Level Infinite's upcoming open-world action RPG, 'The Blood of Dawnwalker,' recently held a media preview event in South Korea.

The session lasted about four hours, offering a glimpse into the open world and the entire prologue. The prologue itself takes about two and a half hours, covering the tragic events that befall the protagonist, Koen, as well as the game's core combat, the day-night cycle, and Koen's transformation.

Overall Game Structure

The developer, Level Infinite, is a studio established in 2022 with a team of about 160 people, focused on creating single-player, narrative-driven RPGs.

Their debut title, The Blood of Dawnwalker, is a dark fantasy open-world action RPG set in medieval Europe. It follows the story of Koen, a man who is human by day and a vampire by night. The gameplay experiences between day and night were starkly different, and the narrative flow shifted significantly based on various choices.

The developers call this a 'narrative sandbox,' where players craft their own chronicle through the choices they make over the game's 30-day day-and-night cycle.

The demo was played on PC using a Xbox controller, with Korean subtitles and UI. Most striking was the depiction of vampires in both gameplay and cutscenes. With their dense teeth and brutal, powerful appearance, they look and feel very similar to the vampires in the film 30 Days of Night.

The overall graphics, including the cutscene visuals, are excellent. Character expressions and background details are refined enough to rival major AAA titles.

There are four difficulty levels: Story, Moderate, Hard, and Duelist. On the Duelist difficulty, directional indicators disappear during combat, significantly increasing the challenge of both fighting and general gameplay. Difficulty settings adjust various factors, including enemy attack power and Koen's stamina consumption.

Players aren't limited to just these presets; once in-game, they can fine-tune the difficulty through detailed settings.

Choices That Shape the Entire Game

The atmosphere of the prologue and the early game feels much like a horror movie. This is amplified by the intimidating visuals of the vampires, creating a grim and terrifying mood. The sudden flashes of red and the cold, dark color palette of the night are particularly memorable.

The prologue is designed to help players naturally learn the game's systems and become immersed by following the tragedies that strike Koen. One of the most important elements in this process is 'choice.'

As a 'narrative sandbox,' the entire game is built on choices. Choices drive the story and dictate the gameplay. Depending on what you choose, not only does the story branch, but the overall flow of the game changes as well.

These choices are critical not just because they change the narrative, but because The Blood of Dawnwalker treats time as a resource. Being given 30 days of day and night to save your family means you have a finite amount of time to spend.

Each day in the game consists of eight time segments. Once all segments are filled, day turns to night or vice versa. Time only advances during specific situations. Choices, quests, or actions that consume time are marked with an hourglass icon indicating how many segments will pass. Other actions do not advance time, though most core activities do consume it.

Because time is a resource, how you achieve your main objectives is entirely up to you. Many things consume time. If you choose to go fishing with your siblings, playing hide-and-seek on the way or even baiting a hook will cost you time.

Since time is a finite resource and results change based on your actions, 'choice' is a vital mechanic. I noticed that my experience was completely different from the journalists sitting next to me.

Quests also function as a form of choice. While there are many different quests, each requires time to complete, making it absolutely impossible to finish every single one in a single 'day.' Depending on which quests you choose and how you spend your time, you can experience a variety of narrative paths. In fact, depending on how you handled certain quests during the early tutorial, you might see completely different outcomes in later cutscenes.

It seems likely that these 'choices' will become even more significant during the main game, where the narrative flow builds up over time. One can only wonder if the story will also accumulate more changes in the main game, leading to vastly different results.

Day and Night: Shifting Gameplay Styles

Koen's transformation is dramatic. Not only is there a major visual difference, but the gameplay style changes significantly. Since the controls differ between day and night, your approach to the game must change accordingly.

By day, you play like a standard action game—running around and engaging in conventional combat. At night, the 'thirst for blood' and 'bloodsucking' mechanics are added. As a vampire, a hunger icon appears next to the UI, requiring you to satisfy your cravings by feeding on blood.

Furthermore, while in vampire form, you cannot recover health using daytime items. You must rely on special blood vials found during hunts or by feeding on animals or humans.

If your health drops below one segment while in vampire form, you become ravenous. In this state, you might end up drinking the blood of NPCs during conversations, regardless of their importance. Even in normal dialogue, you may see options where you succumb to your hunger.

Movement also changes. You can use 'Shadow Walk' to teleport, traverse walls as if they were flat surfaces, and slide down walls quickly using your claws. The unique movement in vampire form made the 'night' gameplay particularly engaging.

Direction-Based Combat

Combat is quite challenging, with a focus on 'direction.' Since there are directional blocks and attacks, matching the direction of your enemy is key to effective combat. There is also a 'perfect block' timing; if you match both the timing and the direction, you can stagger your opponent. Evasion is also available.

If you aren't used to directional combat, you can adjust the settings to make it more accessible.

Interestingly, in vampire combat, you can use your claws instead of a weapon. You can also upgrade claw attacks in the perks section. While you can still use a sword at night, investing in different traits allows for a completely different combat style between day and night.

As you level up, you can spend skill points on perks across three trees: Magic, Sword, and Vampire. Most perks have multiple levels, each with unique effects that cost skill points.

Learning rare perks requires both skill points and time, and some can only be learned by reading manuals found during exploration. Even after reading a manual, you must still spend skill points to 'acquire' the perk.

One downside is that the Sword, Magic, and Vampire trees all share the same pool of skill points. While the quick slots for skills and items are separated for day and night, the fact that core traits share the same points felt like a missed opportunity, even in the early game.

The demo left me with a few clear takeaways: the four hours felt like only a tiny fraction of the game, leaving me eager for the full release, and the sheer variety of outcomes from my choices guarantees high replayability.

Treating time as a resource naturally elevates the importance of choice. Even in the tutorial, there were many quests I couldn't finish and stories I didn't see. I am left wondering about the consequences of my choices, what I sacrificed to see the story I did, and what other paths remain unexplored.

Developed by Level Infinite and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment, The Blood of Dawnwalker is scheduled for release on September 3, 2026, for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.