8.2.2020

Set in an apocalyptic near-future, Code Vein takes the player into the dark world of immortal beings known as revenants and their fight for survival. This is the realm of the vampire and blood is its currency: it's a fight over scarce resources and a fight for survival. The world, storyline and gameplay all evolve superbly and Code Vein is an engaging and beautifully balanced masterpiece. And the journey is time well spent all the way.Code Vein is visually not quite like any other game, being a unique blend that sits somewhere between full-on anime and a realistic world. The lighting effects in this game are top notch: just take a stroll around your home base to see how the lighting interacts with different surface types.This is a next-gen concept implemented in the present. Superb. And it works even in the games' varied environments too: from the dark 'chiaroscuro' cave environments to the bright desert ones, Code Vein never fails to tick the 'Looking Good' box. This high standard is maintained in the sound department too: the music is in turns full of suspense, sadness, anger and excitement at the appropriate moments and the sound effects are all reassuringly realistic. A minor gripe is that the character voices can be too low in the mix and sometimes dialogue can be easy to miss, especially if you turn away from NPCs that haven't finished speaking.The UI is all pretty standard: movement, lock-on, camera control, dash, parry, guard, normal attack, heavy attack, as well as controls for the use of skills (eight 'gifts' can be assigned) and items (eight items can be assigned). Oh there's a switch weapon button too (between a main and sub weapon). Of less frequent use are the Quick Item menu (user customised) and Gesture menu (user customised). It's not a complicated system and will only occasionally lead to fingers-and-thumbs-brainfreeze moments. Fair and square and all fully functional.Code Vein's battle system takes a bit of getting used to. Initially, it feels sluggish in comparison to some other games, but with experience, the cadence feels completely natural, giving the player time to think, to plan and to attack as well as to back off and heal if circumstances dictate. Although highly unlikely (and with immense levels of luck), in theory it should be possible to play through Code Vein from start to end without a single death without having played the game previously. It's highly unlikely, many enemies are tricky, but the point is that the fairness of the battle system is spot on. There are two things to manage during battle: fatigue and ichor. Fatigue accrues through physical effort (so ad infinatum button mashing is unlikely to succeed) eventually rendering the player defenseless, so it's a good idea to keep one eye on this when fighting. The ichor stock of the player determines the availability of skills (Gifts) and replenishes upon successful attacks, so there's a nice balance between donking, casting and healing (through items or limited regenerations). It's a subtle and nuanced system and it's always fair.The inclusion of status effects is also welcome and well implemented: there are various afflictions and enhancements to hinder or help along the way. Selecting suitable items in different areas will expedite and ease progress through the game.The story and characters of Code Vein are another ace in the pack: the story is (relatively) linear but with some superb twists and glitches along the way. The end of the game comes midway through the game! Sort of. Finding and restoring memories (vestiges) also bends the linearity a little, so the storytelling elements have been considered and put into practice here. All the available companions are varied (in both personality and battle style) and have solid enough back stories for a connection to be made with them. It feels like the narrative of Code Vein is a core part of the game, not just an tool that gets the player from A to B. Lengthwise it's great too: it never felt like it was dragging it's heels or milking the playtime that little bit too much.On the subject of characters and customisation: wow! The different options in Code Vein are breathtaking. Open the Character Creator and take a look: there are skin, hair, eye, eyebrow, makeup, accessory, clothing and mask options to name just a few. Someone somewhere has spent a great deal of time and effort making this gemstone: there's huge scope for personalisation here (to the point where it seems a bit overwhelming) but the great thing is there are 32 available save slots for Appearance and another 32 for Customization, so any fluffing can take all the sweet time that it needs to take.So you can fully decide on the look and feel of your character. So can you decide what you character is? Of Course! Cosmetics aside, there are some serious tuning options available affecting how your character will play, in the form of Blood Codes. Equipping a new Blood Code effectively changes the class of your character and how the character will play: 'Fighter' "Boasts endurance for melee combat. Raises abilities based on strength and dexterity", 'Queen's Throat' "Excels at Gift-based combat and features many support-type Gifts" and 'Darkseeker' "Features many battle-ready Gifts specializing in those that deal with venom". There are at least 28 different Blood Codes waiting to be found. Maybe more. The Gifts that come with each Blood Code can be mastered through battle, opening up the opportunity to equip them on other Blood Codes, so once again the options are opening up considerably. It's a great system.Changing Blood Codes is considerably more effective when used in combination with Weapon and Blood Veil changes. Weapons are weapons: swords, axes, guns and such. Equip two and switch between them freely in open play. A Blood Veil is an armour type (a good-looking armour type!). Weapons and Blood Veils will affect a characters stats (Attack, Gifts, Defence, Resistances) and Weight (and therefore movement). Furthermore, Weapons and Blood Veils can be enhanced and manipulated even further still by asking (and paying) Murusame in the Home Base.Enhancing your character is another available development route. Experience (Haze) is gained and stored with each success on the battlefield. Meaning that the next level is only as far away as the nearest rest point (Mistle). But be warned: death will lead to loss of Haze! Haze is retrievable, but successive deaths will lose it permanently, so be careful to balance risk accordingly.A good way to acquire experience is through the multiplayer. It's possible to 'drop in' to another players game if they have an active Distress Signal. It's a risk-free way to level up since successes will only add to your Haze and nothing will be lost through death. Send your own Distress Signal if you've hit a wall. Code Vein's multiplayer is as good as anything else out there (for this type of game) and co-operative gameplay is always a roll of the dice: it may be good luck, it may be bad luck. Generally, the community seems pretty good (if a little thin on the ground).*** BEWARE THE SEASON PASS! The quality and quantity of the additional content is truly woeful: at present there are three add-ons to 'explore' consisting of a wretchedly small area (an hour each?) and a Boss fight that the player is expected to repeatedly grind in order to achieve rewards that in some cases can only be described as pitiful. Maybe the Season Pass content is a reaction to a disappointing uptake of the game, maybe better content was initially planned. Who knows? In it's present state the Season Pass content is at best disappointing and at worst a pretty shameful swindle. BUYERS YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! ***Standing alone, Code Vein is wonderful. Considering the sheer quantity of its scope alone, it's amazing that the standards are kept so high throughout the game. Just the customization elements alone are astounding, but when layer upon layer of great gameplay, gameplay options, animations, top quality cut scenes, high characterization standards, enemy variations, wonderful locations, great storyline and balanced gameplay (to name just a few) are thrown in on top, it gives a real perspective of how good this game really is. Dark Divinity indeed.

