22 Days to Save Your Family: The Witcher Vets’ Vampire RPG Puts Day/Night Choices in Your Hands
Rebel Wolves, the studio founded by The Witcher 3 director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, is releasing its first game next year. The open-world action RPG The Blood of the Dawnwalker puts you in the role of Coen, a man by day and a vampire by night, as he moves through a dark, 14th-century Europe recreated by a team of CD Projekt alumni.
- Who made it and when it arrives.
- How the day/night split affects gameplay.
- Key demo moments: Svartrau Cathedral, Mihai’s crypt, the asylum, and the decision paths.
- Core systems: vampiric powers, necromancy, and the “adaptive flow” combat.
What the game is
The Blood of the Dawnwalker is an open-world action role-playing game from Rebel Wolves, the studio led by Konrad Tomaszkiewicz and staffed largely by former CD Projekt developers. The setting is a dark, fictionalized version of 14th-century Europe. Moreover, the game introduces the Vrakhiri, a vampiric group that offered plague victims a cure in exchange for blood.
Coen and the day-night split
You play as Coen, a Dawnwalker who lives as a human by day and becomes a vampire at night. In a hands-off presentation, the demo started with Coen having 22 days to save his family. During night phases he can use vampiric abilities to bypass guards and explore areas that are otherwise closed to him during the day. However, time also moves forward: completing certain objectives will advance the clock, even though exploring and fighting do not use up time.
Night-time example
By night, Coen can walk on walls, use a shadow step to slip past guards, and grow claws to deal with enemies quickly. In the cathedral sequence shown, he used stealth and supernatural movement to reach the library, then climbed in through a window to read an illuminated manuscript that pointed to Saint Mihai’s crypt. The demo showed hours passing after some actions, which affected later options and investigations.
Combat in darkness
Combat mixes fast melee with vampiric moves and a mode Rebel Wolves calls “adaptive flow.” This system blends action and turn-based elements: you can slow down time to plan moves, heal during fights, and use quick slots for items. Alternatively, you can let Coen auto-block and attack or take direct control for more precise movement. The demo included limb-targeting and violent finishes; you can also change camera distance if fights feel too chaotic.
Day-time paths and investigation
By day, Svartrau is full of pilgrims and regular city life. The cathedral is open, and the vampires have adapted religion to control the populace — for example, a ritual baptism performed in blood appears during the day. Coen can talk to NPCs, take quests, and follow alternate paths that are not available at night. In the demo, the deacon asked Coen to find the missing caretaker, Radu, who often stayed at the city asylum.
The asylum and necromancy
Investigating the asylum led to a sealed area where plague victims had been left to die. There, the demo revealed both very old corpses and one fresh body. Radu had become a mindless, vampiric creature. While in human form, Coen can use necromantic powers and even speak to the fresh corpse to learn more, using items found nearby to extract information. That interaction then looped back toward the cathedral book and the search for Mihai’s crypt.
Mihai, the sword, and next steps
Inside the tombs, Coen finds Mihai, who turns out to be another Dawnwalker. Mihai attacks as a maddened, reanimated warrior and reveals that his legendary sword is broken. As a result, Coen’s path will include reforging the blade and seeking augurs who can explain the Dawnwalker condition and protect against a growing threat. The demo therefore set up both exploration and longer-term goals: gather parts, learn from augurs, and reclaim a legacy.
Systems, difficulty, and release
The game offers adjustable difficulty settings, from a story-focused mode to a hardcore option for tighter parry and timing demands. Players can choose how much they want to micromanage combat versus simply exploring the world and its gothic details. The presentation emphasized visual and narrative detail, and Rebel Wolves plans to release The Blood of the Dawnwalker next year.
