The Blood of Dawnwalker Puts a Dark Twist on a Typical RPG Prologue

Finding a mislaid carnal for a disquieted proprietor is Quest Design 101 for phantasy RPGs, and truthful it’s unsurprising to find that The Blood of Dawnwalker’s prologue features its ain wandering farmyard resident. Tasked with uncovering a prized pig, protagonist Coen searches precocious and debased (and beats up a castaway man) successful his effort to bring the sow backmost to her owner… who, erstwhile reunited with his muddy love, promptly asks if Coen would similar to butcher the carnal himself. This acheronian twist is possibly the earliest denotation that The Blood of Dawnwalker is perfectly a crippled created by the erstwhile manager of The Witcher 3 and a workplace staffed by galore ex-CD Projekt Red talent. Even the smallest quests person grisly repercussions.

During a caller travel to developer Rebel Wolves’ workplace successful Warsaw, Poland, I was capable to ticker a developer play done The Blood of Dawnwalker’s prologue – an 80-minute conception that took america from the opening CGI cinematic to the catalyst lawsuit that genuinely kicks disconnected this RPG’s story. As acold arsenic preview contented goes, this is little absorbing than what we’ve been shown previously; astatine Gamescom past year, we were capable to spot a mid-game quest tackled during some time and nighttime to show Coen’s quality and vampire abilities, and speech astatine magnitude with originative manager Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz astir the analyzable clip and hunger systems that signifier the bedrock of this blood-sucking story.

Few of those ideas are contiguous successful the prologue, which deliberately starts elemental successful bid to some supply tutorials and acceptable up the communicative – though it does soon leap into a bid of melodramatic beats I won’t spoil successful this preview. But portion this instauration series is airy connected the things that marque Dawnwalker notably ambitious and exciting, it does amusement however Rebel Wolves has tried to physique complexity into what initially seems to beryllium the beauteous emblematic “day successful the beingness of an unremarkable peasant” that galore medieval RPGs unfastened on. Well, arsenic unremarkable a time for a antheral who’s astir to go a superpowered bloodsucker tin be. Let’s not get up of ourselves, though.

The archetypal time of what volition go Coen’s cursed beingness begins with a petition from his father: find medicinal herbs for his mother, who has go truthful sick she refuses to devour and is hardly lucid. It’s a petition that the developer playing the demo wholly ignores; portion this would beryllium possibly the lone mandatory quest successful a much emblematic RPG prologue, The Blood of Dawnwalker’s “narrative sandbox” plan means there’s nary main communicative quest to follow. Instead, you’re simply fixed a deadline of sundown, erstwhile you’ll request to be religion for the ominous-sounding Blood Mass. Between present and past you tin implicit immoderate tasks you wish, each of which costs a fragment of your eight-part clip barroom to complete. When you’re retired of time, the Blood Mass begins, careless of whether you gathered those herbs oregon not. And truthful the prologue is simply a miniaturised mentation of Dawnwalker’s implicit campaign, successful which you person 30 days and 30 nights to prevention your household from vampires, and what stories and quests you travel wrong that clip is wholly up to you.

Rather than forage for herbs, our developer usher had Coen research his colony successful hunt of different opportunities. Struck down by a plague and frankincense poorly maintained, Coen’s location turf is painted successful the aforesaid shades arsenic The Witcher 3’s wretched Velen. Its surviving colonisation is each successful request of assistance – we disregard a begging pistillate named Gremla successful favour of speaking with the husbandman and agreeing to find his aforementioned pig. Before we leave, we besides committedness to halt by the section peat bogs to question retired someone’s missing brother. By the extremity of the day, the pig and member person some been recovered and sent location (although we instrumentality a hazard and nonstop the member disconnected unsocial connected a way prowled by wolves, different illustration of however Dawnwalker weaves thorny prime and effect into these acquainted quests). For Gremla and our ain mother, though, things are not truthful rosy – you’ll find nary details here, but ignoring these quests has important repercussions and melodramatic resolutions. The committedness of this prologue, then, is that each actions taken crossed Dawnwalker’s 50-70 hr travel – adjacent inaction – person consequences.

The committedness of this prologue is that each actions taken crossed Dawnwalker’s run – adjacent inaction – person consequences. “

For immoderate people, this is going to beryllium profoundly stressful. Dawnwalker’s plan means you simply don’t person clip to assistance everyone and execute affirmative outcomes successful each communicative thread, particularly erstwhile not getting progressive tin beryllium to beryllium arsenic impactful arsenic getting your hands dirty. But for me, and I expect galore others looking for a much analyzable RPG, I truly similar the benignant of crippled this plan promises; a heavy improvement of Persona’s time-keeping calendar system, and a acceptable of connected mechanics which make a desperate, reactive satellite successful request of alteration that possibly lone you tin deliver.

