00:00The Blood of Dawnwalker is the most miserable RPG I've played in years and I mean that
00:05in the best way possible. When we meet him, Protagonist Cohen is a everyman peasant working
00:11the land of Las Lea.
00:19Years ago Skender Dragosti, the murderous lord who formerly ruled over Las Lea and the
00:25Greater Valsangora region had been conquered by Brentsis, a century-old war-fearing Vrakiri
00:32or Vampire. Brentsis is not as outwardly cruel as Skender, but his manner for industrially
00:41harvesting the blood of Sangora's peasants is frowned upon by some, while for others
00:46it's a reasonable price to pay for the execution of their former oppressor. But when the slightest
00:52hint of resistance is detected in Las Lea, Brentsis and his men swoop onto the village,
00:58raise it and abduct Cohen's family. The Blood of Dawnwalker is about trying to get them back
01:04and to varying degrees depending on your choices and temperament, also taking the fight to the
01:09Vrakiri. This isn't as hard as it sounds because Cohen is a Dawnwalker, half vampire, half human,
01:19turn. He's a dab hand with a sword and can wield some gnarly witchcraft and also has some wicked
01:25vampiric skills at his disposal. The swordplay is fun and precision orientated. Boring Kingdom
01:32comes directional approach without being as gruelling. Cohen's quest is urgent, he has 30 days to save his
01:39family or else they're done for. This plays into Dawnwalker's calendar system which is reminiscent
01:53of the Persona series. This time limit encourages me to think carefully about what quests and chores I take
01:59on. Stop complaining right now. But my feet hurt. But while it's an interesting system in theory,
02:07its implementation is weak and the pressure it applies to Cohen is largely illusory. Its big
02:13innovation may fall flat but The Blood of Dawnwalker is a remarkably atmospheric RPG with some extremely
02:20nasty fangs. It gets dark, really dark. For more on The Blood of Dawnwalker and rapid reviews, stay tuned to
02:30PC Gamer.
