CODE VEIN

Not sure where the hate comes from - ~6 hours in and the world is very beautiful, gameplay is fun, and it is 'souls-esque' though definitely not quite as hard... though I haven't gotten to many bosses yet. It's like souls on 'normal' mode meets final fantasy (not as much magic, though, sadly. at least so far).

As a huge fan of the God Eater franchise I was shocked to see the mixed reviews on Code Vein and some of my friends also called it trash after playing for only one hour. However, I decided to give it a try and boy that was one hell of a ride. As a souls-like I honestly give it an 8/10, but as a Waifu-souls game I give it 100/10. The game is sooo anime that it makes you laugh sometimes but it also has a wonderful cast of characters and a fun story to boot. Overall, the early parts of the game might feel awkward but once you get used to the combat and gift system, you will have a blast!

Ive heard a lot of people try to belittle this game and make it seem as if it was a cheap "anime souls" rip off, but it's actually really good. Very enjoyable gameplay, a solid story with lore to explore, and a high skill-ceiling as well! Would recommend to anyone who enjoys games like Dark Souls, SW Jedi: Fallen Order, or Monster Hunter.

It's hard to find a souls-like game which has also contains a non-cryptic branching story. Only I can think of right now is Lies of P. The vestige system was perfect, listening the memories of your companions in a way as if you read it in a visual novel which is very nice design. Words can't describe the sound quality of this game (voice acting, soundtracks all are amazing).

The world seemed dull at start and I thought oh no here's another generic story comes again but the narrative changed swiftly and made me interested about the story again. All characters are very well designed, telling each one's story really made me want to explore more to find more about them. And game nails the first impressions for new characters because your opinion change drastically about them compared to your first meeting later in the game.

Difficulty is a problem for a souls-like game because it's non-existent. At mid to late game they start to scale up but you're already a god in the game so it doesn't matter that much. The unnecessarily complex and broken coop system is a huge disaster because game is already given you a bunch of companions so it's intended to play with them but not with your friends. Real shame.

The whole story, characters development top-notch for a souls-like game. I really didn't expect this much. But ending undone all the progress. All of the endings are terrible, I think that's a curse we can't really get rid of in these type of games. Muted player is a bad choice, because it really breaks the whole conversation. Only nods everything said to our player which is making him behave more like an npc instead of a player controlled living character.

There are 1 gamebreaking bug (stuck in elevator still anyone) which is annoying and some other minor bugs. For elevator part alt-tabbing the game solves the problem somehow still don't know why. And level designs (my nightmare) are gets worse each level thanks to over-designing the shit out of the map. Since all places look same thanks to reused textures (that's normal by the way but should have more clearer signs about places to be familiar with) you can lost countless times even with a map because you can't see floor levels on map only the obnoxious abomination on your minimap (a little bigger version in game menu).

Starting with the cathedral level, designs get much worse. I still think the worst level is cathedral, lots of shortcuts, jump downs, ladders, doors everywhere. It's a nightmare if you want to collect all collectibles (which is required for good ending I think).

For combat aside from it's over-designed features it's very satisfying and blood veils are too op to begin with, all you had to do move to the back of the enemy then let the blood veil do all the work for you. From the start and to the end of the game it deals insane amount of damage (for late game it makes sense but early game not so much). Enemy variety is scarce and it's a shame really. If you're not %100 exploring all places, you might not notice it but if you do depths missions (I still question why they even exist) you'll see lots of recycled bosses and enemies.

Definitely a recommendation, normally I don't play games that has an art style like this but they nailed it with the world setting and all other mechanics.

Definitely worth the $12, cannot recommend it enough tbh. Solid story, awesome bloodborne inspired combat style, pretty unique bosses, and lots of achievements to strive for if thats your thing. 8.3/10.

This isn't a very indepth review more my feelings about the game.

Some might consider it a cheap Dark Souls copy, but do not see it that way. I see it as its own thing that was just inspired by Dark Souls not copied.

I enjoyed the game quite a bit. While playing I just felt a sense of comfort and chill. I think that might have been, because I could customize my character so that I really liked him and could connect with him more + I really liked how the world looked.

lowkey this became my comfort game lol

Are you a soulslike enjoyer and weaboo at the same time? then you gotta try this. As a soulslike game, it has good mechanic combat and the bossess are fun to fight.

