Code Vein II has taken up a fair bit of our gaming time over the week, as we darted across different time periods in our efforts to help heal a world reeling under the influence of Luna Rapacis. Its efforts to be bigger, better, and more ambitious than the title that came before it have largely been successful, making it a worthy addition to what might be a very interesting franchise going forward.
We’re going to come out and say it. Yes, the game does have its problems. But they haven’t stopped us from thoroughly enjoying our time with it thanks to how its systems work in tandem to keep you invested in a gameplay loop that can take up significant chunks of your day if you let it. The story is interesting enough to make you care, while the combat and exploration loops do a fair bit of the heavy lifting alongside it.
To gamers like us who like to dig our heels in and give a title our best, this one was quite the entertainer, making us feel generous enough to overlook any minor flaws we found along the journey. But why is that so? What makes Code Vein II so addictive? Let’s get right into it and find out!
A Tale Ravaged By Time
We’ve often heard that time is the one thing that even the strongest of heroes might not be able to overcome. But that’s exactly what the Revenant Hunter sets out to do in Code Vein II, flitting between the past and the present in order to try and fix what went wrong with a world that was once a thriving place filled with joy and noble ideals.
Of course, things aren’t as easy as that, and we’re not going to give you any spoilers about the why, where, and how of the dystopian landscape we zoom around in with our very cool motorcycle (if only we could have one of those in the real world!). Instead, we’re going to focus on one aspect of the story that often makes or breaks the way it’s received by the ones experiencing it: the people you meet along the way.
The most interesting facet of Code Vein II’s story, and one of the reasons that it’s been keeping us coming back for more, has been the manner in which its emotional beats are underlined by the knowledge that things don’t really pan out in the way its characters want. Meeting their past versions and joining them on missions as you learn more about their hopes and dreams, while coming to appreciate their distinct personalities, is contrasted against the bleak future that you know thanks to you being from that timeline.
You learn more about their motivations, building bonds with them in your efforts to save them from their impending doom. You invest time in helping them out to collect key items that you know you’re going to use in the future. It isn’t just a matter of presenting emotional beats to frame the action that often follows your interactions with them, but a tale in which your protagonist must use that knowledge of who they were in the past to try and heal their corrupted versions in the future. When woven in with the usual complexities that time travel presents, it’s easy to see why Code Vein II manages to hold your attention as its story unfolds.
It’s all so anime, and in a good way. You’re so driven to learn more about how the world came to be the way it is, and each revelation often has you pushing yourself to find out more even as your eyes and fingers tell you that it’s probably time for a bit of a break. And the story is just the beginning.
A World Across Timelines
While the story in this game brings you in contact with an intriguing cast of actors, each with their own distinct identities, the world in which it takes place is the perfect stage to let those sub-narratives develop in tandem with your own adventure. The past and the present, and the other timelines you’re placed in, make for an exploratory loop that keeps you invested.
The game’s open-world map is a large one, and you’re encouraged to hop on your bike and ride off into the distance, Elden Ring style, with the thrill of the unknown guiding your path as you go. Yes, there’s a map, but uncovering it all is on you, and the few markers you get once you do send you in the general direction of interesting locations.
However, it’s up to you to figure out how to get to them once you’re there. We spent many an hour trying to find the entrance to a particular facility that housed Nectar, an item you’re going to want to find ASAP, thanks to its utility in expanding your healing capacity. But it took us the better part of an hour to find our way to it, and we had loads of fun along the way. The game doesn’t hold your hand when it comes to exploration, and that’s a very good thing.
We did see a few complaints about the lack of a minimap, but to us, that just made the entire thing feel all the more immersive. It lets you focus on what’s in front of you, allowing you to formulate your own plan on how to get to a place you’re interested in, and then spend some time finding your way in, just as it would be if you ever find yourself in a dystopian landscape where everything has gone to hell.
It all feels quite intentional, and the verticality that’s factored into the level designs ensures that getting to your next important upgrade material or lore drop is challenging enough to keep you pushing yourself without being a chore. By prioritizing discovery over convenience, Code Vein II has taken a bold gamble with its open world that largely pays off as it has us pushing ourselves to solve the little mysteries that come with trying to navigate its world brought to the table.
And of course, experiencing the story and exploring the world brings us to the meat of why this game has us hooked: the combat.
Fighting For The Future
As a Soulslike title, albeit a more accessible one than others in the genre, Code Vein II had to nail its combat down if it was to succeed. And on that front, the game does a very good job, which in turn makes it one that you’re not going to put down in a hurry.
Chief among the reasons for that is the build variety. There are a ton of options for players to explore, and a variety of ways to try out different playstyles on the fly, thanks to how seamless it is to switch things up. The Blood Code system is a major part of that, with each one coming with stats that push you in one direction or the other, and the option to freely swap them out, encouraging experimentation.
But it’s more than that. The Blood Codes are tied to building bonds with the game’s cast, allowing the game’s combat to integrate itself with the story and encourage players to engage with its compelling cast. The same could be said for exploration and Formae, as you’re encouraged to find as many of them as you can in order to have more options at your disposal.
Mix that up with the presence of your Companion in the field, and your Blood Code, and you have the recipe for a combat system that’s mechanically sound while allowing players to come at challenging fights from angles that suit their individual preferences. We often found ourselves swapping our loadouts to better suit the task at hand, carefully considering what the Companion at our side was bringing to the table when choosing our own abilities.
It’s a brilliant way to encourage finding synergies between your character and the rest of the cast while making the game easier to handle than some of the other offerings in the Soulslike space. It’s a welcome subversion of the “git gud” level of challenge, instead focusing on getting smarter about your own playstyles while still being required to master animation windows, parry timings, and managing cooldowns.
When factored in with Jail attacks, Ichor management, and all of the bells and whistles that its combat system brings to the table, Code Vein II’s combat is a blast. It encourages trying things differently, and has the potential to have you spending hours with your many builds.
A Potent Mix Of Fun and Intrigue
Looking back, it’s easy to see how Code Vein II managed to keep us invested in its world, story, and systems. They build a synergy similar to the one that players are encouraged to form with the game’s characters and combat. Its key elements are put in conversation with each other throughout its playtime, and the developers ensured that the game has a lot of interesting things to say to its players.
And by putting player agency at the center of it all, the game manages to have its players coming back for more, and then some. That’s a feat that isn’t easy to achieve, but we’re happy to have been a part of that journey. But for now, we’re going to leave you with a word of caution.
Make sure you have the time you need to enjoy this one. You deserve to be entertained, and Code Vein II is happy to oblige. Now, excuse us as we speed away to that interesting ruin in the distance, and find out exactly what it’s hiding from us.
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.