I suck at being a gamer. I’m often too broke to get games so I miss out on a lot of great releases, or at least don’t get to play them until years later. I still haven’t played The Last of Us or Skyrim. I’ve only played a little of Ocarina of Time. I just suck. One series I have wanted to try is Dark Souls. It seemed interesting to me, though I didn’t know how much I liked the character appearances or the seemingly very open world. A while ago I started to see advertisements online for this game from Bandai Namco called Code Vein. The overall look and style of the game seemed very cool and interesting. I ended up ignoring it for a while until I was perusing Reddit and saw some people’s created characters, at that point I was hooked on the idea. I did a bit of research, just to make sure and saw it was an RPG with a vampire theme and was being compared to a Dark Souls game, but with anime. So yeah, downloaded the demo and decided to dive in.
You start off needing to remember who you are, given the option to remember your name or remember your appearance first. You then go ahead naming and creating your character. The character creator is pretty decent, and I like the designs you can end up with. I’m assuming it is because this is still just a demo and not the final product, but some of the selections are a bit glitchy. It is mainly the hats where I notice this as the hair just phases through the hat. As I said, I like a lot of the options on the creator, it allows for some pretty sick character designs and already makes me want to play multiple times just to make more characters. Ultimately my edgy girl is created and named so we begin.
Full disclosure, I started the trial previously and went through just the tutorial, but it has been a few days and I have forgot, so created a new one. My first one was a male character, so I decided this one would be female.
So you get thrown into tutorial land where you meet this dark skinned woman named Cruz. She says we will be reborn as an immortal creature known as a Revenant. Revenants possess a power called a Blood Code. Each Blood Code does a different thing. You start out equipped with the Fighter Blood Code. It gives more endurance I believe and lets you use a gift, which is basically a magic-like ability, that temporarily enhances your attack power. Thankfully the menu isn’t too complicated so far, so shouldn’t be difficult to figure out.
For the gifts, instead of like mana or something along those lines, you have to kill Revenants that have turned into monsters, taking their blood. You then use the blood to activate the gifts. I see the vampire element now. You also initially in this tutorial have a sword and an unnecessarily giant hammer. Combat is pretty basic this far. One button for weak, quick attacks, another for strong and charged attacks. You have a dodge button and a guard then a stamina bar to make sure you don’t abuse it.
Being special, since we are a main character, we are a rare case that can change our Blood Code. Now we unlock the Ranger code. Rangers need light weaponry so we switch out our weapons for a bayonet which is neat. Also, apparently the blood we get from enemies is called Ichor. You can use drain attacks to take a larger amount from them. That’s neat. Drain attacks turn your arm into a giant claw that looks really awesome.
Enemy design so far looks pretty sick. It shows as a mutated human with them still wearing the gas mask but having these spikes seemingly growing around their face. I like it. I am excited to see more varieties and what the bosses look like.
Blood Code number three is now ours. This is the Caster Blood Code. It uses gifts to do powerful attacks from a distance. So yeah, this is straight up just your normal mage class. Stay back and fire from afar. Except instead of magic, it is just blood. Your throw blood at them..then take their blood…weird time but I like it.
Instead of Dark Souls where there are the fires, in Code Vein they have mistakes. You can acquire gifts, level up, access storage and teleport at them it seems. Also, okay it isn’t just blood you throw as I have just learned a fire ability. It uses a lot of Ichor which is annoying, but worth it. That attack does a decent amount of damage. Now that tutorial world is done, time to wake up back in the real world of rainbows and sunshine.
Naturally, we wake up with a girl over who welcomes us back. We are in a post apocalyptic world where everything is in ruin. So glad to be back. She says it is okay, because she doesn’t remember either. Doesn’t make me feel better, but thanks. She looks cool at least, so there’s that. We have to walk somewhere, but I’m only able to go at a snail’s pace. At least we will look cool while we walk for who knows how long. The girl also says that we can go slowly as if I had any choice. My character looks like she could keel over any second, but I keep getting told it will be okay. Oh thank God cut scene as we approach this white tree thing.
Girl in white is saying how everyone is thirsty and a spring that weeps tears of blood will help everyone. Meanwhile I’m doubling over in pain as memories hit me, the girl bites my arm, the tree blooms and is growing a fruit I think. I’m so confused but interested. I guess the tree is the spring and the thing she gave me is the blood.
We fall asleep in her lap before a bunch of other Revenants show up, happy about the spring. It seems we are then taken hostage and wake up in a guarded hole in the ground that seems to be their base. Ohhh! So talking to a random NPC seems to fill me in. The tree is the mistle. It seems to grow blood beads which are the fruit thing. Makes much more sense. I also have acquired my gas mask. I’m not sure what it is for but I like it.
Apparently we and the other prisoners in this whole are being used by the ones that captured us to harvest blood beads. Awfully rude. Other NPC also says that without the mask, we become one of those monsters in an instant. I hope that comes into play more. Partial transformations maybe?
There is apparently a miasma around the whole area that is causing the problems. There is also an A Bug’s Life vibe where we are all having to work to harvest these blood beads because someone else is coming to collect and if a certain amount isn’t collected, there is trouble for everyone. We get sent out in a group to harvest while the girl in white is being held hostage until we bring back blood beads.
