Summary
- Former CD Projekt Red developers at Rebel Wolves unveiled their debut game, The Blood of Dawnwalker, with a cinematic reveal trailer.
- The Blood of Dawnwalker shares similarities with The Witcher, boasting an open-world RPG setting, dark fantasy elements, morally gray choices, and an outcast protagonist.
- The game innovatively incorporates Persona-like time management mechanics.
The Blood of Dawnwalker's long-awaited reveal trailer, a captivating blend of pre-rendered footage and gameplay glimpses, dropped recently. The trailer highlights the game's previously announced similarities to The Witcher, infused with unique Persona-like elements.
Developed by Rebel Wolves, a Polish studio founded by former CD Projekt Red developers (veterans of The Witcher series and Cyberpunk 2077), The Blood of Dawnwalker was initially announced as Dawnwalker in January 2024, described then as a narrative-driven open-world RPG with impactful choices and a dark fantasy backdrop.
Precisely one year later, on January 13th, Rebel Wolves and publisher Bandai Namco presented a reveal stream culminating in an extended cinematic trailer (over four and a half minutes long). This trailer establishes the game's setting and introduces the Dawnwalkers—essentially, powerful vampires—and the protagonist, Coen, who becomes a Dawnwalker at the game's outset.
The Blood of Dawnwalker Reveal Trailer: Echoes of The Witcher
With its dark fantasy setting, monstrous creatures, open-world RPG structure, and morally gray choices—embodied in the tagline "the world needs what it fears"—The Blood of Dawnwalker evokes a strong Witcher vibe, even independent of its development team's background. Fans of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's Blood and Wine expansion, with its vampire elements and challenging moral dilemmas, will likely find the premise compelling. The game's emphasis on player choice is further emphasized by its morality system, allowing Coen to either embrace his Dawnwalker nature to save his family or cling to his humanity.
The Blood of Dawnwalker: A Persona-Inspired Twist
While superficially similar to The Witcher, The Blood of Dawnwalker introduces intriguing twists to the open-world RPG formula. A standout feature is its Persona-like time management system, where each quest consumes time. As Rebel Wolves co-founder and game director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz explains, "There are multiple approaches to saving Coen’s family with no clear division between main and side quests; you decide on how you spend the time." Completing every quest in a single playthrough is impossible, a design choice fostering replayability and unique experiences within the game's "narrative sandbox."
The Blood of Dawnwalker is currently in development for PC and current-gen PlayStation and Xbox consoles. Envisioned as the first installment in a trilogy, it will be published by Bandai Namco. While a release date remains unannounced, given its 2022 development start and AAA budget, a release before 2027 seems unlikely. Rebel Wolves has promised a gameplay reveal in Summer 2025.
