If you’ve ever asked yourself, “How would an anime Elden Ring look?” The answer is Bandai Namco’s upcoming game Code Vein II. Leading up to its release, MonsterVine was invited to a hands-on preview of the upcoming Souls-like, where we got to explore dungeons, make anime characters, and kill over-the-top bosses for a handful of hours.
I was immediately shocked when I opened the game by all the character customization options I had to pick from. As you might expect, you had your usual options for clothing, gender, and hair. What was especially nice was that there were already a handful of default characters to pick from, which is ultimately what I ended up doing because of time constraints. But I can see the community creating all sorts of creative characters, as they did with Elden Ring.
Code Vein II Features A Heavier Story and Smarter Combat Systems
The overall story for Code Vein II is considerably heavier, even more so when you compare it to the first game. In short, you play as a Revenant who lives in a future timeline where everything has gone up in flames. This is because of a ritual that turned Revenants into monsters who’ll attack anyone on sight. To prevent this, you are sent 100 years into the past.
Although this should go without saying, the game is very anime and almost to a fault. This is because the game follows many stereotypical tropes about the power of friendship, the way life is linked together, and, of course, lots of heartbreak. Even though the game may be cheesy at times, it’s not necessarily a bad thing. As odd as it may sound, the cheesiness makes the story even more enjoyable because it is an anime game, and leaning into these tropes feels natural. From the handful of hours I was able to play, I was exposed to a wide range of characters, each with their own backstory, which made the world feel more alive. It only got me wishing I could see more of what the world of Code Vien II had to offer.
Of course, this is a Souls-like game, and one of the major lures of playing it is the combat. But it does so much more to make it feel like its own game in the space by implementing features that change how I approach every fight. First was the Parenter System. This was something I didn’t know I needed in just about every Souls-like game.
What this essentially does is give you a partner who’ll fight alongside you. As you progress through the game, you’ll unlock various partners who can do different things. But one trait they all share is being able to bring you back from the dead as long as they’re alive. On top of that, they can also buff you. Don’t worry, because if this doesn’t sound too appealing, it’s a feature you can easily turn off, and you’ll always have the option of running through the game entirely by yourself.
This wasn’t the only unique thing about the combat system, either. In true Souls-like fashion, everything is organized into distinct categories. There’s the primary melee weapon that you’ll use, which dictates how your overall playstyle is. For example, there’s your standard sword, a good all-around choice, and then there’s your big hammer, which is slow to hit but packs a punch. Of course, there are also a few odd balls thrown in, such as power swords that fly around you, that act as mid-range weapons, and a rifle that also doubles as a sword thanks to its banoeet attached to it. What’s great, too, is that each weapon has its own power attack that you can use, but they’re not exclusively tied to one either. That said, some power attacks can be mixed and matched, as long as they’re compatible with one another. You can get creative with it, too, and make something that could do a lot of damage or fit your unique build.
As for the other categories, there’s Offensive, and the name says it all. It’s just another weapon to use to help give you the edge during a fight. Then there’s Defensive, where things get interesting. Because from here you’ll have the option to pick from various essential abilities. These include blocking, parrying, and evading, and, depending on the build you go for, one might be more important than the other.
Things get more interesting the more you run down the list. Because you have Blood Code, which acts as one of your two cornerstones of your build, these are essential to learn because they alter how your loadout acts by giving various buffs. The other is your Jail; this is one of your main power moves, and each one does various actions. Using your Jail ability is absolutely vital while playing, the reason being that you’ll quickly run out of this game’s version of mana, which will lock you out of powerful attacks. But whenever a Jail attack successfully hits another person, it’ll refill your bars and allow you to perform various power moves you have in your kit.
As for the actual combat itself, it’s precisely what you’d expect it to be: challenging. Each area I got to explore was effectively a dungeon of its own. This allowed me to explore the types of enemies I’d face in the game’s full release. Even though most of the standard minions may be reasonably straightforward to kill, they still proved to be a threat in numbers, even more so when there was even one in the backfield taking shots at me while I was in melee combat.
This is where a lot of my build came into play. During my time, I opted to have the evade move, so timing was everything, and I was always on the offensive. This often created a fun problem because I had to consistently decide which power moves to use and when to expose myself to do a Jail attack to regain some energy. This became even more difficult whenever I found myself getting jumped by a mini-boss in the area. But all of this adds to the chaotic charm that is Code Vein II.
Most importantly, the backbone of any Souls-like game is its bosses. If there’s one thing Bandai Namco has mastered, it’s having incredibly challenging bosses and making them look cool while killing you. Like other games in the genre, each boss has a set of moves that it repeats, so learning when they’ll do what is vital to surviving. During my time with the game, I got to toe-to-toe with two different bosses. Each one felt unique in its own way, but they shared one common trait: a larger-than-life appearance.
Admittedly, beating both of them took me a couple of tries, but after really studying them and seeing which builds and attacks performed the best, I was able to defeat them fairly quickly. But the hard part of all of it was trying to keep a cool head while doing so, and having these high-intense songs play in the background didn’t help. But it was still nice to hear nonetheless.
All in all, my time with Code Vein II was nothing less than enjoyable. The story is straightforward to follow, and has a rich cast of characters that are easy to latch onto. On top of that, the freedom players have in choosing play styles is what really makes this game shine, and I can’t wait to see what the community comes up with when it releases. Code Vein II is scheduled to release on January 27 and will be playable on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
