If I had to describe in one sentence what Code Vein is, I would say "A good Souls-like in anime style". And I could end the whole review here, however, Code Vein still tries to differentiate itself a little, to do a few things differently, such as the post-apocalyptic world we are thrown into, the way of narration and the story typical for anime, or the fact that we have a companion at our disposal, so we never fight alone. All these elements make the title have enough of its own "personality" to try it out and enter the world of frustration. Yes, I said frustration because Souls-like games are just that. Let he who did not want to throw the controller out the window playing, for example, Elden Ring, cast the first stone (godskin duo, I still hate you)
One for all and all for one. As befits an anime-style game, Code Vein definitely has a story interesting enough to enter the brutal post-apocalyptic world with curiosity and a certain degree of fear of the unknown. An additional incentive even before our first appearance in this world is the character creator, perhaps not as extensive as in The Sims, but sufficient to create a character that will increase our immersion, which is an important element for some players, including myself. Once we have our protagonist ready, we are thrown into and awaken in a post-apocalyptic world (which in some places resembles locations from games like Scarlet Nexus) where we are an undead vampire (or Undead Revenant in English) who not only feeds on blood but is the only one who can bring to life the trees that give us that blood. Because, of course, in such a world, a resource that is running out cannot be missed, but we, as super protagonists, are its salvation, right? The whole story will take us about 28-31 hours, and the way it is conducted, although sometimes strange and on the verge of absurdity, can be engaging, especially when we take into account the fact that quite interesting mysteries and secrets of this world are revealed to us as we progress through the game, so in other words, we want to know what happens next. For some, the problem may be that they can sometimes get lost in gameplay and forget that there is a story. While running around locations, discovering every corner of the map, and killing the remaining undead, we can get so absorbed that when we finally reach the boss, who usually ends the location, we don't really remember what we were supposed to do. Personally, I only had this happen to me once, but I was so focused on exploring and farming before the boss I was struggling with, that I decided that at that moment, the story didn't matter to me, and I just wanted to kill that one nasty boss (I intentionally don't write the name to avoid spoilers). But is it really bad that we can sometimes get so focused on pure gameplay? I don't think so, and when we forget what we're doing, there are always our companions who are happy to remind us.
If we're talking about gameplay, it's a good time to mention the combat system, which is very important in any souls-like game. If it's poorly executed, no matter how good the story is, the game just won't be enjoyable. Luckily, Code Vein doesn't have this problem, and players familiar with FromSoftware games will feel right at home here. We have to be careful when trudging through successive enemies, paying attention to our stamina, but we can also run past them. Unlike in Souls games, here we have a "Gift" system, which we can change on the fly. In other words, we don't have one character class to which we're assigned; instead, we can change it whenever we want, which also changes our stats. That's right, here we don't allocate points after each level we reach; the game does it automatically and adjusts it to the "Gift" we chose or will change to. This means that during one fight, we can enter as a long-range character using a rifle and then, when the situation changes, switch to the berserker gift and the reliable Zweihander (one of, if not the best weapon) and finish the fight in an old-fashioned close-quarters battle. Additionally, each gift also has its own set of skills that we can change, expand, and strengthen, so we can do whatever we want and approach each fight as we want. It sounds great on paper, doesn't it? In practice, I feel that we like to be attached to one class, and most of my friends and I ended the game using a maximum of two or three gifts tailored to a particular boss. Although I tried to play with gifts, I always returned to those three proven ones and moved forward. Is this a drawback? I don't think so, because it's good to have a choice, after all.
Together is always better.
We don't have to go crazy and kill enemies alone in Code Vein, we have partners available to help us. This is definitely one of the things that sets this game apart from others. Partners are characters controlled by AI who run with us and, as the name suggests, are our companions and help us kill and heal us when needed. We have several such characters at our disposal, each of which is a story character, so we have more and more of them available as we progress through the game. We can recruit them in our main base by approaching them and asking for their help. Additionally, we can give them gifts, which may seem like a waste of time at first, but later they will give us new gifts, weapons, etc. However, the truth is that over ninety percent of players will use them as cannon fodder or something to briefly stop the enemy so we can finish them off ourselves. A mega nice surprise for me was that our partner can be our friend, so we can play online and help each other. Then, instead of an AI partner, our friend takes their place. The introduction of this type of online co-op mode is really great, especially when we have friends on, for example, Discord, with whom we want to play and relax in the evening. And what if we don't have friends or don't want an AI companion because they bother us? We can simply use regular online matchmaking and play with random players, or leave our AI partner in the base and go out into the world alone as a lone wolf. Although this will definitely raise the level of difficulty.
We don't have to go crazy and kill enemies alone in Code Vein, we have partners available to help us. This is definitely one of the things that sets this game apart from others. Partners are characters controlled by AI who run with us and, as the name suggests, are our companions and help us kill and heal us when needed. We have several such characters at our disposal, each of which is a story character, so we have more and more of them available as we progress through the game. We can recruit them in our main base by approaching them and asking for their help. Additionally, we can give them gifts, which may seem like a waste of time at first, but later they will give us new gifts, weapons, etc. However, the truth is that over ninety percent of players will use them as cannon fodder or something to briefly stop the enemy so we can finish them off ourselves. A mega nice surprise for me was that our partner can be our friend, so we can play online and help each other. Then, instead of an AI partner, our friend takes their place. The introduction of this type of online co-op mode is really great, especially when we have friends on, for example, Discord, with whom we want to play and relax in the evening. And what if we don't have friends or don't want an AI companion because they bother us? We can simply use regular online matchmaking and play with random players, or leave our AI partner in the base and go out into the world alone as a lone wolf. Although this will definitely raise the level of difficulty.
In summary,
Code Vein is definitely something that will bring joy to Souls fans who want to try something different for a change, but it will also encourage new players to immerse themselves in this genre of games and try out other titles. Is it without flaws? Of course not. The Cathedral location still haunts me at night, as well as the placement of enemies on narrow bridges where falling is almost a given. New ideas are a nice breath of fresh air, but there is a sense of untapped potential, especially in regards to changing character classes or the AI companion, who at times, made me wonder why we even needed them in the game. Nevertheless, I still believe that the game is worth checking out, playing, and seeing these new solutions and interestingly crafted locations that will certainly stay with us.
MY RATING: 7.5/10
Code Vein is definitely something that will bring joy to Souls fans who want to try something different for a change, but it will also encourage new players to immerse themselves in this genre of games and try out other titles. Is it without flaws? Of course not. The Cathedral location still haunts me at night, as well as the placement of enemies on narrow bridges where falling is almost a given. New ideas are a nice breath of fresh air, but there is a sense of untapped potential, especially in regards to changing character classes or the AI companion, who at times, made me wonder why we even needed them in the game. Nevertheless, I still believe that the game is worth checking out, playing, and seeing these new solutions and interestingly crafted locations that will certainly stay with us.
MY RATING: 7.5/10
No comments:
Post a Comment