In 2019, after years of publishing the Dark Souls series, Bandai Namco Entertainment released Code Vein, their own take on a soulslike, which I personally enjoyed. In parts, it essentially felt like an anime Dark Souls. Now, nearly seven years later, Bandai Namco Entertainment is back with Code Vein II. A sequel that promises to be more immersive, with a bigger world and more finely polished.

I wasn’t a part of MKAU when the first game was released, so if you would like to read MKAU’s thoughts on the first game, you may find the review here.

The narrative unfolds across multiple timelines. In the present day, humans and Revenants, beings with vampiric abilities, coexist in a world on the brink of destruction. One hundred years ago, Revenants battled the Resurgence, a catastrophic event that transforms everything into monsters. Our character, aided by Lou, a companion who shares a piece of her heart to save us, can help us transcend time to save the world.

To achieve this, five heroes who once resealed the Resurgence now lie dormant within cocoons, maintaining a fragile seal. Over time, however, these cocoons begin to crack, threatening to destroy everything around them. It’s up to us to stop that from happening. To do so, we must slay each hero, but reaching their cocoons is no simple task. First, we travel into the past to obtain each hero’s cocoon key, bring it back to the present, awaken the hero, and ultimately bring about their end.

It sounds simple when I put it like that, but in the past, you spend time with these heroes, learning who they are and even witnessing their memories through Incursions, a special ability granted by sharing our heart with Lou. Getting to know these characters makes the eventual battles against them all the more tragic. Josée was my personal favourite. 

She’s charismatic, making it hard not to root for her, but beneath all that lies a tragic backstory involving her twin sister, Lise, which makes her motivations easy to understand. This wraps back around and makes you feel bad about having to fight her, at least it did for me.

These decisions you make in the past also have a direct impact on the future and the people in it. To avoid spoilers, early on in the game, you encounter a statue of Noah while with Lou, who succumbed to his fate and was turned to stone. But while in the past, you’re given the choice to save him during his battle or allow events to play out as they originally did. I chose to save him, a decision that also preserved MagMell and affected the world in the present day.

These choices aren’t made through dialogue, but through the vastly improved combat. It feels far more fluid than the first game, thanks in part to the weapon formae system. Each weapon features four formae slots, allowing different abilities to be equipped and activated using Ichor, and every weapon type comes with its own range of formae to experiment with. When you run out of Ichor, a drain attack can be used to refill the meter, ensuring you can stay aggressive during fights.

Another benefit is your partner, which can be used in two different ways. Summon, where your partner physically fights alongside you, or Assimilate, where they are absorbed within you, granting you passive abilities. I play Soulslikes with a simple no-summon rule for added challenge, so I used Assimilate at all times. Your partner may also revive you occasionally if you run out of health.

Enemy encounters provide a solid challenge, though some boss fights felt a little unfair at times. The lack of invincibility frames, or i-frames, after being staggered was particularly noticeable, often resulting in situations where you’re hit again before even regaining control. This became frustrating on more than one occasion. That said, the bosses themselves are well designed, often featuring multiple phases that keep fights engaging. While I would have liked to see a bit more basic enemy variety overall, it’s a relatively minor gripe in an otherwise strong combat experience.

Mistles serve as the game’s equivalent of ‘bonfires’, offering a range of options when you rest at them. Their primary use is leveling up, but they also allow you to customise your partner, who progresses alongside you and other cosmetic options. 

Unlike the first game, Code Vein II is an open-world game. More than once while playing, I found myself joking that if the original Code Vein was anime Dark Souls, then this sequel is very much anime Elden Ring.

The world does feel quite empty in comparison, though. Not often did I find myself going off the linear path to explore, and when I did, the rewards didn’t quite feel worth the trouble. Getting around the world is a breeze with a motorbike that can be summoned anywhere. The dungeons, or more linear, focused levels, are fine with a lot of verticality and shortcuts; some are long, whereas taking down a power substation doesn’t take long at all. Level design in a soulslike is incredibly important after all.

The world is gorgeous at times, but gross at other times. A few visual bugs and frame rate drops aside, the performance held up, which is good for a game this big. Audio bugs, where all sound disappeared, were another minor annoyance, but it happened to me only twice.

The voice acting is another thing that has come a long way since the first game; there is much more passion and variety coming through these characters, unlike the first game, which felt a bit monotonous. This helps make all these characters feel alive and more fun to interact with. The soundtrack, which mainly accompanies you during high-intensity moments, is enough to help everything along, but it didn’t blow me out of the water.

Overall, Code Vein II improves on the first game with more in-depth combat, better voice acting, and fun characters. However, a world that feels a little empty and some minor bugs hold it back from being the perfect sequel. Still, this is a fun way to start 2026 and should be on your radar if you’re a fan of the soulslike genre.

Written by: Dylan Kocins