Code Vein Review
LORE
You start the game in a near future after the Great Collapse, you wake up in a post apocalyptic setting with all your memories gone.
Giant horns emerged from the ground killing half of the population and bringing with it monsters.
The people who died in this calamity were brought back to life as revenants and this was done by attaching a BOR parasite to their heart, this parasite gives it own blood to the host so that it can regulate and control all functions of the body.
The revenants were initially created to fight the monsters and they can be resurrected after each death at the cost of losing random memory unless their heart is destroyed then are gone for ever.
Though these revenants were bloodthirsty and with the lack of blood they later frenzied and turned into lost creating the first generation of lost.
Project QUEEN was initiated after finding an extremely suitable host to the BOR parasite, the project hoped to create more efficient revenants with a reduced blood thirst.
Initially a success, the queen helped in creating materials and aiding the revenants and the creation of mistles where the revenants soothed their bloodthirst. After extreme pain the queen lost control of her body and frenzied and started destroying the already ruined world. With her death she brought Miasma, a red mist which causes rapid bloodthirst and revenants will go frenzy if they breath it hence now revenants need to wear masks.
In response to fight the queen, more revenants were created…
Your character meets Louis during the early game where he asks to partner with you and he notices you successfully making contact with a vestige of a Lost without become frenzy and acquiring their blood code which are like class type in the game, these are unique features to every revenant.
Then you are invited to the base and later tasked with the remedy of Blood Bead scarcity which are human blood like fruits that come from the Bloodsprings trees.
CUSTOMIZATION
The game has very nice character customization options and you can have a lot of styles and switch in-between them when ever you are bored from one.
Though the main clothes are a few but all the accessories and level of customization somewhat compensates for it but to be honest its not enough and i will clarify about this a little later.
BLOOD CODE
Instead of you sticking with one class throughout the game which are called Blood Code here, we are given the option to mix and match and choose from many class types and the best part is that can change them on the go.
Each blood code has its unique abilities which are called gifts, you need to pay haze which is the currency in this game to unlock them or find memory parts of the blood code owners to unlock their locked abilities.
These abilities can used by consuming ichor which is produced by the body of the revenants and replenished by attacking or draining enemies.
Each blood code is unique in terms of stats and compatibility with weapons and veils, you can equip two weapons which you can switch in-between anytime and can have 4 passive abilities and 8 active abilities at one time.
WEAPONS AND VEILS
I love how you can change your play style on the go and the abilities you set with each blood code are saved, so the only things you need to change when you go from one style to another are weapons and the veil.
Since we are talking about weapons and veils, sadly there are not many weapons and veil types to choose from, you can get them from chests and buy them from the shop, or sometimes you get weapon drops from the monsters.
You can infuse or transform your veils or weapons with 13 different affects such as adding stun or fire or simply upgrade them with easy to find materials.
But to be honest i stayed with my setup without changing for about 90% of my playthrough. The veils are just like jackets that gives the protection and stats to your character, you wear the on your main clothes which are only about 7 types and the veils are about 22 types considering you have all the pre-order bonuses and so on.
The weapons fall into 6 categories, starting with one handed swords, two handed swords, two handed hammers, bayonet rifles and the finally the spears, halberds and polearms.
The weapons you get as drops from the bosses have their own unique abilities which is great.
i would’ve loved it if there was weapon forging or finding materials for making new cloth types and those lovely memories we restore should’ve at least given us an item such as a cloth type or an accessory that the person in the memory held or was unique to it beside just unlocking their abilities from their blood codes.
PLAY STYLE
Your character can switch between those two equipped weapons anytime, there are no shields and blocking with your weapons still damages you though blocking with a giant two handed weapon is more efficient.
In this game you can choose a partner to be with you all the time, so you will never have this feeling of being alone and stranded unless you want to go without your partner but they do play a crucial role and make things easier for you.
