Wesley ✨

✝️ | 31 | married | Morrowind fanatic | RPG addict | PS5 | writer at & [email protected]

[Wesley ✨ @wesleytypes]

REVIEW: The Blood of Dawnwalker

When I first heard that former Witcher 3 developers had built a new studio to create a gothic vampire RPG, it almost sounded too good to be true. There are far too few great vampire games out there that actually focus on the vampires themselves or their lore, and Rebel Wolves seemed perfectly suited to fix that.

STORY

The Blood of Dawnwalker is the first in a planned franchise of games, making it basically an origin story. Our protagonist, Coen of Laslea, is young and not yet wearied by the world, but he is wearied by the trauma of his past and the present reality of living under vampire rule. His mother is sick, his siblings are losing their childhood, his father is desperate to do something about it all, and his girlfriends don’t love him (oops, that comes later).

Once the prologue is over, and Coen is properly turned into a dual-natured Dawnwalker, you have only one ultimate goal: save your family. From this point on, The Blood of Dawnwalker becomes an intensely character driven experience with each major questline focusing on a different potential ally, their past, and their own personal motivations that also reveal more about Coen in turn. You can do them all, or you can do none of them and march straight to Brencis’ castle.

GAMEPLAY

The first major gameplay element that has to be discussed is the 30 day in-game time limit. It is actually less like a timer and more like a form of currency, which I really appreciated. Every day has 16 total time segments, 8 during the day while Coen is human and 8 during the night while Coen is a vampire. Most every quest or activity in the game will cost a certain amount of segments, and spending those segments wisely is how you plan your journey to Brencis. I was initially worried about a restriction like this, but in my own experience I don’t feel like I actually missed out on anything I wanted to see.

Combat is honestly one of my favorite parts of the game. The light directional elements in concert with parrying, using abilities, and popping mapped consumables worked very well for me. In a world where RPGs are risking their identity by abandoning turn-based more and more for action, it’s encouraging to see Rebel Wolves introduce another layer to fights in a similar way to what Warhorse has done with Kingdom Come: Deliverance.

The duality of being a human by day and a vampire by night is really refreshing, not only from a narrative perspective, but also in gameplay. You have a skill tree exclusive to your vampire form, claws in combat, and a blood lust mechanic in conversations that will cause you to feed on and kill NPCs (even “essential” ones) if your health is too low at night. Swords eventually outpace claws and the blood lust becomes very easy to avoid, but just the fact that these things exist at all makes the world feel more real and engaging.

EXPLORATION

The valley of Vale Sangora is exactly what it needs to be, but there is plenty of room for Rebel Wolves to improve world design in the future sequels. I enjoyed combing through most of the map looking for secrets and making my way to the next objective, but there’s not a lot of variety or exciting locations to be discovered on your own. Svartrau city is easily the best location in the game.

Traversing the map is well-paced and not too reliant on fast travel. There are plenty of fast travel shrines at your disposal, but I appreciated the restraint shown by the developers when it comes to the actual size of the valley.

VERDICT

The Blood of Dawnwalker represents all of Rebel Wolves’ well-earned experience with dark fantasy and role-playing games. It has great writing and dialogue, characters with depth and diverse motives, choices that sit with you long past making them, and unique spins on gameplay mechanics that keep things fresh and add much needed texture. It’s everything you love about The Witcher 3, yet also entirely its own and in many ways improved.

9/10 - AMAZING

[Wesley ✨ @wesleytypes]

@SWT_Channel I love Auron so much.

[Wesley ✨ @wesleytypes]

My top 10 BioWare companions:
(in no particular order)

- Urdnot Wrex
- Solas
- Thane Krios
- HK-47
- Garrus Vakarian
- Isabela
- Morrigan
- Tali'Zorah
- Varric Tethras
- Jolee Bindo

[Wesley ✨ @wesleytypes]

This ship will always feel like home.

[Wesley ✨ @wesleytypes]

@KristianMarie14 @masseffect @dragonage I think she's a little bland tbh. Still like her though!

[Wesley ✨ @wesleytypes]

My top 10 BioWare companions:
(in no particular order)

- Urdnot Wrex
- Solas
- Thane Krios
- HK-47
- Garrus Vakarian
- Isabela
- Morrigan
- Tali'Zorah
- Varric Tethras
- Jolee Bindo

[Wesley ✨ @wesleytypes]

Yes, EA stuck to their original agreement with BioWare for DA, DA2, TOR, and Mass Effect 3. DAI telegraphed some things to come but it was still very good.

