The Blood of Dawnwalker – save your family while becoming what you hate

2 hours ago 7

The Blood of Dawnwalker could be the start of an epic saga. Created by some of the talent behind The Witcher 3, this dark fantasy role-playing game takes place in the 14th century in the fictional land of Vale Sangora, a Carpathian valley of wetlands, mountains and forests cut off from the rest of the world and under the rule of a vicious vampire clan.

The developers envisage Dawnwalker as a trilogy. And because protagonist Coen is half vampire himself, that trilogy can skip across time, culminating in the modern day.

“It’s a journey through ages, continents, and cultures,” explains game director and studio CEO Konrad Tomaszkiewicz. “Interview with the Vampire was one of the references we had in mind. We want each part of the saga to stand on its own and tell a compelling, engaging, emotive story, while together shaping an epic narrative with a grander plot gradually unravelling.”

It’s a fascinating idea for a series where you play as a bloodsucker, doomed to watch those around you wither and die as you persist through centuries.

A 14th-century town, with several people browsing a market. The player character Coen has a sword at his hip.

Playing with the concept of time isn’t just a plan for the sequels. When the vampire clan arrives at the start of the game, they take Coen’s family, and you have 30 days and nights to rescue them. By day, you’re a normal human, fighting with a sword. By night, you can walk on walls, teleport and claw people in half.

While you can explore and talk to people at your leisure, time moves forward whenever you complete a clearly marked quest. You could always attempt to save your family on day one, but you’ll be severely unprepared. You have to manage your time while growing in power, sharpening those claws for the final showdown.

A human figure with clawed hands slides down the side of a building.

“It is primarily about the sense that what you do in the game carries weight,” says Tomaszkiewicz. “We were looking for something that would make this feel more real and give gamers something to be mindful of. You always remember that there is someone whose fate truly depends on your actions.”

Take one quest here, and another might progress over there. The fates of Vale Sangora’s citizens are interlinked, and Dawnwalker’s true depth can only be seen after multiple playthroughs. Even your blood hunger can affect the world. Leave it too long between feeds and Coen will go into a frenzy, draining the person closest to him until they’re a limp sack of skin.

“In some cases, you can judge fairly quickly that a specific NPC might be important to the story,” Tomaszkiewicz says. “But in many cases, that is something you will either discover later on or not discover until you decide to play the game again from the beginning. Everything depends on your choices, and in our game, it is not only about the decisions you make, but also whether you choose to do something or not.”

It’s a brave approach for a genre where people often save and reload to see how different choices play out. Dawnwalker wants you to come at it with arms open and accept what happens, rewarding players who meet it halfway by opening up new quests and stories when you accidentally – or purposefully – snuff out a life.

“My dream scenario is that gamers will say the game and its story stayed with them for years,” says Tomaszkiewicz, “That it touched their hearts, and that they will keep coming back to it to see what they can do differently and how the world reacts.”