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code vein review

Code Vein is a stylish anime‑soulslike with excellent build freedom, strong character customization, and a surprisingly emotional story, but it’s held back by uneven level design, repetition, and sometimes unbalanced difficulty.

Code Vein Review (Quick Scoop)

What Code Vein Actually Is

Code Vein is a third‑person action RPG often described as “anime Dark Souls with vampires,” featuring a post‑apocalyptic world of Revenants (vampiric undead) fighting to survive in a ruined city. You explore interconnected levels, rest at mistle checkpoints, and spend a souls‑like currency (Haze) to level and upgrade gear.

  • Core loop: explore → fight tough enemies/bosses → spend Haze → unlock new Blood Codes and Gifts.
  • Structure: linear but with branching paths and optional dungeons, plus DLC arenas.
  • Tone: melancholy, dramatic anime with heavy focus on sacrifice, memory, and identity.

Gameplay: Fun, Flexible, Sometimes Clunky

Combat sits between classic Souls and a faster hack‑and‑slash, with big weapons, dodge rolls, and stamina management.

What works well

  • Blood Code system (classes):
    • You can freely swap “Blood Codes,” which are essentially classes with different stat spreads and abilities.
* This removes build‑anxiety: you’re encouraged to experiment with melee bruisers, casters, support, etc., without rerolling characters.

* Many players highlight how easy it is to change builds “at the drop of a hat,” which keeps combat fresh.
  • Gifts (skills and spells):
    • Active skills give buffs, projectiles, big weapon arts, and utility options.
* Unlocking and mastering Gifts across Blood Codes lets you create hybrid builds that feel distinct (e.g., greatsword paladin with support buffs, glass‑cannon caster with dodge focus).
  • Blood Veils (vampiric “armor”):
    • Your “cloak” acts as armor, stat modifier, and parry tool; landing a drain attack with it is very satisfying.
* Different Veils alter dodge speed and damage potential, pushing you toward certain playstyles.
  • Boss fights:
    • Bosses are a highlight for many players—flashy, aggressive, and tuned to reward build adaptation rather than pure memorization.
* Some arena designs and multi‑boss encounters (like certain duo fights) are memorable difficulty spikes.

Where it stumbles

  • Balance around partners:
    • The game is clearly tuned with AI companions in mind, so playing solo can feel punishing while playing with a partner can feel a bit too forgiving.
* Some players even feel the companion support (revives/healing) makes parts of the game “too easy,” while going without them swings the difficulty the other way.
  • Weapon variety (feel, not count):
    • There are multiple weapon categories, but a lot boil down to big swords and hammers, which can feel samey if you expect the granular variety of Dark Souls or Monster Hunter.
  • Readability and learning bosses:
    • A number of people report that some bosses feel more like “whack until dead” than carefully learnable patterns, with a few late bosses and DLC encounters crossing into frustrating or “bullish” territory.

Companions, Exploration, and Level Design

You almost always have the option to bring an AI partner, and this is one of Code Vein’s defining twists on the Souls formula.

AI partners

  • Genuinely useful: They draw aggro, deal damage, and provide healing/revives, which softens the punishment curve without completely trivializing combat for most players.
  • Distinct roles: Each companion has unique abilities, so pairing your build with a complementary partner adds light party‑building strategy.
  • Community split: Some love the comfort and flexibility; others dislike that fights and level density are tuned around having a partner at all times.

Exploration and maps

  • Maze‑like areas: Levels often have intricate, looping layouts with shortcuts, and many players enjoy the “dungeon crawl” feel when it’s at its best.
  • Minimap design: The minimap draws in your walked path like a breadcrumb trail, which makes retracing routes easier but doesn’t clearly show vertical layering or complex multi‑floor structures.
  • Notorious zones: Some areas, especially the Cathedral‑like region, are infamous for being disorienting and visually samey, though others grow on players as they learn to read the environment.
  • DLC: Post‑launch DLC tends to be criticized as overpriced for the amount of content, with arena‑style additions that don’t dramatically expand the core experience.

Story, Characters, and Style

If you like anime storytelling, Code Vein leans hard into that identity. Story and lore

  • Clearer than Soulsborne: The narrative is more direct and character‑driven than typical Soulslikes, focusing on your “special” Revenant and a tight group of allies.
  • Memory sequences: Key backstory is delivered through “memories” you walk through as dreamscapes, where frozen character statues narrate short vignettes.
* Some players find these sequences emotionally powerful and a clever framing device.

* Others dislike being forced through them to unlock abilities, feeling they break pacing.
  • Themes: The story explores the cost of survival, loss of identity through memory sacrifice, and what it means to cling to humanity when your body and mind are twisted by vampiric parasites.

Characters and aesthetics

  • Character creator: Universally praised as one of the strongest aspects of the game, with deep options and expressive styles that let you craft very distinct anime avatars.
  • Companions: A cast of stylized anime archetypes, but many players end up surprisingly attached to them due to shared hardships and their personal tragedies revealed in memories.
  • Visual and audio presentation:
    • The “ruined city plus gothic bio‑organic growths” look has a unique flavor within the genre.
* The soundtrack gets special praise for mixing melancholy and hope, with a few vocal tracks standing out in cutscenes.

* Some critics feel the fan‑service and niche anime stylings make it hard to recommend broadly if you dislike that aesthetic.

How It’s Aged and Who Should Play It

Even several years after launch, Code Vein still has an active niche fanbase, and new long‑form video reviews continue to argue it is “still worth playing” if you’re into anime action RPGs. It hasn’t become a mainstream classic, but it’s firmly a cult favorite: loved intensely by some, shrugged off by others.

Best for you if:

  • You enjoy Soulslikes but want:
    • A more forgiving experience via AI companions and flexible builds.
* A strong, emotional anime story rather than cryptic environmental lore.
  • You love character creation, min‑maxing builds, and experimenting with hybrid playstyles.
  • You don’t mind a few rough difficulty spikes or occasionally confusing level layouts.

Might not be for you if:

  • You dislike anime aesthetics, fan‑service, or heavily stylized characters.
  • You want ultra‑tight, purely skill‑based boss design without AI support or build‑centric solutions.
  • You’re looking for the same environmental variety and weapon depth as top‑tier FromSoftware games.

Snapshot Verdict

  • Combat: Flexible and satisfying, but occasionally messy and balance‑dependent.
  • Builds and systems: Excellent Blood Code/Gift system encourages experimentation.
  • Story and characters: Emotional anime drama that many find more immediately engaging than Soulslike norms.
  • Level design: Mixed; some great dungeons, some frustrating mazes.
  • Overall: A flawed but distinctive soulslike that’s easy to fall in love with if its anime‑vampire style and build‑crafting focus click with you.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.