It was nearly seven years ago that Bandai Namco released Code Vein, a gritty, Dark Souls-inspired action-adventure game. It centered on a post-apocalyptic setting where Humans and Revenants (undead beings with vampire-like abilities) struggle to coexist while trying to control their unending hunger for blood and maintain their sanity.

Does Code Vein II follow up on what was a quite interesting series, or do they take it in a whole different direction to fit the current gaming landscape? Read on below to see the somewhat divisive changes included within the latest addition to the series.

(En svensk, AI-genererad sammanfattning finner du i slutet av recensionen)

A Return to Form?

Code Vein II returns featuring its own unique blend of ”Soulslike” combat. Here, I’ll go over the changes made to the latest game in the series as spoiler-free as possible.

One hundred years prior, the Heroes tried to seal away an apocalyptic disaster by offering themselves as sacrifices. (No, this has no relation to the hero from the first Code Vein.) They maintained the seal by forming cocoons scattered across the frontier. Inevitably, seals never hold for long, and now your player character has awoken to travel to the past to fix the issues that once plagued the world. You must find a way to save both humanity and Revenant-kind before the Heroes’ cocoons eventually explode, bringing the world to an end.

While it is a rather cliché time-travel adventure, Code Vein II leaves the direction entirely up to the player, dropping its previous pretense of dark, grungy, gothic dungeon crawling for a more open-world, Elden Ring-esque experience.

While the switch to an open world is interesting, it is a heavily divisive change for a series like Code Vein. The hook of the original was its dark, claustrophobic atmosphere and its linear dungeon-delving mechanics. In contrast, Code Vein II suffers from being overall too bright and cheery for a game that is supposed to be bleak. Furthermore, because the game is now open-world, many areas feature repeated or reused bosses, empty static environments, or small groups of recycled enemies. Despite its size, the game only features about seven to eight different overworld mobs; the only major difference is their visual presentation. This leads to the disappointing experience of clearing a mob only to enter a boss room and fight the exact same creature with a new name and a bit of visual flair.

Blood Codes

Blood Codes make a return from the original (now redubbed as ”Bloodlines”). Much like the first game, Blood Codes are the main classes, each coming with different stat spreads. While you are unable to increase specific stats manually as you would in other Souls games these Blood Codes are your means of selecting the correct stats for your builds.

Code Vein II introduces a new feature quite unlike previous titles. Usually, the only downside to carrying too many items is becoming overburdened by weight and slowing down. Code Vein II, however, introduces the ability to overburden individual stats. For example, if you overburden Strength, your stamina cost steadily increases. Other stats, like Mind, can give such debilitating debuffs that they can effectively lock you out of your favorite weapon for a time. Since the only way to level up your Bloodlines is to switch them constantly, you often find yourself using weapons you aren’t used to or lack the correct abilities for.

While I appreciate this feature, I feel some overburdened stats are far too punishing to be enjoyable. However, I do enjoy that certain endgame Bloodlines benefit from specific overburdens, which gives the game a deeper build system than its predecessor.

Gifts, Abilities, and Weapons

Originally, all your Gifts (magic) and abilities were tied strictly to your selected Blood Code. Once mastered, you could tailor your build based on what was available. With Code Vein II taking the Elden Ring approach, all abilities and Gifts are now acquired through general gameplay or discovered in the overworld. If you know which abilities you want, you can collect them very early in the game.

Abilities and Gifts can also be tied to specific weapon drops bought from vendors or found in the world, which removes the general grinding for abilities found in the previous game. I am in two minds regarding this change; while I enjoyed running around to collect abilities rather than grinding Blood Codes, it does make the progression feel less earned.

Conclusion

I have quite a few issues to cover regarding Bandai’s latest entry. I really wanted to approach Code Vein II with an open mind, as I truly enjoyed the first game’s gritty setting and well-structured zones. However, Code Vein II has several game-breaking issues and bugs.

First and foremost, your partner character is functionally immortal. Unlike the previous game, your partner doesn’t have a health bar. Previously, your partner could take damage and go down, requiring you to spend your own health to revive them. While I didn’t always love the partner system, it was a fair way to make them useful without making the game too easy. Code Vein II does away with this. Despite the partner’s low damage, you can simply play defensively and run away while your immortal companion eventually solos the boss. This is a massive oversight in a game centered on over-the-top boss fights.

