, and it’s here that we game reviewers step in – we play some of the games so you don’t have to! So, can The Blood of Dawnwalker live up to my hopes and expectations?
As you’d expect from a game that purports to be an RPG, the story really is front and centre with this one. We are Coen, a young man in a village where the vampires rule the roost, so to speak. Every month, we are required to give them some blood so they can protect us (they say) and the villagers grow tired of this. After an event which I won’t spoil, we revolt. In the course of this, Coen is turned into a vampire, and whether by luck or judgment, it doesn’t fully take. Coen is left with vampire powers at night, but is still more than able to walk about and get a tan. Of course, the big bad vampire, Brencis, has taken Coen’s family hostage, and so we are set a time limit: 30 in-game days to rescue them, or they die.
Sounds like Dead Rising? Well, you’re right, and I didn’t like the timer system in that game either. It seems impossible to do everything in one run as well, so multiple plays are required.
A Huge World To Uncover
Now, I’m going to continue with the way The Blood of Dawnwalker is presented first, as on the face of things, everything here looks rosy. We are in an expansive open world, with as many points of interest as an Assassin’s Creed game. The world looks really good too. There is game in the forests to hunt, and feed on if you are in vampire mode, and there are a plethora of things to discover, from hidden shrines that act as fast travel points, to places that level Coen, through to stories that are well worth following, as they unravel. There is no shortage of things to do, that’s for sure, even if, at times, The Blood of Dawnwalker does put me in mind of some of the dodgier bits of Skyrim when it comes to traversal…
Anyways, the enemies we face, from bog standard soldiers through zombie nuns to the members of the Vrakhiri Court are well designed and look great. As is the audio, with well acted voice parts from all the main characters, and even some of the minor ones having things to say. Combat sounds suitably crunching and meaty, and the magic attacks come across well, based as they are on Coen hurting himself to hurt the foes. All in all, it’s not too bad on the presentation front.
Traversal And Exploration Have Their Problems
However, it is in the gameplay that I had the most trouble. There are two main areas to address: traversal and exploration, and the inevitable combat. We’ll begin with the way that we move around, as there are good bits and bad bits here. When we begin as a fledgling Dawnwalker, abilities are very limited. As a human during the day, opportunity is there to run about a bit and jump. As a vampire at night though? That brings forth some teleportation of short distances and the chance to walk on walls, which is nice. However, we can only walk on walls as long as our stamina lasts, which in the beginning isn’t very long. However, exploring does bring some interesting situations…
Jumping up mountains? No problem, unless you get to a place the developers never thought you would, in which case you can, and will, fall through the scenery. Sliding down mountains is also straight out of Skyrim, and makes things feel a bit low rent. The teleport ability will let you get yourself into a right old pickle if you use it unwisely (I’ve been stuck in a hole, with the game thinking I’m falling, and had to dashboard to get out of it). And then, running about the place is usually okay, aside from when the game thinks you are in a fight. You see, if The Blood of Dawnwalker thinks an enemy is wanting to fight you, you cannot do the whole “discretion is the better part of valour” thing and leg it. Oh no, the game erects an invisible wall around the area you are in, and you cannot leave until the enemies lose aggro. This really confused me the first few times, where I was on toes down a path and suddenly stopped making any form of progress. It wasn’t a particularly good look.
Granted, as you get further into the story, Coen does unlock new abilities that allow you to cover greater distances much more quickly, but until then it all feels a bit pedestrian. Not feeling like Blade, yet!
Tougher Than It Needs To Be
But how about the combat, does that scratch the itch? Well, the short answer is no, not really. It doesn’t seem to matter what you dress Coen up in, he has all the resilience of a wet paper bag, and a couple of hits will see you back at the load game screen more often than you’d like. I’ve had the most trouble ever with the first major boss, a nun with a knife, than I’ve had in any game, including Elden Ring and Morgit.
A lot of the issues are down to the new system that has been devised for this one, that frankly doesn’t do you any favours. You see, there are dodges and blocks, but the enemies will get a little arrow appear on them to show which direction the attack is going to come from. The new system requires you to react to this prompt by blocking and moving the left stick in the same direction as the arrow. And it is the same for the dodges. The annoying thing is that the attacks don’t look any different even when they come from opposite directions according to the arrows. I’ve spent years honing my dodging and blocking in reaction to the moves that the enemies use, but The Blood of Dawnwalker makes things too confusing.
More Witcher Than Soulslike
Apart from this (admittedly big) obstacle, it is fun enough to play. Dismiss any notion of this being a Soulslike though – it plays more like The Witcher crossed with Splinter Cell, with stealth being the best and quite often only way to make progress. As an example, an early mission I found had to do with the restoration of a shrine; the recovery of something that had been taken from it. Of course the item was in a camp full of soldiers, so in true Souls fashion I ran in and immediately died. And then died again. I was only able to complete the mission by sneaking into the camp, grabbing the thing and running like crazy!
The upshot is that combat is hard, and I mean really hard, and so the opportunity to level up doesn’t come along very often.
The Blood Of Dawnwalker Needs More Time To Shine
I can see what the developers planned, and I can admire the breadth of their vision for The Blood of Dawnwalker – I just wish that they had been able to execute it just a little better. From where I am sitting, it could do with just a tad more love to elevate it higher. I don’t want to use the D word (okay, I will – disappointed) because at the heart of it, there’s a good game fighting to get out, but the combat feels underwhelming and traversal, never mind the camera in certain places, makes things harder than they should be. On the other side of the coin, positives sit around the skill trees, both human and vampire, which allow you to build your Coen any way you want, and this does add to the longevity.
It’s a difficult call, this one: do I mark The Blood of Dawnwalker up for its ambition, or mark it down for its failures?I’m going to have to go halfway I think.
Important Links
The Blood Of Dawnwalker Finally Emerges From The Shadows – https://www.thexboxhub.com/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-finally-emerges-from-the-shadows/
The Blood of Dawnwalker Rises at Xbox Showcase – https://www.thexboxhub.com/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-rises-at-xbox-showcase/
Best New Xbox And Game Pass Games For September 2026 – https://www.thexboxhub.com/best-new-xbox-and-game-pass-games-for-september-2026/
Buy from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/the-blood-of-dawnwalker/9mvwt39j9r2c
There’s an Eclipse Edition too – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-eclipse-edition/9n7qhqk06rkn