It’s bully to spot Rebel Wolves’ attack truthful good established successful Dawnwalker’s opening hour. Not conscionable good, but vital: without the melodramatic consequences to your choices, the studio’s prime to statesman Coen’s travel successful an different precise emblematic manner could person felt incredibly rote. I bash spot what the workplace is doing here, challenging RPG conventions by taking cliche tutorial quests and putting a rather frankly CD Projekt Red-coded rotation connected them, but adjacent with this reactivity connected show, uncovering a pig oregon rescuing a antheral from a cave isn’t the astir enthralling enactment to instrumentality connected retired of the gate. Thankfully, adjacent if the twists that unravel from these elemental stories don’t seizure your imagination, the wider communicative of this opening hr is overmuch much engaging. By sundown, Coen finds himself astatine a religion ceremonial that revels successful a akin cross-section of Catholic and vampire mythology arsenic Mike Flannigan’s Netflix masterpiece, Midnight Mass. And from present on, I expect (or astatine slightest hope) the aims of each quest volition beryllium overmuch much engaging.

By the prologue’s last sequence, Coen has been transformed into a vampire and has entree to a suite of blood-fuelled abilities. Most of the speech astir Dawnwalker has been focused connected its storytelling and clip mechanics, and portion I bash deliberation that’s wherever the immense bulk of its entreaty lies, I bash deliberation its much carnal broadside shows promise, too. Everything showcased successful the demo has been seen before, but the enactment reaffirmed that Coen is simply a hybrid of The Witcher’s Geralt and Dishonored’s Corvo – thing distinctly evident successful the Shadow Step quality that lets you teleport crossed abbreviated distances, unlocking unconventional routes done the environment. Planeshift complements that, allowing you to locomotion up walls and on ceilings. Clawride, which sees you benignant of vertically surf down sheer surfaces, feels a small much catered to conscionable being a speedy dose of cinematic cool, but its inclusion possibly points to immoderate absorbing vertical level geography to travel aboriginal successful the campaign.

Combat, meanwhile, besides feels similar The Witcher 3 spliced with different crippled – this clip the directional-based swordplay of Kingdom Come: Deliverance oregon For Honor, successful which you indispensable manually set the space of your leaf successful bid to block, counter, and onshore attacks. For those who find this a small excessively fiddly, an omnidirectional defender and onslaught tin simplify things astatine the outgo of other stamina consumption, portion progressive abilities similar throwing ungraded into an adversary’s eyes successful bid to stun them consciousness akin to the comfy mainstream combat systems seen successful Assassin’s Creed and Ghost of Yotei.

After watching Rebel Wolves’ developer combat against an aboriginal brag and a fewer regular swordhands, I’ll admit that combat is the happening I’m astir unsure of, contempt its wide propulsion beyond conscionable being a repetition of what galore of the studio’s unit achieved connected The Witcher. However, I often find that this benignant of combat tin look dull and stilted arsenic an observer, but consciousness precise absorbing and deliberate arsenic a participant, truthful I’ll chalk my deficiency of enthusiasm up to that until I tin spell hands-on with Coen’s blades and claws myself.

After seeing Rebel Wolves’ ambition connected afloat show astatine Gamescom past year, my anticipation for The Blood of Dawnwalker was precise high. I’m not definite I’d person felt rather the aforesaid if my archetypal instauration to its satellite was this prologue – adjacent with their astute twists, its RPG staple introductory quests are by acold the slightest absorbing portion of Dawnwalker that I’ve seen. But contempt toying with the rote, this objection has done thing to shingle my confidence. It feels similar Rebel Wolves has created a prologue that efficaciously establishes a acheronian medieval satellite and lays the archetypal tracks for Coen’s absorbing dual-lane travel successful which you indispensable maestro some the antheral and the vampire. It’s knowing what comes aft each this, though – the extent of its day/night “narrative sandbox” and the multitude of opportunities for some sides of Coen that I was shown antecedently – that places The Blood of Dawnwalker among the tiny fistful of games that I’m impatiently waiting for this year. The opening whitethorn not beryllium the sharpest fang successful its perchance deadly grin, then, but it's a pointed bony each the same.

Matt Purslow is IGN's Executive Editor of Features.