Blood of Dawnwalker Is Getting Destroyed By Bugs

The RPG delivers exceptional storytelling, satisfying combat, and a fascinating time mechanic, but serious bugs currently prevent it from reaching its full potential.

Blood of Dawnwalker is quickly shaping up to be one of the most outstanding RPGs of the year, especially in the story and character development department. After about 15 hours, the game offers a remarkably deep universe packed with interesting characters, solid performances, and a tale that always urges players to dig deeper.

Arguably the game's strongest asset is its storytelling. Great performances bring characters like Anca, Brencis, and Coen to life, while the language and world-building add an unexpected complexity to the RPG. The core tale is simple, but the personalities players meet and the lore of Brenis' rule make the adventure feel like so much more.

The fight is another huge highlight.

The directional blocking and parrying system creates a fun pace, especially when players can string together perfect blocks into attacks and special powers. The many enemy types also have distinct behaviors, from otherworldly monsters to various human classes, which keeps encounters from getting totally predictable.

Blood of Dawnwalker's time mechanic is equally ambitious. Players are always thinking about how to maximize their limited time, creating pressure that works especially well because there is so much information worth discovering. Venture off the usual road to find strong weapons, hidden missions, camps, and other surprises. But the system is not perfect.

So many shrines and repeated activities can make the open world feel too gamey, and the map can get overloaded with icons and points of interest. More importantly, improvements also take significant time, forcing players to choose between improving their character and taking on more objectives. That decision has caused some gamers to prefer unique content above character enhancements.

Since upgrades take time, it’s more satisfying to perform unique quests and discover new people initially, saving monotonous tasks for later. The basic idea is good, but some of the implementation feels needlessly restrictive.

The major problem, though, is the game's technical state.

The longer you play a game, the more likely problems are to be found. I found glitches such as flickering character models, faulty animations, and visual flaws during potentially vital story sections. These are particularly unpleasant when they disrupt the flow of growth or immersion. The biggest issue fans encountered was the save system. 

After about 15 hours of playtime, the game seemed to autosave as normal; however, a progression-related glitch prevented manual saves from working. Fans reported dying a few hours in and losing about two and a half hours of progress, side quests, shrine discoveries, and character advancements. Other players have reported that the problem appears to be a cutscene that isn’t triggering correctly, which prevents the game from saving properly. 

For an RPG based on exploration and strategic time management, wasting hours of progress is a particularly corrosive problem. Notwithstanding these issues, Blood of Dawnwalker is an outstanding first effort. Its combat, world-building, characters, nd plot have a lot of potential. If the devs can patch the save issues, bugs, and some of the game's monotonous open-world aspects, it could be something really special. For now, it’s technological issues that keep what may otherwise be a fantastic RPG from realizing its full potential.