The second major issue is performance. Even on a PS5 Pro, regardless of whether you are in graphics or performance mode, you will see frequent pop-ins, stuttering cutscenes, and immense slowdown in combat (specifically when mobs spawn blood orbs). The FPS never feels stable, leading to a jarring experience and inconsistent combat.

Other quick issues:

• Enemies are too large: Several enemies are far too big for the camera to handle. This leads to poor angles and hard-to-reach damage zones, forcing melee characters to use ranged abilities just to land a hit.
• Aggressive tracking: Enemy attacks are so precise that they are difficult to avoid. Most bosses are so aggressive that you won’t get a moment to heal until your partner draws aggro.

All in all, while I enjoy Code Vein as a series, I’m not sure these changes fit. This game feels like an ”Anime version of Elden Ring” wearing Code Vein as a skin. Many features have been ported over one-to-one; if you removed a few key phrases, you wouldn’t even know this was a Code Vein title.

After sinking over 30 hours into the game and earning all three endings in one playthrough, I saw no reason to return—unlike the original, which I revisit frequently. I recommend this only to those who enjoyed Elden Ring and want more of that specific format. If you can look past the technical issues, there is a well-designed game here, but the stark changes and pacing issues make it a very divisive experience.

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AI-genererad sammanfattning på svenska

Code Vein II markerar en dramatisk, och ofta polariserande, skillnad mot sin föregångare. Medan det första spelet hyllades för sin klaustrofobiska, gotiska atmosfär och linjära ”Soulslike”-progression, svänger denna uppföljare mot en ljus, expansiv öppen-värld-design som tydligt är inspirerad av Elden Ring. Men som denna recension belyser, medför övergången till en större skala betydande växtsmärtor.

Berättelsen följer en ny huvudperson som navigerar genom en klichéartad men funktionell tidsresehandling där hjältar offras i kokonger för att rädda världen. Även om berättelsen ger spelaren inflytande, känns förändringen i världsbyggandet som ett missat steg. Den en gång så ikoniska ”grungiga” estetiken har ersatts av miljöer som känns för ljusa och tomma. Denna tomhet förvärras av bristen på variation bland fienderna; med endast en handfull mobbar i övervärlden möter spelarna ofta samma fiender – och till och med bossar – som återanvänds med mindre visuella justeringar, vilket leder till en repetitiv spelsekvens.

Den mekaniska kärnan i serien, Blood Codes, har döpts om till ”Bloodlines”. Medan det centrala klassystemet kvarstår, introducerar uppföljaren en kontroversiell ”överbelastningsmekanik”. Istället för att bara påverka rörelsehastigheten, försämrar nu överbelastning individuella attribut, såsom att öka uthållighetskostnaderna eller låsa ut specifika vapen. Även om detta ger djup åt spelet, kan det kännas alltför straffande under det vanligt spelande. Å andra sidan har förvärvet av gåvor och förmågor förenklats. Genom att koppla dem till utforskning av världen och vapen som tappas istället för tung grindning känns spelet mer tillgängligt, även om vissa fans kanske saknar den känsla av progression som fanns i originalet.

Min hårdaste kritik riktas mot den tekniska prestandan och balansen. Även på avancerad hårdvara som PS5 Pro drabbas spelet av hackande bild, pop-ins och kraftiga bildfrekvensfall under intensiva strider. Dessutom har partnersystemet förenklats till den grad att det förstör spelet: AI-kompanjoner är nu odödliga. Detta gör att spelare helt enkelt kan dra sig tillbaka och vänta medan deras partner bekämpar bossar på egen hand, vilket tar bort den spänning som är så viktig för genren.

I slutändan känns Code Vein II mer som ett ”Anime Elden Ring” än en sann efterföljare till Code Veins identitet. Även om det erbjuder ett djupgående byggsystem och friheten i en öppen värld, gör dess tekniska brister och avvikelse från seriens ursprungliga ton det till ett kontroversiellt spel som kan alienera långvariga fans samtidigt som det lockar nykomlingar.

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Written by: Steve Gilman