Code Vein II Review

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While the Soulslike genre has become increasingly crowded, Bandai Namco’s Code Vein II manages to stand apart thanks to its strong visual identity and a world of characters that are usually missing from similar games. If you look at all the genre staples from Dark Souls to Sekiro, characters and story are mainly left to the side or left for players to piece together themselves. Here, however, is an adventure that, if you’re ready for the vibes and anime-inspired wild-ride, can be rewarding — if it’s your cup of tea, of course.

Code Vein II knows exactly what it wants to be, as this is an unapologetically anime-stylised Soulslike filled with oversized weapons and more than a few dramatic monologues.

Even when uneven pacing begins to drag things down, or if you don’t enjoy the over-the-top narrative, Code Vein II remain satisfying to play thanks to its combat system with weapon and blood systems to upgrade and master, while having a level of accessibility others in the genre miss thanks to a reliance on mastering the basics.

You play as a Revenant hunter with the story jumping between the past and present as you uncover the truth behind the destruction consuming the world. You’ll begin the adventure in the present, as worlds are being destroyed one by one with the end seemingly on the horizon, before you jump back in time and look to make a difference on the battlefield in the past.

Like many games inspired by the Souls formula, the storytelling can occasionally disappear beneath layers of lore-heavy exposition and cryptic dialogue. However, Code Vein II still manages to build an intriguing world filled with memorable characters with larger-than-life personalities, cool introductions and flashy cinematics. The time-travel elements give the narrative a unique element, while the growing relationships among party members help ground the larger stakes.

Its combat is where the game truly shines. And even if I was skipping some cut-scenes and dialogue as I wanted to get through to the next gameplay moment, you can sort of speed-read a lot of stuff and still keep up to date with the core narrative.

The flexibility in the game’s progression systems constantly encourages you to experiment with new builds, weapons and abilities. You can quickly go from wielding a massive hammer capable of staggering enemies with ease to the next, darting around the battlefield using vampiric-like abilities to chip away at enemies. There are double-handed weapons, single, big and small. You can feel like a tank or an assassin.

Other games in the genre reward players for spending stat points into building particular weapons’ strengths, while Code Vein II offers weapons at a surprising rate, making changing weapons and experimentation an engaging and surprising element. You’ll see everything from big broadswords to syringes and everything in between. The game wants you to adapt rather than settle into a single approach, and that design ideology keeps encounters feeling fresh throughout the adventure.

Companions also play a significant role during combat, and add an element not seen in other games. Rather than simply acting as additional damage dealers, each ally can dramatically alter the flow of battle through healing, support abilities or aggressive pressure. It helps make Code Vein II more approachable without sacrificing tension during its tougher encounters.

The second combat stops, though, Code Vein II starts to lose momentum. The game’s larger environments occasionally struggle to remain interesting to explore, with several areas lacking the visual variety needed to make long stretches of traversal engaging. While the gothic/anime art direction remains strong throughout, some locations begin to look very samey, and venturing off the main path into the open areas can feel like a dull mess.

Code Vein II succeeds because its core systems are simply enjoyable. There’s always another build to test, another challenging boss waiting ahead or another absurdly stylish combat encounter around the corner. And although it may not reinvent the Soulslike genre, Code Vein II fully commits to its own identity and delivers a stylish action game.

(Review code provided to Explosion Network.
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