Code Vein 2: an excellent Soulslike with technical weaknesses

Domagoj Belancic

27.1.2026

Translation: Patrik Stainbrook

Pictures: Domagoj Belancic

I have a love-hate relationship with Soulslike games. Code Vein 2 has managed to rekindle my passion for the pulse-pounding genre – despite its technical flaws.

I get the appeal of action-heavy Soulslike games, but I’ve never been able to enjoy the genre. I’m always really motivated starting out («I swear, this time I’m going to chop down anyone in my path!»), only to give up in frustration after a while («This game’s no fair, the world’s no fair, everything sucks.»). The last time this happened was with Elden Ring, which I rage quit and deleted from my PS5 after around 30 hours.

Nevertheless, I decided to take a risk and test the anime Soulslike Code Vein 2 – mainly because it stands out in a sea of visually identical, grey and gloomy Soulslikes with its colourful comic look.

It was worth the risk. Code Vein 2 is the first genre representative to grab me right from the start and never let go. With its special mechanics, it’s the perfect game for Soulslike doubters – like me. What’s more, it sparked a passion for the genre.

Yippie, the world’s ending… again

According to developer studio Bandai Namco, Code Vein 2 tells an independent story that even newcomers can wrap their heads around. Perfect, seeing as I missed the 2019 original.

Unfortunately, the story’s still too confusing for me, despite appearing beginner-friendly. Code Vein 2 is one of those games that throws truckloads of background information at you. In cutscenes, there are so many made-up words and names that I get dizzy.

Here’s what I gathered: I, the hero, have to save my world from ending a third time. The first time round, almost all living beings were turned into mindless monsters. The second apocalypse was prevented by a handful of heroes who sacrificed their lives to seal away the impeding doom. Since then, those heroes – also morphed into monsters – have been dwelling in giant cocoons (makes sense, right?).

My job is to free these monstrous heroes from their cocoons – and kill them (still making sense?). To do this, I first have to travel back in time and find the keys to their souls, which I can then use to open their cocoons in the present (alright, you’ve lost me).

I quickly lose track of the unnecessarily complex story crossing different time periods. I’m also really bothered by the completely ridiculous time travel mechanics. So, I give up and just let myself drift. Instead, I focus on the short story arcs of the individual heroes I meet on my journey. Their personal, self-contained and often tragic backstories leave an impact.

The more time I spend in the past with the heroes, and the more I learn about them, the more special it feels when they fight alongside me. And it makes me all the sadder when I have to kill their monster forms in the present.

Now, you’ve probably already noticed from the screenshots that character designs in this game are absolutely crazy. Weird skimpy outfits, exaggerated body proportions and often grotesquely massive breasts – it’s a matter of taste. I like the exaggerated anime look, but others will find it off-putting.

If the revealing outfits are too much fan service for you, you can take a more conservative approach when creating your own character at least. The character editor is insane; you can easily invest hours into customising your look. And the best thing about it: if you don’t like something, you can easily make adjustments later on. Any time, as often as you’d like.

A problem shared is a problem solved

One of the reasons why I like Code Vein 2 more than its other genre mates is that I’m basically never on my own. Whether in the past or the present, a computer-controlled character always accompanies me on my adventures. By the way, there’s no multiplayer co-op.

On the one hand, exploring the game world with a partner feels less lonely. And on the other hand, the extra help makes battles a lot more accessible. My sidekicks never stand around stupidly, but fight diligently and occasionally empower me with buffs. It’s also handy that enemies are often distracted by my comrades-in-arms, providing valuable openings for devastating blows or short breaks to heal and catch my breath.

How your health is displayed in Code Vein 2 is unique as well. If an enemy kills you, your partner will provide some of their health and revive you. After that, you’ll be going solo for a bit – if you die before your buddy returns, you’re done.

I love this system. It offers you a second chance if you make a stupid mistake. This works wonders for both my frustration tolerance and motivation.

Bloody genius

One thing that often bothers me about other Souls games is rigid build systems. If you invest valuable experience points in the wrong skills, you’ll often hit a wall that’s tricky to get over. And resetting your stats often takes a lot of time and effort – another reason why I gave up on Elden Ring.

Code Vein 2 takes a completely different approach, letting you experiment without restrictions. It builds on its predecessor’s system and makes it even more flexible. Instead of rigid classes and skills, it uses a modular system with numerous interchangeable elements.

The most important element in the crafting system is so-called Blood Codes, which you receive from heroes. They’re predefined classes that determine your abilities across various attributes (Strength, Dexterity, Mind and more) as well as the extent of your magic resources. Different Blood Codes will suit different play styles. For example, you can specialise in melee combat, magic attacks or ranged hits.

The second element concerns the wide arsenal of weapons. I’m particularly fond of powerful two-handed swords, which do heavy damage in just a few hits. But I also fell in love with Rune Blades. They float around you and are ideal for keeping hordes of enemies at a distance. You can also equip each weapon with up to four magical attacks.