7/10 could have been better, some enemy just doesnt fit the pace of your character, late game scale also kinda poor design, those mobs has way too high hp and extreme difficult to handle if u dont have companion

This game is the reason I gave Elden Ring a shot.
Both games are awesome. Yes, this is anime-souls, and I'm here for it. The story was great and I love the gameplay, art style, and all of the ways you can build out your character.

Let's get this out of the way: yes, this is anime Dark Souls. If you've played a Souls game before, you pretty much know what you're in for, this game does not radically depart from the Souls formula in any meaningful way. However, the small changes and tweaks to the system definitely give the whole combat system a different feel and style, it's not so much "ripping off" Soulsborne as "riffing on" it, if that makes any sense. This almost feels like a Souls modpack with a budget, a labor of love by a dedicated fan who was determined to give his own twist on the idea. Everything that was fantasy is now sci-fi, and it delivers on that premise for the most part... though much of its technobabble explanations might as well be "a wizard did it." Again, thought was put into this game's worldbuilding, and while it doesn't all quite hit the mark, it is a very thorough and complete conversion. The story itself and the character interactions also varies in quality, there's really some good stuff in here, some character stories that will tug at your heartstrings, while others are just typical anime schlock, inoffensive if bland. Character progression is very non-linear, you develop your build based on your chosen class and equipment. Leveling up just gives stats across the board, which is one of the game's biggest departures from the strict Souls formula. The designers don't want you to worry about making your numbers bigger, they instead want you to focus on the wide selection of spells, passive buffs, and equipment. A common begginer's trap is to find new equipment and watch all their numbers turn red on the status screen because the weapon/armor they just found technically does less damage, but makes up for it with a lower weight and swifter, less stamina hungry move set. You need to test out EVERYTHING you get, because after the tutorial the game stops holding your hand and started beating you with a stick. Many of these bosses are very fast and hit very hard, so get ready to learn dodge timing and attack opportunities. The art style is quite good, and the game has a... ROBUST character creation system where you can make for yourself the ideal anime protagonist. The story, the parts of it that make sense, is pretty memorable and is meant to tie the whole game into the God Eater series. As someone who has played every Soulsborne game, I greatly appreciate the minor touches and changes to the formula, and I'm on board with the "post apocalyptic setting. Where this game probably delivers the most on its power fantasy is the sheer amount of control you have over the whole experience. (Wanna Unga Bunga with big weapons? Go for it. Want to dedicate your build to spellcasting? Easy, just start mixing and matching spells.)
Overall I highly reccomend this game to Soulsborne fans, or anyone who has ever wanted to dig into that style of game, because there's plenty for you to sink your teeth into. If you're just an anime fan, this might be your gateway drug to the soulsborne formula. It's not a perfect game by any stretch, but it kept me entertained and engaged throughout the whole experience. Beginner tip: there is a really good greatsword hidden just after the first "bonfire" in the opening dungeon, it hits hard and has stat requirements so low you can use it with the vast majority of the game's classes and equipment. (Look over the cliff, there should be a ledge with a chest on it.) There's more I could say about this game, more of it good than bad, so I'd say just try it out for yourself and don't judge a book by its cover.

I rarely write reviews for games, but this one I feel like I am obligated to write one.
No game before has actually made me tear up and cry, yet it was this game in particular that did it.

I'm not gonna go into a long-winded explanation, but.. if you want a powerful story that you can easily suck yourself into, characters you can feel for, and feeling like you're struggling with them, this is the game you need to buy.
That's not to say there are some bugs.. There are a few, with the menus. All I can say is while I would have expected the devs to have fixed this soon after release, the gameplay is still amazing.. Difficult, but rewarding is what I'd say.

I don't want it to end.

After playing the game once and nearly beating it, stopping for a long time, and then coming back to start over and ACTUALLY beating it, I gotta say:

Its super easy

I am an Elden Ring veteran, maxing the game out multiple times and getting every achievement.

Even though this is a Souls-like, it pales in comparison for difficulty. The story is decent and the characters are unique, but I personally think thats all the game has going for it. I do look forward to a sequel because anime and souls-like does well together. Overall, pick up the game on sale and just enjoy it for what it is.

Could you please simply support win 11 for this **** $60 game? Takes me forever to launch and multiplayer not working

Best Soul Like with Anime style game. Really Love it, The Gameplay was not that hard but still challenging.

