Code Vein II maintains the core parts of its predecessor, but it surely feels extra like a standalone action-RPG than a sequel. That’s as a result of it tremendously expands on the collection’ fight techniques and concepts to supply an enormous quantity of customization, whereas telling an all-new story about vampiric characters known as Revenants that’s not linked to the unique Code Vein.
I not too long ago bought an opportunity to go hands-on with Code Vein II to take a look at its new techniques, its time-traveling story, and its tough-as-nails bosses. Right here’s every part I noticed alongside the best way.
A bunch of fight choices
At first blush, Code Vein II feels just like different Souls-like video games, in addition to to its predecessor. You’ll be able to combat with a bunch of weapons starting from big greatswords to quick, gun-mounted bayonets and, new to the sequel, twin blades. Hitting Sq. offers you a quick, weak assault, whereas Triangle fires off a stronger, slower one. You may also dodge with Circle and block assaults with L1 to minimize the injury you are taking, or parry blows utterly in case you hit L1 simply as an assault lands.
The place Code Vein II units itself aside is in all its fight choices. For starters, for every weapon, you possibly can equip 4 particular skills known as Formae; one for every of the face buttons. Holding R1 and hitting a kind of buttons prompts the Forma geared up to it.
Formae are available in three totally different classes — Fight, Magic, and Help — and so they all have totally different makes use of in battle. One may offer you a strong assault, whereas one other might help you dodge out of the best way of an enemy earlier than putting again when there’s a gap, and one other may cowl a patch of floor with flames.
Draining your foes
Powering your Formae assaults takes Ichor, and like within the first Code Vein, you solely have a lot. You steal Ichor from enemies by activating sluggish however highly effective Drain Assaults while you hit or maintain R2. These strikes use particular weapons, Jails, and, just like the Formae, every is helpful in its personal particular manner.
Jails could be geared up like different weapons in Code Vein II, and I attempted a number of to see how they combine with totally different builds and talents. The Ogre Jail is a large claw that slashes away at enemies, whereas the Hound is a pair of dog-headed gauntlets that latch onto and chew enemies.
One other Jail fires off like a scorpion tail, supplying you with a number of vary, whereas one other allows you to ship a horde of tiny bats to tear at enemies. Every Jail has explicit attributes that match totally different Blood Codes, the central points of a construct that decide your character’s preventing fashion.
Between weapons, Formae, Jails, and Blood Codes, there’s an enormous quantity of customization in Code Vein II’s fight.
An journey by way of time
The world of Code Vein II lies getting ready to destruction. The one manner to reserve it is for you, the protagonist, to staff up with a Revenant named Lou with the flexibility to journey by way of time. The plan is to move 100 years into the previous to simply earlier than an occasion known as the Upheaval, the place you possibly can hopefully alter historical past to cease a world-ending power known as the Resurgence.
My preview began on MagMell Island within the current, the place people and Revenants had been holed up, preventing to outlive. However previously, the place was underneath assault from bandits, forcing me to combat my manner by way of its corridors and be a part of different characters as they labored to defend it.
The second stage, a dungeon known as the Sunken Pylon, was ruined, flooded mall into the bottom — a spot now overrun by Horrors, the corrupted former people and Revenants created by the Resurgence. In each ranges, there are sometimes aspect paths with robust, optionally available fights and hidden rewards to search out. Typically, you’ll loop again to an earlier checkpoint by unlocking shortcuts and elevators in traditional Souls-like fashion.
Gaining Companions
Time journey additionally allows you to meet characters from the previous and staff up with them. Companions are a serious a part of the collection, however Code Vein II provides new points to the system. Your computer-controlled ally will combat by your aspect, making them nice for taking up a number of enemies or distracting a boss so you possibly can heal. However you can even “assimilate” your companion, fusing the 2 of you collectively to present your self a stat enhance whereas your companion is off the sector.
You’ll be able to activate assimilation everytime you need, making it a useful a part of your technique, assimilating to drag off a couple of high-power strikes earlier than releasing your companion again into the combat.
Companions are additionally one thing of an additional life. When your well being runs out, your companion will revive you and briefly disappear. In the event you can keep alive lengthy sufficient, a timer will run down, bringing your companion again into the combat.
Code Vein II’s story hinges in your companions, with the Sunken Pylon specializing in Josée, a Revenant hero wracked with guilt over the dying of her twin sister. After channeling Josée’s recollections to unlock her previous, the dungeon culminated in a battle with the vicious Horror answerable for her sister’s dying.
Battling the Metagen Remnant
On the backside of the Pylon was the Metagen Remnant, a colossal creature that confirmed how brutally robust Code Vein II’s large bosses could be. The trick to the combat was to get in shut, dodging the Remnant’s monumental, burly arms, after which hitting it within the face each time there was a gap — whereas additionally being cautious to not over-commit and get pummeled.
Even as soon as I had the hold of what the Metagen Remnant might throw at me, it was an arduous battle. Bosses have big well being swimming pools and many lethal methods up their sleeves. However in case you can hammer them exhausting sufficient, you possibly can stagger bosses similar to different enemies, permitting you to carry out Particular Drain Assaults to do large injury.
Taking over Josée
The final a part of the preview, and the ultimate boss combat, noticed Lou and me returning to the current to finish our true aim. Throughout the Upheaval, a number of heroic Revenants used their life power to seal the Resurgence, however the calamity dealing with the world is a results of these seals weakening. To be able to cease it, we have to launch the heroes — now corrupted into horrible monsters — and defeat them.
Josée wasn’t precisely as we remembered her; she was now a towering, katana-wielding, armored warrior. Her preventing fashion is all about quick, sweeping assaults, and utilizing a standing impact that may root you to the bottom and go away you open to strikes. I had essentially the most success battling Josée with pace, pummeling her with quick assaults and staying gentle on our ft to dodge her strikes. However just like the Metagen Remnant, Josée places up a critical combat, making it clear that Souls-like followers are going to want to hone their expertise to defeat Code Vein II’s hardest challenges.
Altering historical past
The boss combat is a tragic addendum to Josée’s story. However as Director Hiroshi Yoshimura talked about throughout the occasion, after beating Josée, you’ll doubtlessly have the choice to return to the previous and alter her destiny. Which may provide the likelihood to avoid wasting her, but it surely might put your general mission in danger, too. Whereas I didn’t get to see how the timeline may change in Code Vein II, it’s clear time journey is an enormous a part of how its deep story will unfold.
Code Vein II has added loads to its predecessor’s foundations, providing versatility in playstyles and loads of choices along with your companion, your weapons, and your Formae. However essentially the most attention-grabbing half is perhaps its time-hopping story, with the possibility to get near Code Vein II’s characters and, finally, change historical past.
You’ll be able to see the way it all comes collectively when Code Vein II launches for PS5 on January 30.
A Code Vein II Character Creator Demo will probably be obtainable January 23 on PlayStation Retailer, letting you discover the sport’s central hub, MagMell Institute, experiment with Photograph Mode and take a look at the sport’s character customization choices. Your customized character could be transferred to the total sport.