22.11.2019

Well what do we have here? Anime meets Dark Souls, to put it it simply. The Dark Souls similarities are huge, so fans of that series will enjoy this game. Lets sum up how it plays.You start by designing your own character. In traditional JRPG style, they never speak, even though all around them are companions who talk at them non stop, but seem content to get nods and grunts as the only answers.Play provides a multitude of weapon options, but no armour choices, however there are “veils” which are nearly all the same, but provide you with a “limit break” attack on the odd occasion. Play wearing the veil that you most like the look of, seems to be the best approach here.The game landscape is a series of world areas,which you fight through, opening various shortcut to save points along the way s you get closer to the level bosses. Death means retracing your steps to pick up dropped souls, sorry, I mean “haze’. Haze is spent on levelling up and various upgrades. Bosses hit hard and fast, naturally.Now here are some differences. The game is REALLY motivation-heavy and dialogue-heavy, so expect loads of long scenes of talking. There are many sub quests to recover “memories” and play them back to the owner who cannot remember. These can be tiresome to sit through as they require patience to watch in full. These scenes are very reminiscent of the “Persona” series, with the gentle piano and vocal music that reminded me of the Velvet Room. In another Persona similarity, you can bond with companions by giving them gifts, and they will do the same for you in return.Here’s another difference - you can bring a companion with you as you explore and fight. These are chosen from the “stable” of supporting characters in your adventure. Not bringing a companion is an option too, but it would be insane not to, as they are all very efficient fighters, sometimes leaving you in their wake as they mow down enemies. Expect to feel well supported. They even heal you, and revive you if you die mid battle! Not infinitely, but you normally get at least one free revive. They can also die too unless you keep them safe. The companions are a fun part of the game, and I enjoyed trying them all out (there are about 6 to choose from). It gives you someone to listen to and share the adventure!Yes, the bosses can be hard but not insurmountable. Everyone will find a few personal challenges, and for most people it comes from a brutal fight with a pair of bosses with opposing elemental powers, that you meet right at the end of the game. This one is very tough. The final boss is only slightly easier than this gruelling hurdle, and it makes a fitting end to the game. There is also an bonus set of optional dungeons for extra challenge and exploration (and loot).The “USP” of Code Vein is probably the Blood Codes and their related skill management. You can equip any one of over 20 character codes (given to you at key plot points by people you meet), and with each code come various skills, spells and assets. Play with that code equipped for long enough, and the assets become permanently yours. So with some grinding and patience you can pick and choose your favourites and then assemble them with your favourite base code. to play in your preferred style. Very cool.So it’s a good game, fairly long, fairly challenging. Some of the button commands you frantically input during a battle can seem to lag though, so be prepared to scream if you can’t get the game to keep up with your mashing. Maybe that’s just my bad play style. And bar some rather twee “friendship” scenes, and the ridiculous over-sexualization of most of the female characters (barely-clinging dresses and breasts as big as their heads), this is a well planned and executed game, and solid playing experience

