Code Vein Reviews
A muddled and underwhelming Dark Souls clone that has a few unique ideas but fails to back them up with compelling combat or exploration.
Ironically for a game about undead vampires, there's a strong pulse and beating heart at Code Vein's core.
Code Vein feels like it wants to take the idea of community and important AIs and marry it with the gameplay and ideas prevalent in Soulslikes. It is a story-heavy affair that wants you to care about its characters, while also helping you find your way in a demanding world with thoughtful combat. There are some technical hitches along the way, such as frame rate drops, but they're the sort of problems that could very well be eventually fixed with patches. For now, it's a largely successful experiment into some new ideas.
If you go into Code Vein thinking that you're going to get something on the level of any of the Souls games (or Bloodborne) you're going to be a little bit disappointed.
Code Vein is a great game, but needs more polish.
Code Vein is a stylish JRPG with an interesting combat system that just falls short in a few areas. Its inspirations are clearly worn on its sleeve, but it brings enough to the table to stand out on its own. This title has promise, and we think the developer could iron it out into a worthy franchise if it's given the chance to make future instalments.
While Code Vein has a lovely art style, the story is the boring kind of bonkers. The combat is fun and the exploration satisfying, but the locations feel repetitive, the sidekicks annoying and in the end, it feels like Dragons Dogma's edgier cousin.
Code Vein does a few things well, like the amount you can customize as well as how enjoyable it is to explore the world proper. However, combat lacks the kind of refinement needed for such a complicated battlefield, and companions prove either useless or render you useless. Code Vein features many heavy inconsistencies that hide away a few good ideas.
Code Vein is a good dark anime-style action RPG. There are some flaws like the AI or various technical/graphic imperfections, but the articulated combat system, the versatile gameplay, the co-op and a plot that holds up to the end despite stereotypes and clichés manage to give to novices and experts 40+ hours of brutal souls like fun.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Despite all the drawbacks, Code Vein is fun to play. Nice characters, fan-service and clear presentation of the story are great. The tightened sections with the story about the past of heroes, visual secondariness of locations, simple opponents and easy bosses can spoil impression to hardcore fans of a genre, but beginners have to be satisfied.
Review in Russian |
Code Vein took the wrong lessons from the Souls series
Even though I died a lot and there were slight quality issues, CODE VEIN is a game I definitely see myself going back to again and again.
An unholy union of anime, Dark Souls, and My Chemical Romance, Code Vein is as much about style as substance. If that sounds good to you, then you're in for a treat, even if it lacks some of the polish of the genre's best.Jason Coles
Code Vein is easily one of the sleeper hits of the year, and it’s an experience that’s a joy to sink your teeth into.
Code Vein is a pretty good clone of Dark Souls, but it's own ideas, dose not work that well.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Code Vein can definitely be considered an ambitious and very successful experiment.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Code Vein is a good Dark Souls Like, in a sexy and post apocaliptic manga universe. The RPG mecanics and the level design are pretty decent, but the fights are boring.
Review in French | Read full review
Code Vein scores as anime souls with a clear story and solid gameplay, but it lacks a bit of innovation.
Review in German | Read full review
Although it attempts to try some new things to set it apart from other Soulslike games, Code Vein ultimately feels like just another wannabe in an increasingly crowded genre. But anime fans who love attractive, moody vampires will adore it.
If you were waiting for a Dark Souls inspired game to set your heart aflutter with vampiric themes and pulse-pounding combat…then you might want to wait a bit longer, as Code Vein definitely isn't that game.