Rebel Wolves just dropped a new gameplay overview for The Blood of Dawnwalker, giving us our best look yet at how this “human by day, vampire by night” system actually plays out, and it looks really good!
The video, presented by writer Ariana Siarkiewicz, walks us through the end of a quest first revealed back in June, and showing off new features added following community feedback.
You can watch the overview here:
Human by Day, Vampire by Night
At the heart of The Blood of Dawnwalker lies its biggest selling point! We are talking about the duality of protagonist Coen, who lives as a human during the day and becomes a vampire at night. Each form changes not only combat, but also how players can explore and progress quests.
In the gameplay footage, we see two approaches to the same storyline:
- Daytime (Human): After the ceremony inside the Svartrau Cathedral, Coen has to investigate a caretaker’s disappearance at an Asylum. As a human, he has a Focus mode he can use to uncover secret passages on the floor or walls. Coen can also use his ability called the “Compel Soul Hex.” This will allow him to talk to certain corpses that have moths flying above them. Magic like this is only available to Coen when he is in his human form! At night, you would not be able to talk to the dead like that.
- Nighttime (Vampire): The tone changes entirely. This time, you have access to another set of abilities. As a vampire, you will see and experience the world from another perspective. Coen returns to the same cathedral, using vampiric powers like Planeshift and Shadowstep to sneak past guards and enter the building. You can travel faster, and easily access places beyond the reach of regular humans. You can enter the same library as before, but this time you can just sneak in, no need to go search for missing caretakers!
Some quests have an hourglass symbol on them. This means that completing it will push the time forward, so be careful and make sure you finish everything beforehand! On top of that, reading books in the game might teach you additional skills or give you experience.
Combat and Exploration Upgrades
The latest build is a pre-beta, so it still contains some bugs, but Rebel Wolves clearly took feedback seriously. Ariana mentions several updates since the June preview:
- More responsive sword combat and faster vampire movement
- Real-time ability usage, no longer tied to paused menus
- Adjustable camera distances during fights and exploration
- New stealth routes and vertical access like balconies and scaffolds
We also got a peek at Voracious Bite, a powerful vampiric ability that both damages enemies and heals Coen by draining their blood. As a Vampire, you can still use your sword, and you are faster wiht it than in your human form.
Narrative Sandbox in Action
Rebel Wolves calls their approach a “Narrative Sandbox,” meaning every quest, even small ones, can influence your story. Dialogue options and time-of-day choices (marked with an hourglass icon) can change outcomes and unlock different paths or abilities.
The trailer is a great sign of progress, and shows that Rebel Wolves is not just building a beautiful RPG, but one that truly reacts to your choices! They are also proving that they listen to player feedback, and take it into account!
The Blood of Dawnwalker is being developed on Unreal Engine 5 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, and is planned for release in 2026. Ariana ended the presentation by thanking players for the strong feedback so far and teasing more updates coming soon, so stay tuned!
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