Respawn Monday #15: The Blood of Dawnwalker Movement Bug and How Time Works

It’s been a busy weekend of gaming. In between packing for a big move to a new home, I started both Onimusha: Way of the Sword and The Blood of Dawnwalker, both fantastic games in their own right. I also spent some time polishing my Marvel’s Wolverine review (out September 10, 2026).

But the one thing that was a thorn in my side during my gaming sessions was the open-world game that gives you witch powers during the day, then vampiric abilities at night. Capcom’s latest Onimusha game will have to wait for a bit as the bug and how time works needs to be mentioned first. Some thoughts.

A Single Movement Bug Bothered Me

I’m over 10 hours into The Blood of Dawnwalker so far, and i’m enjoying this Witcher-esque open world game. But there’s this one bug that I encounter every single time I try to sprint.

When starting from a standstill, trying to move Coen diagonally with a controller causes him to slowly move in that direction, as if i’m triggering a slow walk. It was so apparent and consistent that it made me question whether my DualSense controller was experiencing symptoms of stick drift.

Apparently, it’s a known issue and people have shared a workaround for PC players using certain controllers, but on console, there’s no true workaround that I know of. Rebel Wolves have also yet to officially fix the problem.

Hopefully, it gets fixed soon because you do a lot of running in this game.

Dawnwalker Uses Time as a Resource

But beyond the annoying bug, The Blood of Dawnwalker is starting strong, particularly because of its unusual 30-day time system. I love the decision to make time a resource rather than simply giving players another open-world checklist to work through.

The main objective is for protagonist Coen to save his family, and he has 30 days to do it. Any quest, upgrade you unlock, or activity you complete advances time. Exploring the world, shopping, traveling, or even getting into fights in the open world does not progress time, leaving players to decide what’s most important to them.

It works rather well, and I love that starting a quest is now something you have to consider. But this is also a completionist’s nightmare of a game. From where i’m standing, it feels relatively impossible to do everything in a single playthrough.

That could explain why, on PC, the most downloaded mod for the game in Nexus Mod is one that increases the amount of time you have to save Coen’s family. A good amount of people hate it, which is fair, but give the system the benefit of the doubt before you strip it from your game.

Altering how many days you have to complete the main quest undermines the whole design philosophy of the game. I’d consider using a mod like this on my second or third playthrough, but I highly recommend sucking it up and experiencing the game the way the developers intended it to be played.

It’s also confirmed that it’s not the end of the game if you happen to fail saving the family.

For some perspective, I’m now 12 hours into my save file and at level 18. I’ve completed a series of activities, upgraded perks, and finished a good amount of quests, and I still have 26 days to go.

Coen doesn’t sleep. During the day, he roams as a human with witch abilities. When night comes, you instantly turn into your vampire self and roam until the sun rises, at which point you become human again.

It feels like there’s enough time, but I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t add a bit of pressure to my decision-making.

I’ve had moments where I’ve come across a monster lair that progresses time by one segment of the day. I actually decided to pass on one because I wanted to complete a specific quest first. If I did the lair fight, it would end the night and I’d become human again. I wanted to tackle that quest as a vampire instead.

It’s those decisions that make The Blood of Dawnwalker so addicting to play for hours. I find myself mapping out how to maximize each day: do minor quests during the day and hit vendors to buy and sell equipment (most shops are closed at night, obviously), then tackle the harder quests at night, when my best gear currently favors my vampiric side.

This back-and-forth between day and night is one of the game’s biggest highlights, and the use of time actually complements both sides of Coen.

It’s not a problem for me so far. I’m more bothered by the movement bug, which I really hope goes away soon.

There’s more to talk about, as the combat is fun but has its fair share of issues dragging it down, especially when playing on a slightly higher difficulty.

I’ll talk more about it soon.

How was your weekend?

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About the Author - Carlos Hernandez

Carlos Hernandez is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Too Much Gaming, where he writes about video games, reviews, and industry news. A lifelong gamer, he would do anything to experience Final Fantasy Tactics for the first time again and has a love/hate relationship with games that require hunting for new gear to improve your character.