Out of all the Anime games that I have played, this is the one that I probably like the most.The story line can get boring here and there but their are very awesome scenes that make me feel powerful.The customisation is really grate I just wish that there were more clothes added.I like that you can play with at least one of your friends even though I want to play with more than just one person (No offence meant by that Alex I enjoy playing with you).One of my problems and this is actually with a lot of games and that is I CANT JUMP!!! i know its not needed but I like to Jump, if I could jump exploring the game would probably be much easier because now I have to go in and out of buildings just to get to a specific place witch is about 170cm away from the place where I was where I could just jump and do what i needed to do.Anyway leaving my sad will to jump the game in all other ways are great the battling, powers and the bosses are all great I totally recommend playing it.If their were to be another Code vein game that is coming out I would absolutely love to play it.

Anime Dark Souls with character customization. Game is not perfect, but does generally feel good to play, even if certain areas are painful and enemy variety is a bit lacking. I have played this game an ungodly amount of times on console, and am already going for every achievement again on PC.

Game really sucked at first, but once you get past the first boss, the game is pre good!

I kinda like the character customisation of this game, but the co-op is actually wack.

Everything is well balanced from the storyline to the journey choosing and game mechanics.

PROs:
Fun story, characters, gameplay, and difficulty feels just right for a soulslike. A game that scratches the soulslike itch and is also uniquely (for the genre) in an anime artstyle.
CONs:
Camera is trash. Why the hell is it facing the floor when I'm getting jumped by 5 monsters. Map design can be cringe at times as well (sometimes it's comical how many times a 'hidden area' is simply found by jumping off a 'supposed' cliff).
OVERALL: 9/10

This game is basically if dark souls had the Elden ring bell.

I'm somewhere in-between recommending and not recommending this game
the problem with this game is that it artificially inflates the difficulty by
making bosses do way more damage then in the souls games/elden ring.
And the thing is the bosses usually only have 2-3 different attacks and no
phases so its really easy to learn them and not get hit.

Overall a 7/10 just because of the story otherwise it would have been a 6/10

I really like Code Vein. From the Character creator to the actual Characters in the game. I felt like they are real people who live in this messed up word. Also making Builds are always fun in Souls games. Just wish for Code Vein 2. The world is grim but still full of "life" from other Revenants to Humans just trying to survive.

Este juego es horrible. Lo repetitivo que se vuelve lo hace CANSADO y para la mitad no podía esperar a que se acabara. Me forcé a terminarlo. NADIE lo compre, créanme, no vale los 5 usd que pagué por el.

En su defensa, las primeras horas se sienten genial, la atmósfera el relativamente buena y el concepto es interesante. (No lo compres)

raids can be frustrating but they are optional , it's basically an anime dark souls 3 but less frustrating and a little easier .
........but if you're playing without a companion then i would say it's at the same level of difficulty as dark souls 3.

The game is quite fun if you can look past all the "edgyness".

The "gifts" (powers) are nice and most of them feel powerful.

The weapons look cool and can range from literal garbage to something straight out of an isekai anime.

The bloodveils range from "why would anyone wear this?" to "OMG this is literally the coolest thing in the game!".

The DLC's are just boring copy-paste content with a few new item added, nothing big or even worth the price tag.

Bloodcodes are a very nice take on typical powerscaling and progression since each bloodcode almost always offer something cool, you can also use different gifts (skills/powers) from one bloodcode while using another by "mastering" the gift you want to use, I HIGHLY recommend getting this mod:
https://www.nexusmods.com/codevein/mods/479
Since A LOT of skills and powers are locked to specific bloodcodes which forces you to use that bloodcode just to use one or 2 skills or powers, the mod fixes this issue and let's you use any gift (power/skill) with any bloodcode, it's a nice piece of QOL that the devs never wanted you to have.

It would be cool if we could ACTUALLY USE OUR BLOODVEILS AS WEAPONS!!! instead all we get is 2... yes 2!!! attacks PER BLOODVEIL TYPE! (There is 4,claw, tail, hound and thorns, so a total of 8 unique attacks) one of the companions can use thei bloodveil as an actual weapon (in cutscenes, but my point still stands) but we can't!?

The plot is interesting but some parts are a bit more hidden than I would like.

Most of the music is good with a few tracks I love, namely: Colossus, Return of the night, Towards the eternal glory and Tears of passion (unexpected feelings mix, used for a boss).

The optional areas known as the depths are neat... for the first five minutes... it sucks that the devs thought it would be cool to hide MULTIPLE bloodcodes (skill trees) down there...

