Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, or so they say. However, for a gamer, imitation is the sad state of the industry today. Every game is a copy of another. Every game today is a survival simulator, an extraction shooter, or a cozy organization title. The Blood of the Dawnwalker is no different. However, while it does draw inspiration from so many past titles, the unique blend makes it one of the most unique RPG experiences today.

A tale of darkness

The Blood of the Dawnwalker touts itself as the next project of the minds who came up with The Witcher 3. Rebel Wolves, a relatively small outfit, is the new home of several developers who worked on the aforementioned game. That, in itself, is already a strong reason why you should get Dawnwalker.

But it goes much deeper. And it starts with the story.

Coen of Laslea lives a relatively peaceful life in a valley called Vale Sangora. But that peace is dependent only on the whims of the valley’s vampiric rulers, a cabal of four brutal vampires who keep the peace in exchange for a monthly blood tithe, called a Blood Mass, extracted from every villager from every village once a month.

Unfortunately for Coen, this month’s Blood Mass doesn’t end as usual. Events have drawn the vampires’ ire, and — surprise, surprise — Coen gets turned into a vampire himself. Faced with a new reality, Coen goes on a rescue mission to save his family as a newly turned vampire.

Dawnwalker reverses the old trope of the hunter hunting the monster. Do you embrace the vampire within or keep being human?

A dark world

The Blood of the Dawnwalker roots itself as a traditional RPG. As a newly turned vampire, Coen doesn’t have awesome vampiric powers yet. Though he’s stronger as a vampire, a more ferocious monster can easily take him on at lower levels.

He does have a diverse skill tree pronged into three sections: Witchcraft which works only in the daytime, Vampirism which works at night, and Swordplay which works in both. Every section has its share of overpowered skills. One of my favorites heals Coen every time he executes a perfect block while in his vampire state. Coen essentially becomes invincible with some of these skills.

To level up, Coen must fight enemies or accomplish missions. Both of which add to how fun the game is. But let’s start with fighting.

Dawnwalker draws inspiration from Kingdom Come: Deliverance. Specifically, the game has a direction system of attacking and blocking. You can pick which of the four cardinal directions to attack and block. Pick a direction that your enemy doesn’t, and the attack lands. Alternatively, pick the direction that your attacking enemy does, and you block their attack.

Unlike Kingdom Come, Dawnwalker is much more accessible, especially with an icon that explicitly tells you where attacks are coming from. Fighting in Dawnwalker feels fun, regardless of how overpowered Coen is. Even at high levels, I don’t find it boring to enter another encampment and fight an entire army.

The Ubisoft way

Another way to bring Coen to those higher levels is by accomplishing missions. The Blood of the Dawnwalker does this in a way typical of most Ubisoft-inspired RPGs. Brencis, the big bad of the vampire posse, is supported by three lesser bosses. Each lesser boss has their own dominion with a set of objectives to “anger” their respective ruler. To fight Brencis, Coen must first kill all three lesser bosses.

Alongside these three goals, Coen can also recruit rebels to fight against Brencis or find powerful weapons that will help against the fight. You can also reminisce about your family’s past or romance the local witch.

If Dawnwalker were just a typical RPG (and, in some cases, it is), then you can cross off these objectives like a checklist. But Dawnwalker doesn’t do that. Time is a resource here.

Losing time

Once you finish the prologue, Coen will have thirty in-game days to rescue his family from Brencis. Time doesn’t move regularly, though. It moves only after every accomplishable activity: finishing objectives and levelling up. Each day has sixteen segments, divided into two halves for day and night. A time-progressing activity can move time up by one increment (or the equivalent of one or two hours) or even six. Some activities can even progress time from day to night (or vice versa).

On a similar note, Coen has different abilities depending on the time of day. During the day, Coen uses witchcraft. During the night, he can use his vampiric claws and suck his enemies dry as a vampire.

Using time as a resource is hardly a novel idea. I’ve seen it in Dead Rising and Dying Light. Dawnwalker, however, makes the march of time feel more pressing. Often, it’s a strategy game of figuring out which objectives to prioritize. Should I prioritize the other vampiric bosses? Should I hunt for more supporters to the rebel cause? Should I give time for Anca, my love interest?

Plus, with the differences between day and night, it’s important to plan when I wanted to do certain objectives. Am I strong enough during the day to beat a high-level monster, or should I wait until night when I’m much stronger?

Time is an illusion

Though the feeling of time’s passing is palpable throughout, Dawnwalker eventually makes it all an illusion. Thirty days is enough time to get stronger, find allies, and defeat all three lesser vampires. In fact, there are even ways to save a lot of time.

On my first playthrough, I accidentally discovered a way to break the sequence of the traditional RPG experience. After beating my second vampire lord, I wanted to explore the map a bit more before tackling the third and final lord. The next mission on my docket was hunting for a powerful silver sword in a cathedral, a supposedly low-stakes mission. Apparently, the third lord likes hanging around the cathedral. So, while I was minding my own business, the game gave me the opportunity to fight the third lord without needing to anger her. And why wouldn’t I take that chance?

With eighteen full days left before the deadline, I beat all three lords and angered Brencis enough to trigger his mission. I also felt strong enough to take him on.

Now, this isn’t to say that the game’s time-based mechanic is a failure. You can’t take away that feeling of having to strategize objectives, even if it’s ultimately moot. Besides, there’s still that day-night mechanic.

In that way, Dawnwalker’s time mechanic is still a success. Yes, it could have gone further, but you can’t ignore that it’s a unique approach to RPGs.

Choice is an illusion

Being a vampire, Coen is always prone to that hunger for blood. To materialize this, he has a blood hunger meter, which naturally depletes as time goes by. This is further highlighted by a “give in to the hunger” option with several NPC dialogues, which gradually becomes more difficult to ignore when the hunger gets higher. At one point, it becomes impossible to resist, so Coen feeds on that NPC and essentially kills them off.

On the choices-definitely-matter level, the game ideally wants you to balance Coen’s hunger for blood. It wants you to drink blood before NPC encounters, so you don’t accidentally drink them dry.

In my opinion, the system just doesn’t land. There was never a time when I felt crippled by that hunger. At times, I even forgot that it existed. It could be because I wasn’t shy about feeding during combat. After all, feeding has a very strong healing mechanic, which works extremely well in fights.

Although, I still tried the NPC feeding option on some annoying characters. And it was… meh? Sure, the drawback is that I lost dialogue options which could have led to something amazing. But I also didn’t get anything in return. I didn’t feel more powerful, nor did I feel Coen becoming more corrupted by vampirism. In essence, the hunger is more for roleplaying than something mechanically rewarding.

It’s unfortunate because Dawnwalker has something called a corruption level. The more you drink blood, the more this stat increases. The higher it is, the more vampiric powers you can unlock. If the game offered more rewards for drinking NPCs like better corruption increases (as in Vampyr, a similar vampire game), then the hunger might be more interesting.

Is The Blood of the Dawnwalker your PlayMatch?

The Blood of the Dawnwalker is easily one of the most mechanically interesting RPGs of 2026. The game patches together several unique mechanics from the past, which already worked on their own but shine even brighter when cobbled together.

Sure, it doesn’t go far enough with a few mechanics, but that’s fine enough. It’s a dark fantasy tale that keeps itself fresh throughout the playthrough. For that, this game gets a Swipe Right and a Super Swipe for those craving for a semi-lengthy, go-through-all-the-bosses RPG.