People HAVE been sad for many years prior. That's one of the reasons sales were bad. The response your getting now is like when a loved one is put in coma and has finally stopped showing signs of life. The finality of it is what this is all about.

[Wesley ✨ @wesleytypes]

@lastchalice People aren't surprised that BioWare was closed, they're heartbroken.

[Wesley ✨ @wesleytypes]

True, but I still don't feel like this point is very resonant. It almost sounds like a defense of EA when it's their fault the games released like this.

- EA buys BioWare
- EA forces them to use their engine
- EA pressures them for multiplayer
- this leads to three critical flops in a row
- EA shuts down the studio.

You're basically saying "Gamers didn't want what EA made BioWare become". No shit, that's just far left of where the conversation is.

[Wesley ✨ @wesleytypes]

@lastchalice I think the disconnect is, EA damaged the good and then said "I guess nobody wants them." People didn't buy them because they didn't meet the bar of quality set beforehand.

[Wesley ✨ @wesleytypes]

My top 10 BioWare games of all time.

[Wesley ✨ @wesleytypes]

@dreamrog @yerilith @CDPROJEKTRED @thewitcher @CyberpunkGame For me it's

1. Morrowind
2. Skyrim
3. KOTOR 2
4. KOTOR 1
5. Final Fantasy VII
6. Expedition 33
7. Mass Effect
8. Mass Effect 3
9. Mass Effect 2
10. The Witcher 3

[Wesley ✨ @wesleytypes]

I love that CD Projekt Red hasn't tied themselves exclusively to one style of gameplay.

The Witcher series is in third-person because Geralt is the focus. You are him, and the gameplay reflects the way he hunts.

In Cyberpunk, CDPR wants you to be IN Night City. The city is the main character and you're meant to feel how simultaneously enticing and oppressive it is first-hand.

I'm not exactly sure what their signature formula boils down to apart from consistently strong narratives and character work, but I love it.

[Kala Elizabeth #SaveMassEffect @kalaelizabeth]

Here's everything I've heard about Mass Effect 5/Universe #SaveMassEffect

[Wesley ✨ @wesleytypes]

@FlixandPixels @masseffect @dragonage It's my second favorite game of all time, it's just not a BioWare game.

[Wesley ✨ @wesleytypes]

My top 10 BioWare games of all time.

[Wesley ✨ @wesleytypes]

Confirmed details for the now cancelled Mass Effect Universe:

- 600+ years after the trilogy
- Geth returned
- galactic Cold War
- espionage gameplay
- handcrafted missions
- Andromeda connection
- Shepard legacy respected

BioWare was making it for the fans.

[Wesley ✨ @wesleytypes]

The best character BioWare ever made:

[Wesley ✨ @wesleytypes]

@NebsGoodTakes On console??

[Wesley ✨ @wesleytypes]

@Tveskegget @masseffect I'll be there day one for Exodus. Very excited.

Still wish Mass Effect had one more chance.

[Wesley ✨ @wesleytypes]

The leaked Mass Effect Universe trailer has convinced me that BioWare actually did have a confident direction for this game and good reasons for it to exist. It has renewed my appreciation for the power of this IP and the incredible legacy that follows it.

- Mass Effect was the first major video game franchise to allow players to carry their exact save file, all of their previous choices included, into the next game.

- Mass Effect introduced iconic elements such as the dialogue wheel and mid-scene action prompts (Renegade/Paragon).

- Mass Effect invested true AAA production values into both male and female version of Commander Shepard, absolutely changing how female RPG protagonists were depicted and voiced. FemShep is still many people’s favorite version of the character.

- Mass Effect bridged old-school tabletop style RPGs and modern cinematic action role-playing, paving the way for games like Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher series, and others to even exist in the first place. (The Witcher 1 was even built on BioWare’s engine)

- Mass Effect revolutionized meaningful romance in video games, raising the bar of quality for writing and making it a must have feature for modern RPGs.

- Mass Effect proved that video games could handle long-form, multi-entry, franchise stories and characters in a way that rivals TV, books, and film.

This is an intellectual property that can’t be left to die, it still has so much left to give and so many more stories to tell in the hands of the right people.

Please someone #SaveMassEffect.

[Wesley ✨ @wesleytypes]

@falostesso @masseffect @dragonage Just haven't played it yet