Code Vein getting a sequel, as announced at Summer Game Fest earlier this year, was a pleasant surprise. The original was good! It was one of those games that necessarily didn’t blow people away, but was fun popcorn for action-RPG fans who like deep character creators, over-the-top plots, and far more weapons and customization choices than any person can reasonably keep track of. But good or not, loads of excellent games in this genre never resurface after their initial debut, so Bandai Namco being willing to return to its twist on vampires and take another crack at perfecting the pitch is some seriously good news. Sure, the developer has disavowed any plot connections to the original, which has some fans worried. But I just got 45 minutes of hands-off time with Code Vein 2, and came out feeling confident that direct sequel or no, this follow-up feels like a far more fully realized vision of the fast-paced, flashy action RPG that Code Vein 1 was always striving to be.
Dress to Impress
I did get a very, very brief stint of hands-on time with Code Vein 2, in that Bandai Namco let me mess around in the c haracter creator before they took over. No huge surprises here, but if you liked the robustness of Code Vein 1’s character creator and can spend hours tweaking eyebrow shapes, I’ve got good news for you. You can choose from preset designs, of course, for folks who don’t want to sit on this screen all day, but you can also adjust minute details like teeth and ear shapes if that’s more your bag. I had a lot of fun picking out a really big, silly hat for my character to wear. One of my favorite elements of the creator is the ability to select an outfit, and then turn on and off certain pieces of it. Love a cute dress but hate the weird garter it makes you wear with it? Just turn it off!
Once I had settled on a cute hat and hairstyle, I handed the controller back over to the devs, and sat back to watch what they had to show me. The mission they elected to demonstrate was one where the player is sent off with a partner (a buddy) named Josée to restore power to a city area. They selected the quest area from a large overworld map and traveled there instantly, though they arrived not in a closed dungeon but in a large, lovely, ruined city with multiple dungeons available to them just by running (or driving a motorcycle) around. I got to watch some gameplay both from an optional dungeon near where we landed, and from the actual objective dungeon itself, a substation where the hero might be able to get the city’s power running again.
Define “Open”
One big question I had going into this preview was whether Code Vein 2 was open world, or open zone, or something else. After chatting with the team, asking about the issue several times, and watching the demo, I’m still not 100% sure how to answer this. The team says it’s not open world, but also kept saying Code Vein 2 had “one single overworld” and that traveling is “a bit more open” than in Code Vein 1. There does seem to be a lot of interconnectivity – I watched the he=ro zoom around the outdoor area on a motorcycle (with Josée adorably sitting cross-legged on the back) and covering some meaningful distance without running into artificial walls, but it’s possible there were some much further along. Director Hiroshi Yoshimura also told me that the overworld is “significantly” bigger, while the dungeon sizes are roughly the same as Code Vein 1. Make of all that what you will for now.
When I asked about the world, director Yoshimura repeatedly pointed out that the focus was less on exploration and more on the various character companions you’ll meet in Code Vein 2. You’ll be traveling to points in the world specifically for missions tied to these characters that will let you get to know them better. Much of Code Vein 2 does indeed seem to be centered around these buddies, or partners as they’re now called, even more so than the first game since the sequel won’t feature co-op.
Friend Circle
In my preview, I got a decent look at some of the partner dynamics between the main character and Josée. Josée’s got a big ol’ sword she swings around, slow but powerful, and at different points I saw her light it on fire for both close-up and long-range attacks. Without actually playing myself it’s hard to say whether or not the AI has improved from Code Vein 1 (where it could be a bit finicky or, at times, suicidal). Though, if you hate dealing with AI partners at all, they can assist you in Code Vein 2 via “assimilation” – effectively removing them from the battlefield, but giving yourself significant stat boosts and powerful new abilities to compensate. One other feature I did appreciate was the ability of partners to revive you when you fall in battle, and vice versa if your partners fall, wisely on a cooldown so it can’t be spammed for immortality.
From what I could see, Code Vein veterans will be perfectly happy with the sequel’s bursting larder of combat abilities and character customization. Code Vein 2 wants you to get really comfortable cycling through different types of skills, and boy, you better keep track of all those Proper Nouns. But here’s the jist: you’ll attack with your weapon to start building up bleeds on an enemy, then use your equipped auxiliary “Jail” weapon to gain a resource called Ichor. Ichor can then be spent on far more powerful abilities, such as “bequeathed formae”, special, powerful weapons like a huge bow and arrow or a powerful shield. Or, you can activate your Jails for huge finisher moves, like swinging an enormous scythe or briefly gaining big, vampiric wings.
I don’t mean to spend this whole preview lamenting that this was a hands-off demo, but man, I wish I could have gotten ahold of a controller just to muck around in the menus! Code Vein 2, like its predecessor, seems to benefit from just trying stuff out and seeing what’s fun and effective, and even with just the options I saw in the demo I feel like I could waste a lot of time wildly flailing around with different combinations until I was happy with my particular expression of it.
When This Baby Hits 88mph…
I unfortunately didn’t get a chance to see anything from one of Code Vein 2’s most intriguing key features: time travel. It takes place in a present day where a horrible calamity has taken place in the past, and you and your companions are given the ability to travel back in time and change history. Though you’re strongly urged not to meddle with the past, obviously, you do anyway. I’m told you’re allowed to freely travel between past and present most of the time (occasionally you’ll be locked out of doing so), and things you do in the past can influence what’s going on in the present, even to the point of making it impossible to return to the present. But I wasn’t able to see any of that in action during my preview, so it’s hard for me to say how extensive or interesting this element actually is.
One other, somewhat fangirly note - hey, I love Go Shiina’s music? Shiina returns as composer for Code Vein 2 after working on Code Vein 1, and he’s also composed for my two favorite Tales games (don’t laugh at me for this): Tales of Legendia and Tales of Zestiria. His excellence was on full display both in my preview and in the story trailer I watched ahead of time, with soaring strings and chaotic vocals backing Code Vein 2’s intense battles. Sign me up for another banger Shiina soundtrack, thanks!
While Bandai Namco has confirmed that Code Vein 2 is a complete departure from the story and universe of the first game, it’s familiar enough in gameplay and style that I came away feeling pretty happy with the direction. I’ve seen fans calling it a “soft reboot” and I think that’s an accurate summation: it’s true to the philosophy of Code Vein without being beholden to its lore Wiki. Nothing I’ve seen has shocked me so far, but I don’t think it needs to: everything good about Code Vein 1 is here, just bigger, shinier, and slash-slash-slashier. Now just let me tinker around in the character creator for just a few more minutes…
Pioggia di sconti sui robot Roborock: le migliori offerte ti aspettano su Amazon