Code Vein is not a game for everyone, or even all fans of Soulslikes. If I had to use a single word to describe CV, it would be "fine." It's okay. Is it worth playing? Maybe.

I've seen people call it "Anime Dark Souls" but I think a more accurate description is "Horny Dark Souls." From character designs to bosses, everything has that shonen anime lewdness which characterizes everything people who hate anime dunk on. Like there's a boss who is basically a mini-giantess with a pole arm she uses as a stripper pole mid-battle. If that sounds bad to you, then maybe you should just skip this game, I won't judge. Outside of that, the characters are generic anime tropes, but aren't bad. They're mostly fine, especially the Yuki Nagato clone clad only in tattered rags that shows off her breasts. She's probably my favorite character in the game, despite her outfit.

If anything, Code Vein is an exploration heavy version of God Eater with Dark Souls elements. You've got your equivalent to Estus flasks, which can be further enhanced with Estus shards and undead bone shards. There are animations like crushing lifegems in DS2. Dying results in your not-souls staying where you died, allowing you to pick them up if you can make it back. The aesthetics are generally closer to God Eater's post-apocalyptic setting, and the game is visually at its best when it's not trying to be a fantasy souls game. It does have an in-game map, though, which is usually useful. There is also no PVP, which might be a deal breaker for some FromSoft Souls fans; you can still engage in jolly cooperation with other players, but it's far less prominent than in DS. The story is closer to God Eater than Dark Souls too, with everything being told to you explicitly rather than through item descriptions, environmental details, and NPC interactions.

Exploration is probably the highlight of the game, but some areas are much better than others. Some areas have great interconnected paths to get to mistles/not-bonfires with secrets hidden around the map. Others are a pain to navigate. A lot of people complain about the Cathedral, and they're right. It's a bad attempt at recreating Anor Londo without the visual identity and design of Dark Souls 1's most iconic location. It's fairly easy to get lost because everything is a whitish cream color without any landmarks. Imagine if Anor Londo didn't have any of the dark inner sections lit with moody flame, the rotating towers, or the giant hall with a certain painting in it. Now make every part of the architecture look exactly the same. This is probably why the minimap was implemented, and some people still got lost. It doesn't help that, like Anor Londo, there's a mid-point where you can go to a side area and then return later, meaning you get a brief reprieve before returning to an overly long area. There's another area later on that is essentially Cathedral 2: Only Towers Edition, too. Of course, I also have to mention the fire biome where touching the walls knocks you back, often into other fire walls. Look, this all sounds negative, and it is, but there are some decent areas too. These three, especially the Cathedral, are just worth knowing about before you get into the game.

Again, this might sound really negative, but you should know what you're in for if you do decide to play this game. I still had fun with it, and I think it's a solid 6. If you're not completely turned away from this game by now, maybe get in a sale. Just don't get the DLC, it adds basically nothing of value to the game outside of three cool, difficult boss fights that probably aren't worth the effort of actually reaching.

Oh, and the character creator is great and probably the best part of the game. The devs should be proud of it.