14 DAY TRIAL // 
For every Code Vein gameplay mechanic or feature, there's one similar in Dark Souls. It's like Bandai Namco dismantled Dark Souls, kept its skeleton and added its own gameplay features that are similar, but have different names.
Yes, the formula is the same 1:1, but combat is completely different. It's not just the pace, which is much faster than Dark Souls, Code Vein's combat system is deeper and more versatile. It allows for a lot more viable builds depending on the abilities and gear that players manage to find during their playthroughs.
Code Vein and Dark Souls have the same game mechanics, so anyone who've played anything Souls-like will feel right at home in Code Vein. But that's about where the similarities end, as Bandai Namco's dark anime takes a completely different route.
An apocalyptic cataclysm has destroyed the world as we know it, but many humans who've been turned into Revenants, an upgraded version of the mythological creatures that we know as vampires, have survived. A lab experiment meant to offer humanity a chance against the Lost Queen, Revenants have no problem with daylight or holy water, but most weapons can kill them fast.
Just like vampires, Revenants need blood to survive, but there's no biting in Code Vein, as the remaining humans are too few to sustain a population of vampires. Instead, Revenants are quenching their thirst for blood from the mysterious Blood Beads that grow from the Bloodsprings spread throughout the world.
Unfortunately, due to heavy exploitation, Blood Beads become very hard to find, so many Revenants who can't satisfy their needs for blood turn into feral creatures called Lost. You are one of the many humans who's been reincarnated as Revenant, but there's one major trait that sets you apart from the rest.
Revenants awoke with something called Blood Code, some sort of class that allows them to perform certain movesets. However, your character is revived with a blank Blood Code and the ability to memorize any new Blood Codes from the people you meet and get in contact with.
Each Blood Code comes with so-called Gifts, powers that you can use so many times in battles that you'll able to memorize them. This means that you can use Gifts that you memorize with different Blood Codes, which adds another layer of complexity to the combat system.
Then, there are Blood Veils, which are basically armors that scale with your character stats but doesn't increase weapon damage or character stats. Instead, Blood Veils will influence your Drain attack damage and all Dark and Light Gits spell damage, as well as all stats that are related to Blood Veils only. These are very important since they have an impact on the parry timing and how you can use the charged Drain Attacks. Although there are only four types of Blood Veils, there are lots of armors that you can loot from bosses, purchase from merchants or find throughout the world.
Mixing Blood Codes, Gifts, Blood Veils, and weapons is not only fun, but it can mean dying a lot less when facing a new boss. The bad news is you'll have to play several hours to find enough of these to be able to create a viable build, as well as understand how they work together.
Instead of bonfires, Code Vein offers so-called Mistles, locations where the protagonist can rest and replenish his/her HP, along with the regeneration (Estus flasks) and Ichor uses. Also, there are a couple of other actions that players can take at the Mistle, such as acquire new Gifts with Haze, the in-game currency that drops from monsters, level up and teleport to other regions. Just like in Dark Souls, enemies will respawn if you rest at a Mistle, but not bosses and mini-bosses.
There's one other very important feature that sets Code Vein apart from Dark Souls, and that's the option to bring a companion with you throughout your playthrough. As you progress in the story, you'll meed new NPCs who have their own agendas but are willing to help you in your quest. Each has a different Blood Code, so you can experiment with them if you're overwhelmed by monsters. Obviously, you can play solo from the beginning to the end if you want a challenge, but Code Vein is not a hard game at all.
The Good
- Compelling story
- Incredibly detailed character creator
- Deep and fun combat system
- Great anime art style
The Bad
- Combat can be clunky
- Starts too slow
- Not enough enemy and weapon variations
Conclusion
Although the combat system goes very deep in Code Vein, it's far from being perfect. For example, the parrying mechanic is a nightmare to use, completely inaccurate and better left untouched. The lack of weapon variety is another problem for a Souls-like game, not to mention that the only ones with their own movesets appear late in the game.
Luckily, many aspects of the game are well above average, such as the anime artwork and the story. If you can get past the somewhat clunky combat and boring world, Code Vein can be appealing more often than not.
