Would you believe me if I told you Code Vein 2 is one of the most enjoyable Souls-like games I’ve played in years? That it not only improves upon systems and quirks present in the original game, but also offers something truly fresh in a genre packed with fierce competition? It’s all true! After playing Bandai Namco’s upcoming sequel for a few hours I can confidently say it’s a bloody good time, and with enough depth that even the most hardened action game fans can sink their teeth into.
Code Vein 2, like its predecessor, throws you as the player into an gothic horror setting filled with gorgeous anime flair. This time around, you find yourself on the precipice of disaster, having to dive back through time to track down a variety of heroes tragically destined to play a part in a great catastrophe. As such it’s your job to learn more about these figures, battling through hordes of horrific goons and daunting bosses as you go.
Like the original game, Code Vein 2 is a visual delight. A trip through a human settlement, underground urban sprawl, and the guts of buried machinery showed off the anime stylings, the world design flicking from dark and sketchy to wickedly vivid. When it comes to combat, ribbons of gold jettison off your powerful Jail attacks and combos erupt in brain-buzzing VFX. It’s hard to take your eyes off Code Vein 2 when combat starts.
The character creator too is a fantastic first impression, offering much more than many of Code Vein 2’s peers have managed. I was surprised by the sheer amount of alterations I could make to my character, the minute differences in colour and shape I could make to the smallest of features. For those unswayed by the joys of an hour-long design process, a rich spread of appealing defaults are of course provided. Regardless of what group of Code Vein 2 players you’re in, from minute one to minute 500, it’s a gorgeous treat.
But what about the action itself? Well, there is more to Code Vein 2 than extravagant presentation. Code Vein 2 is one of those special action games that allow you to revel in the cathartic feel of a solid blow. Each strike from a heavy weapon is a cocktail of visual / audio kickback that goes straight to your brain’s pleasure boxes. The rapid combos of more dexterous arms trades one larger blow for a cavalcade of smaller ones, their sum the measure of bulkier counterparts.
Ranged weapons, too, manage to retain this gushing game feel. The result: every fight in Code Vein 2 feels exciting. During my stint with it I landed on the hammer weapon type, charging up massive attacks and letting them loose on foes. Sometimes this resulted in a quick death on their part, other times it left them stunned and open to a cinematic finisher. Great stuff, and the most apparent improvement on the original Code Vein which feels a tad sluggish in comparison.
It’s got crazy depth too, an all-around step-forward from its predecessor. At its heart you’ve got the same core, a typical Souls-like combat system with stamina and various stats that boost different weapon types. If you’ve played one, you’ve played them all. Though thanks to the aforementioned excellence at the Code Vein 2’s roots even this base combat system is engaging.
However, it’s the sheer amount of customisation available that makes Code Vein 2 stand apart from its peers. Ichor returns, a resource that allows you to activate special attacks (called formae), and I was presented with a vast list of these to play around with and swap out at my leisure. Your Jail attacks can be changed, as can your weapons. The way your character plays is determined by what’s called a Blood Code, which act as general archetypes with their own quirks far more interesting than a boring: “strength +5” modifier.
One Blood Code I was allowed to mess around with in the preview was tied to the companion Josée Anjou. Usually, the only way to gain Ichor is through Jail attacks. The result is a combat loop in which you attack an enemy enough to pull off a Jail attack, gain a bunch of Ichor for special moves, then use them to further damage enemies, resulting in more opportunities to suck them dry. Nice, simple, and a solid foundation.
But with Josée’s Blood Code, each regular attack provides some Ichor in return, allowing you to gain access to game-changing special attacks without having to rely on Jail attacks. The downside? Gaining beyond the maximum amount of Ichor damages you. This example totally turns Code Vein 2 on its head, and this is a game one assumes has dozens more like it. An inventive way to not only pay homage to different play styles someone may have, but a nice way to keep Code Vein 2 fresh.
As for what hints of the story we were given during the preview, it certainly has a lot of potential! Hopping back and forth through time, getting to bond with a collective of diverse characters and then leaping forward to clash against their more monstrous forms. It allows those willing to invest themselves into the narrative to connect with a series of individual tragedies, though how well that manages to win-over people will obviously depend on how interesting these heroes of the past are.
Josée, to her credit, was rowdy and fiery but given time to open up in a more emotionally stimulating fashion, though the speed in which you learn about her familial nightmare was rather fast-paced. If the expectation is that, between continuous melee bouts with a horrific carnival of malformed dudes, I should be interested in the why of this bloody rampage. I do hope Josée is the bar and not an exception, though. Lou, your sidekick of sorts that enables your time-travelling adventure, is someone I saw precious little of during the preview. Given that your personal relationship with them appears to be a cornerstone of the overarching tale of Code Vein 2, I’m left eager to see if their portrayal impresses in the full release.
If there is one compliment I can give Code Vein 2 that may perk up the ears of Souls-like fans out there, it’s this. Code Vein 2, unlike many of its contemporaries, appears to be going in its own original direction away from the font of inspiration the whole subgenre drinks from. It’s doubling down on its strengths, on what won over a dedicated fan following when Code Vein released back in 2019. It is quite evidently climbing out of the Souls-like soup and setting itself apart with ample refinement and rich new ideas.
For those perhaps unfamiliar with the wider Souls-like space, allow me to present a more base descriptor. You can make a handsome guy with an eye-patch and beret in an exhaustive character creator, slap a gun in his hands, and set him loose in a world that’s distinct from its peers. For that alone, Code Vein 2 should be worth at least a cursory glance from anyone even vaguely interested in action games.
Code Vein 2 was previewed at Bandai Namco’s office, with travel paid for by Eurogamer
