Code Vein 2, A Humble Review

Anime souls-like vampires have returned! Back in the distant year of 2019, during the surge of Souls-like games, every developer who wanted a piece of that pie fought to snatch a slice of the extremely profitable cake that FromSoft, led by the great Miyazaki, was already nibbling on. Code Vein introduced players to a post-apocalyptic world where the human race struggles to survive alongside people who have been revived as Revenants – beings with superhuman strength and vampiric powers. 

This somewhat linear adventure was extremely fun for everyone looking for something a little different from the regular souls-like games that had flooded all gaming platforms at the time. It stood out slightly because a souls-like in anime style was not overly represented back then, considering that all developers were striving to make their games as realistic as possible, closer to the original souls titles. The success of the first installment is well illustrated by the fact that the game sold 4 million copies, which is quite an achievement for a newcomer in such an over-chewed system.

Want to play an oldie but goldie? Check out our Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD remaster review!

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Code Vein 2 and the Weight of Soulslike Expectations

Now, seven years after the first game, everyone is wondering whether this is one of the rare sequels that is truly worth it or whether it will go down the path of Dark Souls 2, which introduced too many changes to the series that were not exactly well-received. As in the first part of the game, the events take place in the distant future, where humans attempt to survive together with Revenants in an extremely hostile world. 

In a great battle in the future, 100 years before the current events of the game, a group of Revenants bravely fought a phenomenon known as “The Resurgence,” which transformed all living beings into dangerous creatures whose consciousness and reasoning were completely erased.

The Revenants tried to seal The Resurgence forever with magical seals. The ritual of sealing this evil went completely wrong, and an even worse phenomenon appeared, known as Luna Rapacis. This new apocalypse affected Revenants and turned them into even more dangerous horrors than The Resurgence itself had created, so the sacrifice the Revenants made bore no fruit. After a more than detailed introductory animation and story that explains what awaits you, you are thrown straight into the action.

Who Is Lou and Why Does She Matter To The Story

After an extremely detailed character creator, fully in anime style as expected, you begin the story with your protagonist. You awaken in a coffin with your loyal companion, a Revenant with mechanical body parts named Lou. She is extremely important to the story, considering she is the only Revenant who has the power to travel through the past, which you will actively use in order to correct all the mistakes legendary Revenants made and that brought a new cataclysm upon a world already in worse condition than public transportation in African countries.

The game slowly introduces you to mechanics that are far more numerous than in the previous installment, which will be a breath of fresh air for some, but may be overwhelming for others, since drastic differences have been implemented compared to playing a typical souls-like title today. The first thing to note is that this is a souls-like that does not feature armor equipment; instead, all statistics are defined through so-called “Blood Codes.”

Blood Codes are artifacts unique to every character with whom you build a relationship in the game, and they provide different statistics. Whether you will focus on a character who runs straight into enemies’ faces and fuses them with the ground through raw strength, or you will be an active user of skills (called Forms in this game), you will have a fairly substantial selection at your disposal, where every player will find what interests them and suits their combat style.

 Choosing the Right Weapon for Your Playstyle in Code Vein 2

The weapons available are divided into six types: one-handed and two-handed swords, dual smaller swords, hammers, spears, rune blades, and bayonets, each with its own advantages and disadvantages, along with variations that will provide immeasurable hours of fun while you experiment with which approach is better. And lest you think these are your only options, Revenant weapons known as “Jails” have also been added. 

The use of Jails is imperative in the game, as they are the main way to restore mana points, here called Ichor, so that you can use the aforementioned Forms. Their variety adds another pleasant layer of adaptation to your character for every chosen style and ranges from close-range options, such as Ogre Claw, double-headed dogs, all the way to spikes that you command to emerge from the ground. 

The cool factor is further enhanced by the situation where, if you deal enough damage to an enemy, they enter a stunned state and, by activating Jails, you receive extremely detailed and very entertaining animations in which the protagonist performs a special move that can immediately restore most of the Ichor.

Bonfires have been replaced by statues called Mistle, where you perform all the basic souls-like functions, leveling up, fine-tuning weapons, and much more. In addition, “boosters” have been added that provide permanent buffs through which you can improve your statistics, ranging from basic stat increases to enhanced immunity to various elements, such as resistance to poison, magic, and similar effects.

