The Blood of Dawnwalker Previews Showcase RPG's Boldest Features

Hands-on previews highlight challenging combat, vampire mechanics, time management, and strong optimization as Blood of Dawnwalker prepares for its September launch.

With less than two months till launch, The Blood of Dawnwalker has returned with another round of hands-on previews, giving players their most extensive look at the next dark fantasy RPG yet. Journalists and developers spent almost four hours with the game, starting from the beginning, and shared new thoughts on everything from combat and exploration to the game's unique vampire dynamics.

The latest previews also live up to one of the game's main strengths: its constant stream of updates. Instead of hiding for long stretches after its reveal, the development team has been releasing developer diaries, gameplay reveals, and preview events every few months. It's a method that's allowed fans to see the project grow over time, instead of waiting years between major updates.

With the launch coming closer, the game's mechanisms seem far more polished than in past showings.

After the preview, many attendees said that while parts of the opening hours had been seen before, the new hands-on sessions provided far better insight into how the game's mechanics interact over the long term. Combat was one of the greatest talking points. Unlike short gaming demonstrations, preview participants have the opportunity to evaluate the system for hours by actively engaging foes.

One sense I get early on is that the fighting is purposely difficult, at least in the first few hours, with foes hitting like a truck and a few missteps leading to a rapid death. One of the more interesting discoveries from the previews is that The Blood of Dawnwalker supports two separate forms of fighting. Combat is directional, and has been compared to games like For Honor and Kingdom Come: Deliverance, where players have to attack and defend in the same direction as the opponent's blow.

But those put off by that approach won’t be obliged to master it. There is also a more traditional control scheme that centers on blocking and parrying with buttons and requires no directional inputs. The alternate system should make combat much more accessible to those who prefer standard action RPG mechanics.

The reactions to the battle itself have been relatively varied, even with the accessibility option turned on. Some previewers said they figured out the mechanics relatively instantly, while others were less enthused after several hours of combat. That split suggests that directional fighting could be a more divisive aspect of the game, depending on personal preference.

And combat is more than just typical swordplay.

Players can battle hand-to-hand, but the hero's vampire powers provide another layer of violence in the form of claws, adding to the variety of fighting techniques used throughout the quest. One of the more interesting findings from the preview concerns the game’s vampire hunger mechanic and its impact on dialogue options.

Players are continually forced to weigh their health against their want for blood. Earlier demos showed how quests may break if you didn’t manage the protagonist’s hunger, but this time around, we get a more detailed explanation of how exactly that works. As long as the player's health is above half, communication goes as normal. Conversations feature the opportunity to attack an NPC and feed on them, but it’s up to the player.

But once the health falls below half, the tables turn rapidly. Previewers report that the dialogue interfaces are getting progressively more unstable - text flickering, choices moving around, options disappearing, and then reappearing for a moment. This greatly complicates selecting the desired response and increases the risk of accidentally attacking an NPC.

If health drops even further, the player loses that decision entirely. Instead of picking speech options, the protagonist attacks neighboring characters to fulfill their bloodlust, possibly ruining questlines before they even begin. “The game is about living with the consequences of being a vampire, not just using supernatural powers as a source of power,” insists the mechanic.

The game's controversial time-management mechanism was also clarified. There are eight time slots in each in-game day, and plot advancement and extra activities fill that constrained schedule. In some interactions, the commitment is more than simply designating a single slot to each activity.

For example, you can spend time with one potential relationship choice during a given time segment.

Opting to develop that relationship in the same session occupies another time slot, pushing players to think carefully about how they use their limited agenda. The mechanism is even more important because the game is on a 30-day countdown to the main plot line.  Players should be selective about what they spend their time on and be okay with the fact that they won't be able to do everything in one playthrough. 

The developers have said that players should still be able to accomplish most of the game’s content despite these constraints. It's not about locking half of the experience away, but making significant decisions throughout the campaign. Outside of gaming systems, Previews also complemented the game’s voice casting.

Initial impressions suggest the cast are nailing their performances in the big story beats, with numerous characters shining out in the opening hours. Now, technical performance is another key subject of discussion. Recent statements by the developers have confirmed that optimization has been a focus since the first days of production, rather than something left to the last few months before release.

Instead of building the whole game and then optimizing, the company is said to have an entire department dedicated to optimization from the start. The aim was to prevent the kind of technological problems that have dogged several big RPG debuts in recent years. That method has helped establish confidence among fans, especially considering the team’s history.

There were a lot of studio personnel who’d worked on acclaimed RPGs before, so there were natural comparisons to The Witcher series. There are always comparisons, but the expectations are different. Sure, many players compare The Blood of Dawnwalker to The Witcher 3, but some think it's more fair to view it as a fresh IP from a seasoned studio rather than to expect it to immediately stand toe-to-toe with one of the genre's most revered RPGs.

But the current preview event seems to have helped build anticipation ahead of launch, where expectations end up, nevertheless. Evolving fighting system, immersive vampire dynamics, relevant time management, and evident focus on technical polish all continue to build The Blood of Dawnwalker into one of September’s most widely watched RPG releases. There’s still at least another month of promotion before the debut, so fans can probably expect to see even more detail when the countdown to release hits a home run.