The Blood of Dawnwalker devs "were afraid that people wouldn't want to play as human Coen" so it set out to create "a combat system that can set a new standard for RPGs"

The Blood of Dawnwalker offers two compelling gameplay loops. During the day, Coen is able to navigate the open world of Vale Sangora (and key locations, such as the capital city of Svartrau) as a human, leaning on swordplay and dark hex magic to compensate for his weakened form. But by night, Coen operates across the valley, nestled beneath the Carpathian Mountains, as a vampire; transforming into a brutal force of nature, wielding supernatural skills, claws, and bites to achieve his objectives.

The inherent appeal of the latter presented something of a problem for Rebel Wolves. Particularly as you are free to switch between day and night as you please – every quest and storyline shifts to compensate whatever time of day you want to play. "From an early stage of development, we were afraid that people wouldn't want to play as human Coen," says Patryk Fijałkowski, senior quest designer. "Because, obviously, vampires are cool!"

A fear of players wondering "why they should bother" connecting with Coen in human form led the studio to carefully incentivize this side of the experience. "This was one of the reasons we introduced magic," adds Fijałkowski, who explains that even something like Compel Soul (which lets you speak with the dead) can "unlock new quest branches, and give you an entirely different context to a story."

Magic is dark and unknowable in The Blood of Dawnwalker, this ancient knowledge scattered across the open world for you to discover. Magic is also unavailable to Coen in his vampire form. This is because runes must be carved into flesh to unlock hexes, the scars healing once vampyric regeneration kicks in. Every single spell can be upgraded, offering a strategic counterbalance to swordplay.

Coen was trained as a swordsmith by his father, and it's his primary way of battling the undead, kobolds, uriash, and guards who have pledged allegiance to Brencis and his vampire monarchy by day. The Blood of Dawnwalker combat doesn't look all that dissimilar to that of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt at first blush, a blur of strikes, parrys, and blocks. Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, game director of both RPGs, tells me there's a good reason for some of the similarities.

"Some of the moves look familiar for sure, because we're using the same type of movement and working with some of the same stuntmen," he says. Rebel Wolves has turned to stunt coordinator Maciej Kwiatkowski to provide motion capture for Coen, having performed a similar role for Geralt of Rivia in the past, and partnered with Alpha 7 who captured choreography for The Witcher 3. "With Wild Hunt we took a lot of inspiration from Japanese sword fighting, whereas The Blood of Dawnwalker is focused on medieval sword fighting techniques."

This refocusing is not only befitting of The Blood of Dawnwalker's 14th-century setting, but a central pillar of Rebel Wolves "mission to present a combat system that can set a new standard for RPGs." Tomaszkiewicz tells me that his team looked at two primary sources for inspiration, the cinematic display best displayed in the Batman: Arkham series and more directional systems found in titles like For Honor and Kingdom Come Deliverance.

Of the Arkham system, Tomaszkiewicz highlights how it "looks cool and beautiful, but isn't immersive enough" due to the way that quick inputs translate into automated actions. And on the directional side, he flags that "these systems are more immersive, because you need to actively think about what you're doing, but it can also be too difficult for some players because they need a lot of skill." The answer, then? "What if we could create a hybrid of these two systems?"

Rebel Wolves is creating an adaptive combat system with consideration to Coen's ability to fight with fists, claws, and swords. What's key here is that the studio is approaching this system with the same degree of flexibility as it is the open-ended quest system which governs story progression. "We have these two systems in place, and you can mix them together. I think we will have five or six ways of playing. It's similar to the narrative sandbox; it's your choice, you shape your fun. It's all about giving the options to the player and allowing them to decide how they want to play," says Tomaszkiewicz.

"So you can use directional blocks and attacks to exploit your opponent's openings if you want to. Playing this way is really efficient and makes combat really fast once you get good with the system, but you do need to focus on what you're doing," he adds, noting that, unlike at night, Coen's health doesn't automatically regenerate during daytime encounters. "You can also play without directional input, using Omni-Block to automatically block, or just press the attack button which will randomly choose a direction of attack – this is fun, but enemies will be more likely to block your random attacks."

The Blood of Dawnwalker lets you mix and match these options to your heart's content, allowing you to find a sweet spot between directional and cinematic combat features to find a combination that works for you. And it'll be well worth experimenting with, as successful blocks, attacks, and parrys build up the Activation Charges you'll need to unleash Active Abilities such as the Hex magic. And given the dangers that lurk out in the wilds of the open world, you'll need all the help you can get to survive.