22.7.2020

I've had a rocky relationship with the Soulsborne genre. I find them generally hard for the sake of being hard. Despite some rocky moments with Code Vein also, I have ended up really liking the game.The graphics here are mostly good, with the anime theme setting it apart from its contemporaries. This does result in a bit of blandness in some backgrounds, especially the likes of the Cathedral level, however at other times such as with flames and sand it really pulls it off quite well. The framerate I found to be inconsistent in some parts, but rarely an issue.The gameplay is where this gets really interesting. I absolutely loved the way you could basically mix and match your style of fighting to skills used,making it very customisable to my individual way of playing. Furthermore, there is one key difference that made me like this game over other Souls games, and that's having a partner controlled either by AI or a player. This really took the edge of the more ridiculously difficult and unbalanced parts of the game. All games should have difficulty levels as without this option of a partner I would never have gotten far into the game and not enjoyed it much at all.The gameplay doesn't suffer from any major issues but minor ones such as the backstab being very inconsistent to pull off; it really needs a specific button prompt. The lock-on also sent my attacks in the wrong direction a number of times, which can easily be fatal. Some of the levels, especially the aforementioned Cathedral, were much better on paper than in reality. In reality the Cathedra was an absolute painful slog that I did not enjoy. This brings me to another point - at so many junctures in the game I actually didn't know where I was meant to go next and had to resort to online guides. Again, not a major issue, but a minor nuisance in a game where progress can easily be stalled at the best of times anyway.The story and characters I found myself liking more and more as the game progressed, however all of the venturing into memories caused the story to be very disjointed for me as I tried to pinpoint whose memory I was looking at and why. There are quite a few minor characters who pop up and are easy to forget. While I found the scenes of people turning into stone quite heart-wrenching, I struggled to understand why this was happening. The story could have benefitted from a more coherent and concise delivery, however a game like this is not designed to be played just once like I have, so I can appreciate the wealth of lore for the hardcore players.Overall, Code Vein is a game I can definitely recommend and is a pleasant surprise in a sea of Souls-like games which all try to be the most unbalanced and punishing experience instead of a genuine challenge. I would put forth this game as a good first experience of the Souls genre.

7.12.2019

TL:DR: Buy this game if you loved Bloodborne & Dark Souls. It's a MUST have!While I don't care for anime, nor like anime much, I got this for the "souls-like".I was expecting another Dark Souls/Bloodborne with not much new apart from it being difficult. Wow I was wrong!You have MANY blood codes to use and MANY passives & abilites to use and master. Something "Souls-like" games don't do often, and many should take these ideas into account for any developers next "Souls-like" game.Many weapons to choose from and most have a different move set within that category of weapon, but not many boss weapons. All weapons can be strong, all depends how you make your build around it.

29.12.2019

Firstly I would like say if you like anime, gothic atmosphere, hack and slash and dark souls just skip this review and buy the game, you'll love it.I love this game for a number of reasons, the best one being for me is that unlike most games when ai companions usually just get in the way, the ones here actually do help out and do some good damage and support in a fight which can be a godsend as this game is brutally hard and leaves little room for mistake as enemies can put you to the test if your not careful so you can imagine the boss battles but that makes it more fun to play.The story can be a little confusing at first being thrown right into it quite quickly without knowing what's happened

13.10.2019

I'm a big fan of the Soulsborne series (including Sekiro: SDT) so this was naturally a must for me. I'd say I've put about 10/15 hours into it so far and it's fantastic - if you've played Dark Souls/Bloodborne, it's everything you love about the series with some added extras on top and a story that, unlike Souls, you don't need a novella to follow.Graphics are great and well done in the chosen art style. Runs well; not a single crash, stutter or error. Soundtrack has some genuinely fantastic pieces in it, especially in the more emotional scenes.It's a great game and if you love dozens and dozens of weapons, unique armor sets, deep class customisation (I've found 14 seperate classes so far!)