Companion Lifesaving Systems Explained

Apparently, that was not enough, so Bandai Namco decided to introduce another novelty to help players, namely the Partner system. During the gam,e you encounter various characters who join forces with you and provide support in slaughtering all kinds of creatures wandering the futuristic world. Besides having a helper who fights alongside you, they also provide different buffs during battles (Lou, for example, gives a shield that reduces damage and has a Form that can slow enemies within the radius of that magic). 

Partners have unlimited life energy, so you do not have to worry about them if they decide to charge at a creature that would wipe out your entire energy bar. Particularly interesting is the fact that if you spend all your life energy, partners withdraw for a short period and give you an additional chance to continue the battle. After they reappear, if conditions are met, they can once again give you their life energy and save the protagonist.

If you are not a fan of having a trailer following you around, you can merge partners into yourself and thus obtain a doubly powerful character, so we believe every player will find a suitable style. Still, it seems that a partner on the field definitely makes functioning and combat easier, especially when facing bosses.

Social Bonds, Gifts, and Relationship Buffs

To introduce balance into the game, the Burden system has also been implemented, forcing players into additional strategic thinking. The six main character statistics are strength, dexterity, mind, willpower, vitality, and fortitude. When you equip certain Blood Codes, they provide benefits to some stats, but equipping weapons can impose burdens on others. If the loads are too great, Burden occurs and makes the character harder to manage. 

The best example is when strength is overloaded; every strike that normally consumes stamina and misses causes greater stamina loss, so you must play far more carefully because, if you run out of stamina, you can easily lose your life. As in other souls-like games, once you lose your life, all souls—here called Haze—remain at the location where you died, giving you one chance to retrieve them. In the case of dying again, uncollected Haze disappears forever.

Story elements, since they include mandatory time travel, allow you to shape the course of events your own way. Whether you will help a group of Revenants in the past build a bridge and connect two sections of an island or not, or help a character who was certainly meant to die and thereby unlock new game functions or not, is entirely up to you. Of course, since this is an anime game with social elements, you can talk to all major characters and give them gifts, thereby deepening relationships and unlocking various benefits, but the game never forces you to do all of this.

Technical Performance Breakdown of Code Vein 2

It is important to note that the game is full of various well-hidden items and story elements that can significantly ease gameplay or unlock different endings, so for all explorers and trophy hunters, a real treat awaits. Considering that the game is highly story-driven, any deeper dive into details would be pure spoiling, so we will refrain from further expanding on the narrative.

As for graphics, the game uses Unreal Engine, which is not particularly well optimized on PS5, so the console can be heard sweating while the coolers scream trying to render everything. We did not have the opportunity to test the game on PS5 Pro or other platforms. Visually, the game looks fairly average and, since it uses a pseudo cel-shaded system characteristic of anime games, it resembles more a title from the previous generation. The audio aspect is also fairly average, and there is nothing particularly special that would produce a serious WOW effect for players.  So we advise you to have some quality headphones with you, like our XP-RADAR800 ‘s, to help with the overall atmosphere..

When it comes to difficulty, in certain situations, you must be very cautious because analyzing enemies is extremely important. Carelessness can easily lead you into complicated situations that will often end with a game-over screen. There are certain difficulty spikes in the game, especially with some bosses, but with the right combination of equipment and partners, all can be successfully overcome.

In Conclusion 

When we look at everything, Code Vein 2 is quite a refreshment in the world of rather monotonous souls-like games, offering a charming story, a good social system, and mechanics that will definitely keep you glued to the screen while you enjoy exploring the mysteries of this post-apocalyptic world.

Game rating:9/10

It earns this score due to strong mechanical depth, partner systems, and build variety, despite technical and graphical shortcomings.

Recommended age for kids:12+

The anime presentation softens the tone, but dark themes, violence, and complex RPG systems require cognitive maturity and emotional readiness.

Gemini AI-Style Summary:

Code Vein 2 expands the anime souls-like formula with deeper customization, time-travel storytelling, and a robust partner system that reshapes combat strategy. While technical performance and visuals lag behind current-gen expectations, its build variety, social mechanics, and challenging encounters make it a standout evolution for fans of stylized action RPGs set in dark post-apocalyptic worlds.