The game offers even more room for experimentation with magical secondary weapons and magical defensive items allowing you to either block, parry or dodge. The build system is rounded off by Boosters, which you can use to empower individual skills regardless of the Blood Code currently equipped. They also unlock special attacks, drawing blood from enemies and regenerating your magic reserves in turn during a skirmish.

The cool thing about all this: you can change all build elements at any time and as often as you like. What’s more, the game actively encourages experimentation with different classes and play styles. I’m constantly perfecting my build, switching Blood Codes, weapons and boosters as well as finding unexpected combos that open up new possibilities in battle. With the right change in strategy, I suddenly beat previously «impossible» bosses with ease.

I also love how the controls work reliably for all play styles and feel precise. Only the camera is a bit of a drag with larger enemies and small rooms, making me lose track. It’s annoying, but luckily doesn’t happen often.

A medium-sized world, ideal difficulty

Code Vein 2 offers an open game world you can explore on foot or on a magical motorcycle. The bike can even glide through the air for a short while. Cool, but I’d like it a little faster and more manoeuvrable.

The open world isn’t overly large, but don’t take this as criticism – on the contrary. Not every game has to set new records and overwhelm me with its square kilometres. What’s more, there’s more than enough to do even without an excessively massive game world. Epic main missions, multi-part side quests and well-hidden secrets await across 60 hours of gameplay. What I enjoy most are the numerous dungeons with their interwoven layouts. Driven by my curiosity, I lose track of time in these labyrinths, searching every corner for enemies and rare items.

The way the game plays with its time-travel mechanics in some parts of the world also deserves praise. Your actions in the past leave an impact on the level design in the present. In addition to visual changes, this also opens up new paths and even unlocks optional bosses.

Speaking of bosses, a few words on the difficulty. A lot of the bosses are really challenging and test my mettle mercilessly. But I never get frustrated. If I get stuck on a boss, I explore the open world, gain experience points and come back stronger to kill the bastard.

«Normal» enemies you’ll encounter in the open world or dungeons shouldn’t be underestimated, but they’re nowhere near as challenging as the tough bosses. They often strike the perfect balance between challenge and just letting off steam.

As is common in Soulslikes, you lose uninvested experience points when you die. Still, you’ll get a chance to collect them from the place where you died before they disappear forever. The checkpoints where you revive are very generously distributed. There’s also no annoying backtracking in boss fights, as I know (and hate) from other games with similar mechanics – thanks, Silksong.

In short, Code Vein 2 does everything right to make me feel comfortable, even as a genre sceptic.

A technical tragedy

In terms of gameplay, I like Code Vein 2 so much that I’d be willing to give it full marks. However, its numerous technical flaws and the poor audiovisual presentation ultimately prevent a perfect rating.

The game suffers from annoying stuttering on the PS5 Pro, which accompanied me both in the open game world and in dungeons. Pretty ridiculous in a game where timing’s crucial during combat.

I don’t get why the game suffers from these frame rate drops. The game world often feels barren, with simple geometry, blurry textures and pop-in effects. Cutscenes also suffer from technical problems. Textures on characters and objects load too slowly after camera cuts. It’s a shame the pretty art style suffers from the unfinished technical implementation.

The game also disappoints with its audio. It often feels like sound effects just don’t play or only partially come in. The bike’s barely audible, monsters sometimes stay silent and the world’s unusually quiet in other respects too.

At least the ingenious soundtrack by Go Shiina (Tales of, Tekken) impresses across the board. Featuring orchestral sounds and plenty of pathos, the soundscape fits perfectly with the anime post-apocalypse.

Code Vein 2 will be released on 30 January for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. Bandai Namco provided me with the PS5 Pro version for testing purposes.

In a nutshell

An excellent and uniquely fresh Soulslike

With its novel game mechanics, anime Soulslike Code Vein 2 takes a refreshingly different approach to comparable genre representatives. The combat system’s much more accessible thanks to the inclusion of AI partners. Enemies are tough but fair – only the annoying camera sometimes spoils the mood. The flexible modular character progression using elements that can be swapped out at any time works great too. There’s no need to worry about long-term build planning – you can experiment all the way through.

The impressive open world contains many secrets, interwoven dungeons and tough challenges. Just a shame the pretty anime art style is hampered by poor technical implementation, leading to stutters and other problems.

Pro

• Cool anime characters with tragic stories
• Awesome character editor
• Flexible combat system encourages experimentation
• Great enemy variety and impressive boss design
• Open world and dungeons full of exciting content

Contra

• Annoying camera
• Constant stuttering
• Low-detail environments and blurry textures

Video games

Bandai Namco Code Vein II

PS5, French, German, Italian

1

Domagoj Belancic

Senior Editor

Domagoj.Belancic@digitecgalaxus.ch

My love of video games was unleashed at the tender age of five by the original Gameboy. Over the years, it's grown in leaps and bounds.

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