1.8.2020

This is an unashamed Dark Souls clone, but it definitely stands on its own merits.The combat is strong and well animated. The AI partner, if you choose to play with one, is on the whole is helpful. Yes they sometimes fall in boss fights and don't 100% guarantee keeping you alive/reviving you but you shouldn't be depending on that anyway. Their chirpy hints and one liners do get repetative but blend into the background and don't really annoy. FYI Boss fights solo are very tough.Graphically it was much better than some reviews had lead me to expect. Ok, not quite the exceptional world building of a FROM SOFT title but there are a good variety of locations. But what doesn't vary much is the level design blueprint,

10.11.2019

This game is great from art-style to flow of combat, to story and environment variety. It makes you feel like you really matter in that world and combat makes you really feel powerful and accomplished, even when the odds are staked against you.You probably should have some level of appreciation for Anime because it's very Japanese in the way it tells a story and characterizes the characters, but that's a big plus for me. The fact that you can always have a companion also makes it more accessible than the average Souls-like game, but if you'd rather keep that difficulty up, you can always go alone and make it a more methodical and harder game.Exploration and map design is really cool for isolated

28.10.2019

This is exactly what you would expect from a souls clone. So yeh if you hate souls dont but this you wont enjoy it.Anime souls, char creation is decent and the game is exactly the same as dark souls only difference really is instead of rb and rt for attacks its x and y. Which i find annoying at times. Its like are you a clone or what?? LolI think the only slight let down is that it is slightly slower than souls, you can get crowded by lots of enemies and be completely destroyed because your char just wouldnt roll. Stupid b button.You also get a side kick that follows you around and helps destroying enemies this makes the game alittle more easier as they can pick you up.The story is decent alot

26.10.2019

I preordered and bought this game via another retailer but wanted to leave a review here on Zon.As a Dark Souls fanatic, I was attracted to the gameplay and even more, the anime/manga styling and artwork. The game is absoultely gorgeous - the world, characters, etc. Just beautiful.It lends if not outright copies a lot from the Souls series but that is a positive thing in my opinion. The gameplay if good an fluid. Great in-game customisation with various Blood Veils (Armour), Blood Codes (Skill Sets) and weapons.For anyone that might be considered about the various Dark Souls references, rest assured the game is much easier than the souls series.For trophy hunters - its a relatively easy platinum with 3 - 4 playthroughs needed.One if not my fav game of 2019 - stunning.

16.6.2020

Finished the game at around 37 hours. That included most the side quests which pretty much ended up being - ‘go here, pick up item or kill enemy and return’ quests. The story is interesting and the boss battles can be challenging to some degree. My main gripe with this game was the AI partner. Utterly useless when fighting a boss. So many times I would rage at losing to a sliver of health on a boss because the AI partner would not heal me or do anything. Regardless, it was fun looking for all the memories in the game which serve as unlock-able skills and story chapters. Beyond that though, its hard to recommend this game, unless you really like customising characters,

7.10.2019

I pre ordered this game and started to regret it while I was waiting for it to be delivered. However, it has now become one of my favourite games and I have spent hours on end playing it since the release day. The character creation is worth trying the game alone for as it is so in depth and beautiful, for any anime lovers especially. As a die hard souls fan I was curious about this game and I am so glad I bought it. I spend the majority of my time creating characters/styling my protagonist and the gameplay is fun also. I am on my fourth play through and would recommend this to any anime lovers who like a challenge whilst gaming.

3.11.2019

Arrived in fantastic condition & had a DLC code inside which is always a bonus, This game is both fun with it's self acknowledgment & Graphic world design, the story you are set in is also pretty interesting & worth the journey, However this doesn't go without it's faults of which it's the game itself has, The unnecessary difficulty of trying to play Multiplayer being one of them, then bugs such as being able to see through little bits of the game & even break it multiple times, but again for the price if your playing with company or alone for fun, you'll have a blast, especially if your used to these games.

13.10.2019

Dont write reviews often. I 1st saw this 2 years ago and have waited a long time for a release date. I nearly binned it as it kept getting pushed back but I'm so pleased I decided to get it. I have played all games likes this and I'd say it's up there with bloodborne and dark souls 3 with the way it plays. Very smooth and the combat is fast. Not clunky atall. Graphics are perfect and has a nice story and cut scenes to watch. 10/10 in graphics, gameplay and polish. The anime is a fresh look what again looks brilliant.

17.2.2021

I really enjoyed playing this. The gameplay is a mix of dark souls and kingdom hearts as you can get cool abilities to perform during battle.The bosses can be surprisingly hard, especially the final one.Given 4 stars as some of the level design can be quite boring, in particular their clone of a or londo. Still, for the price definitely worth the pick up!

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