CODE VEIN

I have mixed feelings for Code Vein, I don't think it is bad, I believe it does many things right, but also does some of them bad. I found myself saying "If only" a lot throughout the game.

Code Vein constantly screams at me that it has soulslike combat, but at the same time it screams it is not. I think this design conflict caused many issues that are present in the game. Combat feels stiff and does not understand what makes souls combat responsive in the first place. It feels like developers had a vision in their head, but some executives forced them to make a souls game.

Despite that, Code Vein has many interesting ideas, Focus, bloodcodes, gifts, drain system, 3 different crits, 8 spell slots, bayonets etc. Which often made me wish the combat was more fleshed out.

The story istelf is alright, cutscenes are cool and overall world is nice. I really like how we delve into memories of every character, experiencing them and understanding their backstory. Although it can get quiet repetitive, It is overall well done. On the contrast, NPC quests and certain main cast quests are never hinted or told to you, risking major losses like partners, unlockables or a completely different ending. I wished it wasn't like this, but this is how dark souls handles their stories, so It wasn't that big of an issue for me.

Level design is interesting, some has mazes, some has lots of traps and some has their own gimmicks. I enjoyed it, except some maze levels are horrendous considering how devs decided to make a map that literally looks the same every corner.

I enjoyed the partner system the most, without it I don't think I would have ever finished Code Vein. I honestly never thought I would like it this much either, but here I am making a build around keeping my partner alive. Oh well.

Character creation is sick, no arguments there. Wished our character talked more though.

If only combat was more fleshed out,
If only bosses made more sense,
If only focus had some use in bosses,
If only drains actually made sense,
If only weapon based spells had poise,

If only they stuck to their vision and walked away from the souls formula, Code Vein could have been a phenomenal game.

Hopefully in a sequel.

Oh yeah, One more thing. Whoever designed the final boss, I hope both sides of your pillow is warm tonight.

If you like soulslike games, don't mind reviews and try it. This game has a great storyline, extraordinary design, very interesting and new classes that you can switch any time, and a lot of weapons and abilities.
For me, it was an easier version of Dark Souls, where you knew what your next move was and didn't have to walk around a ton to find out, which made it very enjoyable.
The combat system and bosses were mediocre, but had fun whole game. 8/10

It is kinda sad to see, that the game has mixed recent reviews. Yeah it is not the Elden ring, but the game is still quite good.
Gameplay and combat is generally fun without any significant bugs. Bosses felt mostly unique and some are quite memorable. Story is not mind blowing but it is good enough to keep your interest.
The main weakness of the game are its levels. Different locations feel kinda unique, but within individual levels are used same assets again and again. So it starts to look bland and boring quickly.
Overall it is good game that does not deserve those recent reviews.

Great game to play alone or with friends. Heavy character customization and a good game system! Also, big bahongazongahoos

A pretty solid piece of game. Never in the nine realms did I expect to enjoy it as much as I did - especially the characters, who genuinely made me care about their stories.
Funnily enough, I start playing the game and a couple of days later the damn sequel, after six years, suddenly gets announced. Some luck huh?

Great game with an interesting plot, it has everything you need anime and big boobs.

I had heard this game described as 'Anime Dark Souls' or 'Waifu Souls', and now having finished a playthrough I would have to say that those sort of humorous descriptors turned out to be fairly apt.

Code Vein doesn't stray too far from the formula. You have your similarly named equivalents to bonfires, estus, and souls, weapon and armour upgrades, iframes, stat scaling, etc., and for the most part they act about as you would expect. You fight many large, fast, punishing bosses. There's a sort of persistent multiplayer that I did not touch and which seems to be rather dead. The game can be quite challenging at times. There's even some generic extra areas which call Bloodborne's chalice dungeons to mind.

The most striking difference from the SoulsBorne games is that rather than build your characters through delineating stats, levelling up is just a standard increase in your health, stamina, and damage. Your other stats, what weapons and armour you can equip, how much ichor (MP essentially) you have, and your equip load and speed are determined by what class you equip. Each class has a number of 'gifts', passive and active abilities which can give you stat upgrades and powerful special attacks. After meeting certain requirements, these can be transferred between classes. There is a lot of mixing and matching you can do to come up with a viable build, though I just ended up using classes that use heavy weapons for most of the game as their ability to stagger enemies is quite useful. I never felt the need to respec for a boss.

Another key addition to the formula is the ability to drag along an AI companion. Though they occasionally make boneheaded decisions, they can be quite useful and do make things easier. These companions are optional.

The SoulsBorne games are noted for their sparse storytelling, and that is another area where Code Vein differs. There is a more traditional narrative, with a number of cutscenes. The story is not great, and how it is told is, well... a bit too anime for my tastes. I like the character designs and aesthetics, but the shonen tropes just don't do it for me here. Things can get very cheesy and melodramatic. The game has a dreary and dismal setting as with similar titles, and long speeches about the power of friendship or jokes about a character's rumbling stomach fit in poorly. A lot of the story is told through sequences where you stroll slowly through a character's memories, generally always a series of overly emotional scenes while lilting, sentimental piano and strings play in the background. I couldn't take much of this. Thankfully you can skip these (although they are optional in the first place, unlocking them also unlocks new abilities for your classes).

A major downside of the game, in my opinion, is the level design. Most areas are just one big maze. The map is terrible and only unlocks, piece by piece, when you find mistle, this game's version of bonfires. Mostly you have to navigate by sight and by a record of your footsteps that show up on the map screen. This is made difficult by just how similar the winding halls of each area look to each other, and neither the footsteps nor the map help much when you get to areas with some verticality.

Would I recommend Code Vein? That depends. If you don't like the soulslikes, action-rpgs, manga/anime, you might want to look elsewhere. However, if you are into those things you could do worse than Code Vein. Though nowhere near as good as the games that inspired it, I did like it. It scratches that itch. It is not a masterpiece, but it is not terrible either. It's a 7/10 game for me. Solid. The 30 hours my playthrough took were mostly enjoyable. I wouldn't pay full price for it though.