The difficulty is nothing to write home about, even on NG+7 the game does not offer much more than a few damage sponges, no new enemies, no new stuff to collect, just... nothing...

NG+ have been handled in a nice way, you can choose to go into a harder "NG cycle" or just go through the game again on the "normal" difficulty, it's honestly quite nice to not be forced into a progressively harder experience until you feel ready for it, I kinda wish the soulsborne series had this function as it would allow me to actually feel powerful from the get-go.

The companions are powerful and have their own fighting styles, one might try to get in front of you and soak damage while another might stay back and support you, sometimes they can be usefull whileother times they can be a bit of a bother, thankfully they are COMPLETELY OPTIONAL.

All-in-all the game is a solid "soft" soulslike experience, it's a neat game for trying out the soulsborne formula if you're on the fence about soulslike games in general, the game makes a big effort in making sure the player is equipped for what they are going to face, with everything from consumables and weapons or armor to new bloodcodes with gifts that might be useful against an upcoming boss, the game likes to hold your hand but you as the player can choose to say "no thank you, not now" and go solo.

The game is a 8.5/10 for me, the only things that are dragging it down is how bad it's DLC's are.

This game is really fun, worthy of the label as a souls-like. Combat is fun and engaging, story is interesting and I'd reccommend you buy this game (especially if it's on sale)

good for newbies to the souls born genre but has a good enough writing for vets of the games and the characters are all badiies

I would give a like for the story and characters,Yakumo and Io are god-like partners (Io would be my next waifu!) :)

And I would give a dislike for the shitty map-design,especially the cathedral,I spent 3 days on it because the confusing structure :(

Anime Dark Souls, and I meant that in a positive way. Code vein manages to marries the positive of the difficult to play but satisfying to master and the wonderful feeling of overcoming monstrously difficult bosses gameplay loop of the Dark Soul games with beautifully rendered anime aesthetic and storyline and the cool looking blood code skills that elevates the gameplay and grants greater choices for the players to pick and choose their builds.

It is a great game that's fun to play and even more fun to master.

Mia best girl.

Great soulslike with an anime motif. fun gameplay, large variety of builds, and a solid challenge. Good on both console and PC,

It is kinda sad to see, that the game has mixed recent reviews. Yeah it is not the Elden ring, but the game is still quite good.

Gameplay and combat is generally fun without any significant bugs. Bosses felt mostly unique and some are quite memorable. Story is not mind blowing but it is good enough to keep your interest.

The main weakness of the game are its levels. Different locations feel kinda unique, but within individual levels are used same assets again and again. So it starts to look bland and boring quickly.

Overall it is good game that does not deserve those recent reviews.

Great anime souls like with suprisingly great charater custimization, bosses, and build custimization. The DLC's are a nightmare though, so be prepared.

I'm a bit picky when it comes to games, but this game is quite interesting to play in 2024. So if you're looking for Souls with anime theme. Give it a try.

Code Vein brings an enjoyable combat experience to the Souls-like genre, with a good mix of melee and abilities that keep battles interesting, though some bosses try (and sometimes fail) to copy the iconic Dark Souls formula. Initially, the anime-heavy story and character designs felt off-putting, but the narrative eventually pulled me in with its dark, post-apocalyptic vibe. The eerie visuals create a creepy atmosphere—not something I’d play alone at night! While I didn’t try multiplayer, the AI companions are generally helpful without making things too easy. Surprisingly, the game runs smoothly with no technical issues, and though it’s best suited to a single play through, it’s engaging enough that I’m on my second. Code Vein is a great game!

Fun. Good gameplay. It really is basically anime Dark Souls, as others have mentioned.

I may be cringe, but that just means I'm free.


Fr tho, not going to argue its a perfect experience, but I've greatly enjoyed my time with it. It's a simpler anime Dark Souls (I know, comparison made to death) with arguably over-dramatic dialogue and lots of organ music. For me, it's a great game to just sit back and lose yourself in the character creator and, by extension, the fashion of gear, or just taking in the environments as you go. It scratches a very specific itch for me personally, as I'm sure it can for others.

The best souls like, the characters and story are simply amazing, many thanks to the developers for creating such a beautiful universe

A soulslike with an anime twist. The combat is challenging but accessible, with a unique companion system. The world and story are interesting, but it doesn’t quite reach the depth of a Dark Souls game. Still, it's a fun alternative.