I’m teamed up with a character name Oliver Collins who has a giant hammer…I have a pipe. Thanks evil Revenant jerks. I don’t know what’s worse, the pipe instead of a real weapon or being teamed up with someone named Oliver Collins. He seems okay so far at least.
I got really excited for a moment because I saw I had a hammer. It isn’t a hammer. It is a piece of rhubarb with a bit of concrete pillar on it. Better than a pipe I guess. We stumble on the body of one of these monsters that are called Lost. Oliver informs us that they don’t actually die they just stay in that dormant state until they become real monsters, which can take years. Great. Can’t wait.
Just up ahead is the first enemy of the actual game, chowing down on what I assume is a person. The noises it makes range from creepy to funny. I love it. I attacked with my pipe. It wasn’t very effective. Oliver and his hammer save the day. Also the Lost was eating another Lost. Yay cannibalism. Also I just found an actual weapon in a chest, an axe. Never happier.
The enemies so far seem a tad weak, so I’m afraid at what I’m going to have thrown at me soon. We also get typical Dark Souls stuff. Rest at a mistle to regain health and go back to where you died to collect the haze you had on you. I missed what haze is, great.
Oh! We got a new enemy variant. He was more armored and with a large sword. I liked how he looked. Now I’m more excited. He also gave me a broadsword. I can kill things now! Take that Oliver. He tells me a lot to be careful not to fall which just makes me want to walk off the edge. Rather not due though. I also keep forgetting dodging is a thing. I would do a lot better in games if I remembered to dodge and block.
Things have gone back to the state of the tutorial where I now have a bayonet and have found long range enemies. Also the enemies are coming more often and with larger numbers. They go down in a couple hits, but the shield carrying ones are a pain. Oliver got attacked and his mask broke. I’m going to pretend to be upset. Oh no. Woe is me. Hope I don’t have to kill him later.
Depending on your outfit, your drain attack changes. Mine is now two wolf heads. I love it. Also I died to a giant enemy. The game has gotten much harder now. I’m relieved. I have almost died multiple times as I get surrounded by different enemy types. I have come face to face with ranged, sword wielding, axe wielding, slimes and now giants. It is fun but tough. That giant one knocked me off the map three times, but I finally killed him and got a new coat. Yay.
After getting a new partner, we find and activate the spring, getting blood beads. I assume a boss fight is coming soon. Immediately after the spring is a mistle, so I’m even more suspicious. Yep! Boss fight time. We are fighting Oliver. Who would have thought that. He is tough. His attacks do a lot of damage and when you get him down to about half health, he transforms into an even stronger monster that one shot me. Wow. I lost to him quite a few times, but man did it feel good to beat him. I saved the girl in white and found a vestige, which apparently is very dangerous and can make you a monster so I shouldn’t touch it…I’m gonna touch it.
It stabbed me. I am fighting it off though and am in control of the situation, surprising my stranger team mate. I am now in a new world. Weird. Oh…it is Oliver’s memories. Now I’m sad. It is a memory echo apparently. It was depressing. Glad to leave it. Was a literal walk down memory lane.
Everyone got to see it. The girl in white knows a lot. I wonder how that is. She intrigues me. The stranger finally introduces himself as Louis. He is researching blood beads apparently. Glad I agreed to team up with him. Also get another blood code, Berserker.
Louis explains that the miasma showed up not long after the queen was defeated, trapping everyone inside. The creatures inside wander in a cycle of death and rebirth. Fascinating. I really like this. It is weird how the girl in white and I somehow have no memories. I am the main character so it is natural, but she must be very important .
So given that I don’t know how long this trial is and my battery on my control is dying, I am going to call it for now. I am having a blast with this game. The overall look of the game is nice. I like the post apocalypse setting and level design. It is a bit more open then I would like, only because I like to have a clear path. With things being so open, I end up going around in circles and getting hurt more than I need to. I understand the appeal though. The combat seemed pretty smooth, and I see moves that my team is doing and find myself hoping I can do the same. Once I got the hang of fighting, it became even more fun. It is nice having to put some thought into your moves rather than blindly rushing in. You have to figure out how many attacks you can get in while still having enough stamina to dodge when required. It is like a game of chess, planning ahead as many moves as possible.
I also love the character designs. The enemy designs are pretty creepy and cool with plenty of variations, making you have to think of a different strategy for each one. Each enemy thus far has had a different enough appearance to be able to easily tell those variations apart and strategize, but has been similar enough to fit in. The only exception to this being the slimes. The other Revenants we haven't seen much of yet minus Louis at the end, so I can't speak for them, but the normal characters looked great as well. The gas masks really add to the aesthetic, though I wonder if someone liked the look and wrote the story around it or the other way around. If the character creator becomes less glitchy, there is potential for some amazing characters.
The story seems like a great time, with potential for quite a few twists and turns that could make things interesting. The take on the vampires is a unique one. I want to know more about the world and the creatures in it. The whole thing is fascinating. I can’t say for sure if I will be getting the game when it comes out, but that is only due to the cost. I know for sure that I will be finishing up the trial when I get a chance and when the time comes that I can afford it, I will probably be buying the game and binging it. I look forward to seeing what the full game has to offer, and I recommend you take a look at it. It certainly seems like it could be worth it.
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