Whereas 2026 has thus far been full of unimaginable PC video games, The Blood of Dawnwalker was the one which I used to be wanting ahead to essentially the most. Not solely does it come from a sport director with an unimaginable pedigree, however ever since system necessities have been first revealed in February, I knew that this sport would completely punish my PC – and I’m into that.
Fortunately, Insurgent Wolves has since lightened the system necessities a bit, now solely recommending an RTX 4070 Ti for 4K 60 fps gameplay, quite than the RTX 5090 I assumed it was going to require originally of the 12 months. And now that I’ve had an opportunity to play it, I’m pleasantly shocked at its efficiency, even when the visuals are a bit blended.
Identical to loads of RPGs of this scope, a lot of what makes The Blood of Dawnwalker so lovely is its environments. Simply strolling via the city and the forest within the opening chapter is jaw-dropping, with practical foliage and water. The character fashions don’t fairly attain the identical constancy, however I’m happy with that when simply strolling via the world seems nearly as good because it does.
The Blood of Dawnwalker PC Settings Defined
Whereas The Blood of Dawnwalker is out there on Xbox Collection X and PlayStation 5, PC is the place it really shines. This sport has just about each graphics possibility I’d like in a contemporary sport, and avoids clumping a bunch of graphics methods into one banner. The sport is sort of heavy to run maxed out, however there may be genuinely sufficient room to dial it in for higher efficiency, just about whichever {hardware} you’re taking part in it on.
Consider, although, that The Blood of Dawnwalker is operating on Unreal Engine 5. The sport handily avoids the sorts of issues which have plagued Star Wars Zero Firm and Halo: Marketing campaign Developed, however it’s fairly heavy, particularly in your CPU. The sport will nonetheless run on a handheld, technically, however not significantly properly. I performed it a bit on the Lenovo Legion Go 2 on the lowest settings at 900p, and bought round 24 fps indoors. So, I’d follow your fundamental tower for this one.
However even on a tower, Blood of Dawnwalker might be very demanding. At 4K with DLSS set to High quality and on the Extremely preset, the RTX 5090 will get wherever from 70–90 fps earlier than body technology. It’s extremely easy, however that’s the sort of efficiency you’d anticipate from an RTX 5090.
This is my record of advisable graphics settings, so you may spend much less time questioning what every possibility does and extra time residing your greatest vampiric life.
Shadow High quality: This one’s fairly easy and simply modifications the decision and accuracy of shadows. This sport has loads of dynamic lighting, although, and that is in all probability one of the primary settings I’d flip down to enhance efficiency. However, it’s a sport the place shadows do add loads to the environment, so that you’ll need to weigh the significance there. Mid-Vary PC: Excessive; Handheld: Low
Gentle High quality: It’s onerous to inform from this sport’s beautiful lighting, particularly within the mornings and evenings, however there is no such thing as a ray tracing on provide right here. Nonetheless, this setting will change how detailed lights are, and the depth of results like international illumination and diffuse lighting. Flip it down in case your efficiency is struggling. Mid-Vary PC: Excessive; Handheld: Low
Reflections High quality: I’ll admit that I’m solely a pair of hours into this totally large RPG, however a minimum of in my time with it, there aren’t that many reflective surfaces. Nonetheless, this setting will change how detailed display house reflections are, so flip it down should you begin getting efficiency drops round water or different reflective surfaces. Mid-Vary PC: Medium; Handheld: Low
Submit-Processing High quality: You’ll be capable to toggle particular person post-processing options on or off additional down within the settings, so this modifications how good all of these results look. I’d maintain this up on increased settings should you like a cinematic aesthetic, however you may successfully flip it off should you don’t actually care about bloom or movement blur. Mid-Vary PC: Excessive; Handheld: Low
Texture High quality: This largely impacts how a lot VRAM the sport goes to eat up. I’ve spent most of my time on this sport with this maxed out, and the sport ate up about 10–12GB of VRAM. So I’d follow Extremely on 16GB plus, Excessive on something from 8–12GB and medium or low when you’ve got lower than 8GB of VRAM. This needs to be one of the primary belongings you flip down should you begin operating into stuttering.
Results High quality: This largely impacts particle results, and there are surprisingly loads of them on this sport. That is going to be heavier in your CPU than something, so I’d flip this down should you’re getting bottlenecked there. Mid-Vary PC: Extremely; Handheld: Low
Shading High quality: That is simply one other option to scale the lighting in Blood of Dawnwalker. I’d flip this down early should you’re struggling to hit 60 fps. Mid-Vary PC: Excessive; Handheld: Low
Foliage High quality: Merely put, foliage on this sport is beautiful, nearly on the identical stage as one thing like Murderer’s Creed Shadows. However, should you discover your efficiency begin to tank once you’re operating round within the wilderness, it’s best to in all probability drop this to a decrease setting. However, actually it’s best to a minimum of strive operating it a better setting simply to see what it seems like. Mid-Vary PC: Medium or Excessive; Handheld: Low
Element High quality: Possibly it’s simply me, however having the choice to tweak “Element High quality” feels a bit like altering “Element Particulars.” Regardless, this modifications loads of volumetric results like fog, together with destructible objects. I’d flip this down should you’re operating into CPU points. Mid-Vary PC: Medium; Handheld: Low
Volumetric High quality: This setting additionally modifications volumetrics, however focuses extra on their decision. I’ll at all times flip volumetrics down earlier than the rest, and that doesn’t change in Blood of Dawnwalker. Mid-Vary PC: Medium; Handheld: Low
Upscaling Know-how: Not like loads of different Unreal Engine 5 video games, Blood of Dawnwalker doesn’t try to shove TSR down your throat. As an alternative, Blood of Dawnwalker helps all three main upscalers from GPU producers and the one it’s best to select depends upon which graphics card you’re utilizing. Nvidia customers ought to use DLSS, AMD customers ought to use FSR and Intel customers ought to use XeSS.
Upscaling Mode: As a result of this sport is tough to run, I’d go together with upscaling on efficiency mode should you’re struggling to hit 60 fps. Nevertheless, needless to say efficiency mode will look fairly tough on decrease resolutions, so that you would possibly wish to decrease lighting settings first.
Body Technology: This makes use of AI to insert interpolated frames in between rendered frames. This can practically double your body price, however will improve latency by a bit bit. However as a result of this isn’t a aggressive sport, and isn’t even that fast-paced, I’d suggest simply turning this on, particularly when you’ve got a high-refresh price gaming monitor.
Movement Blur: That is only a toggle to both allow or disable movement blur. I hate movement blur, you would possibly find it irresistible. It’s actually as much as you. It gained’t have an effect on efficiency all that a lot both means.
Bloom: That is one other toggle, however this time for Bloom. These are the little rays of mild that you simply generally see coming off of the solar or one thing. This can have an effect on efficiency a bit, so I’d flip it off should you’re taking part in on a low-end GPU. However for most individuals on a contemporary gaming PC, it in all probability gained’t make that a lot of an impression.
Chromatic Aberration: That is an impact that tries to imitate a digital camera lens. I don’t discover a lot of a distinction whether or not its enabled or not, so I’d strive it every means and see what you like. This gained’t have an effect on efficiency a lot if in any respect.
Depth of Area: This can blur distant objects, particularly in cutscenes. This can be a good impact, and I often go away it on, however flip it off if you’d like all the pieces to be crystal clear.
Jackie Thomas is the {Hardware} and Shopping for Guides Editor at IGN and the PC elements queen. You may comply with her @Jackiecobra