You can also send a distress call to get help from other random online users or setup a password so that only your friends can join, but it usually takes a lot of time and the guys who do want to answer your calls need to stay in the menu cause if it fails then they need to answer your distress signal again, i would’ve preferred if the game lets you continue playing while searching in the background for people that might need help.
Also when a person does join the game freezes for a second or two.
VESTIGES
Along the game we acquire new blood codes with some of its abilities locked and in order to unlock them we need to find these vestiges and view them, giving as a bit of side story of the owners and these memory segments are beautiful!
Upon unlocking a certain ability you will only be able to use that ability on that specific blood code unless you pay for max proficiency or equip it with the specific blood code and fight monsters until it reaches max and then you will be able to equip it on any other blood code of your choosing.
LEVEL DESIGN
There are around 13 areas in the game from very short to huge areas such as the great puzzle called the Cathedral of the Sacred Blood, i don’t know if i should call this area a genius level design or a mess as its a chore to go through and very confusing and boring specially after your 2nd playthrough. None the less the level designs are refreshing from ruined city to to snowy mountains and caverns.
THE BOSSES
Each area has its own final boss and some of them have mini bosses as well.
Most of them can be easily beaten while some are annoying and there this one boss that was extremely bad with its sudden target shift and add to that the sometimes unresponsive combat.
Yes sometimes its clunky and does respond to your button inputs, not very fluid to say the least.
I have finished the game all by myself of course with my partner which i didn’t change throughout my playthrough, but if things are tough then wait for someone to answer your distress call, you might have to wait a lot though.
SIDE QUESTS
After clearing an area you can go back find people that give you tasks to finish and to be honest these are a joke and am very disappointed with them, though some give you these depth maps which you can call dungeons.
There are about 12 of them and they are like mini maps for areas you have already visited and they all have mini bosses and a main boss in the end.
ENDING
The game has multiple endings and i love how it gives you this option to play a new game+ with the same difficulty or enhanced difficulty, this is good for the people who just simply want to blaze through and get to see all endings fast.
And also these different outcomes net you new blood codes and abilities which is great.
You can finish the game while collecting everything and doing all the side quests within 40 hours or less if you are en experienced player.
THE VERDICT
Though the resembles is there but this game a fresh take on the souls genre, this game is its own thing, with its blood code system, partner system and the amount of options that it gives you in terms of changing the difficulty, having a partner, the option of doing or skipping a whole area!
So yeah anime and action-RPG (Role Playing Games) fans rejoice. A refreshing take on a beloved genre!
The game is really fun to play and i have enjoyed my over 140 hours that i have spent and have finished the game 4 times now.
Bare in mind that i was not interest in this game at all before i finally jumped in after seeing a copy in front of me.
Though many things need to improve such as the lackluster challenge of some bosses, small collection of cloth types, weapons and veils as well the side quests which are mostly fetch quests and target killing that are usually only few steps away from the quest giver.
And did i tell you that you need to go back and forth to the home base after finishing a depth map so you can start it again? and when you go from one area to another area through these tunnels where the frame rate drops really bad and sometimes you need to wait in front of a fog door until the level loads? And sometimes monster back flip to their death falling from edges?
The fun factor is there as its really enjoyable throughout but there are some technical problems as well as some frustrating game mechanic designs choices. Despite all that, if you are an anime or an action RPG fan who enjoys a beautiful world with beautiful music score and fun gameplay then give this game a shot.
THE SCORE
PROS:
+ Extended Building Freedom
+ Blood Code System (Switching)
+ Character Customization
+ Memory (Back Story)
+ Side Character Stories (Memories)
+ Abilities (Different Builds)
+ Music Score
CONS:
– Story
– Some Level Designs
– Side Quests
– Depth Map Resetting
– Weapons and Veils Quantity
After playing this game am now interested in trying the God Eater series
Tell us in the comments below, which area you liked the most? Your best moments in the game and your character build.
