CODE VEIN 2: The Review

Code Vein 2 sets out to build on its predecessor while shedding some of the heavier narrative baggage for a brand-new world and story. It feels heavily rooted in the Soulslike genre with an influence of JRPG’s highlighting aggressive fast paced combat, a massive open world and beautiful anime aesthetics.

You take on the role of a Revenant Hunter. After an exhaustive character creation that gives a near endless character choice, (a creator you can try for free before bringing your character into the main game) you meet an interesting champion named Lou whose special gift is that she can travel through time. The world you live in has been decimated by an apocalyptical event in the past and another is brewing that threatens to wipe out the remaining Revenants and humans alike. The only way to stop this happening is by going back in time to a world before the initial destruction and bond with 5 heroes so that you can learn their secret to bring to the present and destroy them in their corrupted state effectively saving the world.

Combat is where the heart of Code Vein 2 lies, and it is here that you find its deepest and most complex systems. New Blood Codes and Forma Abilities give you a raft of different approaches to what is an unforgiving combat, allowing you to build different loadouts from all out aggressive fast hitting melee focused to a more hybrid approach relying on your abilities and defense options.

The combat options may be Code Vein 2's best system but it can also be a little daunting. As you unlock your abilities there is a lot of information to absorb and it doesn’t feel very intuitive until you’ve been in the system for a few hours. There is plenty of information to help you but how it all works is specific and takes that little bit of repetitiveness to become proficient in replacing, upgrading and modifying every aspect of your build.

In true to form, I tried to bludgeon my way through early on not realising the depth of options and it quickly became a slog, I wasn’t enjoying the spawn die cycle of the boss arenas I was encountering, a quick change in tactic and some build and weapon upgrades and I almost walked through the boss I was struggling with.

That said, there are some shortcomings in the combat that feel more performance related than technicality. Animations are fast and stylish but that extra style causes dips in the performance of the engine resulting in dropped frames which in turn accounts for missed opportunities to block or attack. In fights where timing is absolute paramount this led to more than one occasion of rage and twisting of my controller. As you refine your build for each major encounter the mobs on the surface turn into little more than a generic loot farm, the real challenge is in the dungeon encounters that the story guides you too.

Code Vein 2 has an interesting narrative premise that it never really allows to fully develop and engage you. Revenants are essentially immortal vampires, coexisting in the world of Code Vein with the remaining humans. You are a human who died trying to save innocents before Lou brought you back by sharing her heart with you. The heroes who mostly saved the world before are now locked away in cocoons and cannot be touched, this is why you need to travel back in time and get to know them. Each hero has its own story to tell, a story you need to insert yourself into so that you may learn what it is that can be used to defeat them in their corrupted state in the future. These moments lend themselves some emotional weight as you experience the world through their actions prior to the destruction but each feel like a letdown once you leave them behind. The moments you spend bonded with them have very little effect on other parts of the story and boils down to fleeting moments.

The open world is vast with different regions all beautifully rendered but lacking a little depth effectively turning them into a highway between dungeons. This unfortunately results in the overworld activities getting repetitive and stale quickly. Again, the comparison to other Soulslike titles hurts Code Vein 2 somewhat as you instinctively go searching the world looking for other areas or pieces of story to weave together outside of the main only to find very little.

There is an abundant fast travel network that allows you to zip around the map once you visit an area the first time and the introduction of a motor bike, gifted to you from the people of the past, to aid in the initial traversal helps with speed, but lacks thrill.

Visually Code Vein 2 is everything you would expect from an anime style and feels very Bandai Namco. Characters are beautiful and specific in designs with some truly grotesque looking enemies to destroy along the way. I played with English voice acting and was surprised to find it still emotionally hitting where it needed to be helping to create those brief connections with characters.

Code Vein 2 is a good game; it just doesn’t quite boil over into great game territory. Soulslike fans will find plenty to like and will be satisfied with a quality experience, even with its occasional technical frustrations. Frustrations that can be patched out and improved upon as the team receives more constructive feedback from players. Casual Soulslike players like me may struggle to find that hook to keep pushing through the hardships and in-depth systems that Code Vein 2 has for you.

Code Vein 2 is available now on PC, PS5 & Xbox Series consoles




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