I loved this game, I had it since it came out but am just now writing this for some reason. The character creator has so many options and ways to customize your characters, the gameplay is fun and I especially loved the story and characters. There is so many codes and ways to customize them to suit your own playstyle and you can replay the game as much as you like. I also enjoyed the DLC for the extra lore about Jack and his previous partner, as well as the seven new blood codes you get and outfits for your partners. Though if you are buying the DLC and expecting something new, you might be disappointed . Most of the gear and enemies you get are just reskins of things already in the game with slightly different scaling, aside from the "final" bosses of each DLC.

I would recommend this game to my friends any day since I could play it over and over without getting tired of the story. Though the DLC is a hit or miss depending on what you want out of it, if you do get the DLC i'd suggest just buying the season pass to save some money and get an Alternate outfit/code for Mia.

Great game, hardest boss I ever dealt with so far was a Scientist and yet still felt more pain from the music

Good But too much bug, i should've gotten every achievement now
New game + sure is hard in this game tho

Anime soulsborne is pretty fun. Wait until its on sale though!!

Amazing Souls-like with great story - I never played real Dark Souls, but I find this game hard while still rewarding. It also has cool story which pushed me to play God Eater - this game is somehow related to god eater which I never played before (If you are curious as I was - to get first God Eater you need to buy 2nd and 3rd in pack, or maybe only 2nd - I bought pack of 2nd and 3rd for cheap, and used like 70 hours just for 1st, also note: if you are good at Code Vein, you might find it hard to play God Eater but it is still fun)

Does not run on linux OOB, denuvo makes it impossible to troubleshoot by locking the game after troubleshooting for a while. Fuck denuvo.

When I bought this game I didn't think I would have liked it as much as I did. At the start you are met with a very detailed character creator in which you can easily recreate your favorite anime character or create someone original. Besides that, this game offers a beautiful soundtrack, interesting story and a bunch of compainions who will follow you around and help you in a fight. Characters are well designed and memorable. Gameplay is fun and you can mix gifts from different blood codes to adjust your build to your liking.
Now here are some things that I didn't like:
- Denuvo.
- There are still some bugs in game which can affect your experience or even force you to alt+f4 and restart a game.
- The last boss was kinda boring to fight.

If you want, you can buy Deluxe Edition, although the base will be more than enough for some.
Overall I really liked this game and can recommend it.

The hero, who, as is often the case, suffers from moderately acute memory loss, wakes up to a bleak, cruel world. He is one of the revenants, immortal soldiers created as a last-ditch effort to stave off humanity's impending doom. Which in the end succeeded only very sporadically. In addition, this time amnesia is not just a screenwriter's crutch.
Immortality has its price, and it's not exactly a bargain. Revenants must drink blood regularly, otherwise they lose themselves and turn into unthinking monsters, and with each death they lose part of their memories, which remain where their former owner died. But he usually doesn't notice it. Because when you forget something, you don't actually know you forgot it.

The game serves regular showers of lemonade accompanied by pompously dramatic chants, which start to get on your nerves within an hour. Sure, the whole game styles itself like gothic anime punk, but it's too much of a detriment. It makes it all the more annoying that if you manage to cut through the coating of tear jelly and the layer of typical anime cliche (everyone constantly wants to protect each other and tells each other every five minutes), the story itself might not be bad at all.

Visually, the game doesn't look bad, but I recommend observing the objects and the landscape from a distance, because a detailed examination will reveal models and textures from the last decade.
Stylish soulslike anime with a great combat system and a rich selection of options for your own approach to playing. However, unimaginative enemies, weaker level design and unused story potential worsen the overall impression. 20%

This is a relatively casual souls-like game. The mechanics are pretty easy to figure out, Any mistakes you make can be resolved either in NG+ or just by grinding. Story is intriguing and engaging.

Aside from certain balance issues, this game is great. The DLC is completely unnecessary and only worth it on sale. If you like souls like games, this is worth a shot. If you like anime, this is worth a shot.

I recommend it, dropped 66 hours so far and intend on at least one more playthrough to watch the last ending I haven't seen.

I enjoy it,it isn't a masterpiece but its definitely worth your time.

Stop lying to yourself, you know what you are getting into anyway, why bother reading the reviews
It's Dark souls with anime titties.

It was rather cool and the character maker and designs was great

Very fun anime soulslike. Enjoying so far I wish the body sliders were a bit less limited I wanted to make a much shorter character to get as close to Rukia as I could but I guess its good enough. But yeah looking forward to playing more!