It’s been six long years since the release of Code Vein, and while the vampiric anime Soulslike had some fresh ideas, the genre has changed significantly since then thanks to FromSoftware’s Elden Ring. We’ve also seen games like Lies of P, Final Fantasy Origin, and Remnant 2 bring something innovative to Soulslikes, but at the same time, the genre has experienced a flood of derivative titles, and fatigue is starting to set in. Fairly or not, there’s going to be a lot of expectations for Code Vein 2. But after playing for four hours, I’m hopeful it might join the ranks of something like Lies of P, and show why Soulslikes grew so popular in the first place.
Despite the name, Code Vein 2 is unrelated to the original game. According to the game’s producer, Keita Iizuka, the development team sees story and character drama as integral to the series, and to “maximize” that, they wanted a fresh slate where players can alter the fate of the world and its characters. Continuing the original story may have compromised that vision because of the need to carry over events and decisions, and the team was also cognizant of where the Soulslike genre is at.
