I played the demo, loved it, talked a friend into buying it for me. A lot of this review will be comparing it to my knowledge of the Soulsborne games, which is admittedly limited however I will do my best anyways. These are in no particular order, partly because I wrote them as I though of them and partly because what one person sees as a bonus someone else might see as a downside.


* The character customizer is amazing. I spend way too much time in it. If all you're looking for is a $60-$80 character creator and nothing else, that's kind of odd but hey, it's your money.

* It's often described as an anime Dark Souls. From what I've heard it's closer to Bloodborne, which means that if you don't have a PS4 and want to play that game this is the closest you'll likely get.

* Combat feels very fast, very smooth. If you build for tank, you're likely gonna have a bad time, but if you manage to make it work, congratulations. For the most part, you dodge to win, though if you manage to master parrying then things will likely go a bit better for you.

* If you're looking for Soulsborne levels of stat customization, sorry, we don't have that. Instead, you can mix and match class abilities to taste, and if you're good enough you can actually do this in the middle of combat (though why you would do that to yourself is beyond me).

* This game is made slightly easier than Soulsborne stuff by the fact that you can bring an AI partner into combat with you. You are not alone in the world of Vein.

* Code Vein is a lot more hopeful than the Soulsborne games. In those games, the world sucks and there's very little you can do about it. In this game, there are people (yourself included) actively trying to make the world a better place. Which ending you get determines how successful this attempt is.

* There are about 3.25 endings. I say 3.25 because the Good Ending is slightly altered if you manage to complete a certain task right before fighting the final boss.

* I mentioned earlier that this game is slightly easier than Soulsborne because of the presence of an AI partner. Emphasis on the slightly. This game is still very hard, and you can choose to make it harder by choosing not to bring a partner.

* The Blood Veil finishers are really cool, especially the Stinger-type veils (long coats that give you a stinger tail) and the Ivy-type veils (If you've seen Fate/Apocrypha, think Lancer of Black's spikes being summoned by what is more or less a scarf).

* You will likely struggle to find a human co-op partner just randomly. This is unfortunate, however I've found that there will occasionally be someone willing to help. I've even tried being that person on occasion.

* You can sit on all but maybe two of the chairs in the Home Base. This includes the piano bench and all of the bar stools. If you sit there for long enough (like 10 minutes), your character will fall asleep. Different chairs have different animations for this. You will also fall asleep faster if you decide to lie on one of the beds in the back. They really put too much time into it. I appreciate whoever put in the time and effort in to make all of those animations work. Such people are heroes and deserve to be recognized as such.

* They managed to tie in a couple of different mechanics into their hot spring fanservice. First, resting in a hotspring will restore half of any lost Haze (Haze is the equivalent of Souls in Dark Souls and I think it's called Blood Echoes in Bloodborne. You can also lose it in the same way). The other half will be lost forever, but it's better than nothing. The other mechanic is an index/cutscene viewer. It's literally described as your character collecting his/her thoughts.

* The story is kind of eh, admittedly. I enjoy it, but it's not the best. If you're looking for Soulsborne levels of world building and writing, you will be disappointed. There is a little bit of that here and there (there are hints here and there about the outside world and in one area you can see a landmark that tells you exactly where in the world you are), but it's not as well done as Soulsborne.

* You can't leave messages to other players like you can in Soulsborne, unfortunately. On the other hand, random people won't invade your game and try to kill you, so I guess it's a worthy sacrifice. You might disagree, which is entirely reasonable, however I've found that in many games the people who actively pursue PvP opportunities are typically way better at the game than the people who don't.

* Rule number one: You are being ambushed. Rule number two: If you are not being ambushed, you are walking into an ambush. Rule number three: If the first two rules do not apply, you are either walking into or are in the middle of a boss fight. Rule number 4: If none of the previous rules are true, you're somewhere in the Home Base.

* I should probably talk about the level design. From what I can tell, it's not Soulsborne level of good, however there are clearly areas inspired by that series. Notable examples: The Cathedral of the Sacred Blood has similarities to Anor Londo (though the latter is likely easier to navigate. The Cathedral is a maze of walkways that are nigh indistinguishable from each other); I forget what the area is called, however there's a sewer level that features large numbers of enemies that can poison you and puddles deep enough to slow down both your movement and your dodge speed. I have been told that many of the Soulsborne games have an area that is like this. It's pain incarnate.


Final verdict: Play the demo. The demo is set up to give you an idea of what you'll be facing in the main game, and it does a pretty good job of that. If you hate the demo, then the full game isn't for you. If you decide to get the full game, it's $5 cheaper to buy the Deluxe Edition than to buy the base game and then later add the Season Pass. Plus, getting the Deluxe Edition gets you some extra cosmetics to play with. Always important. Another thing with the demo: If you save your appearance settings, then they'll carry over to the full game. Your progress won't be saved (which is actually pretty reasonable if you ask me), but if you liked how your character looked you won't lose it. You can even tweak it a bit since some of the cosmetics in the full game aren't available in the demo. Video game fashion is serious business.

I played the demo, loved it, talked a friend into buying it for me. A lot of this review will be comparing it to my knowledge of the Soulsborne games, which is admittedly limited however I will do my best anyways. These are in no particular order, partly because I wrote them as I though of them and partly because what one person sees as a bonus someone else might see as a downside. * The character customizer is amazing. I spend way too much time in it. If all you're looking for is a $60-$80 character creator and nothing else, that's kind of odd but hey, it's your money. * It's often described as an anime Dark Souls. From what I've heard it's closer to Bloodborne, which means that if you don't have a PS4 and want to play that game this is the closest you'll likely get. * Combat feels very fast, very smooth. If you build for tank, you're likely gonna have a bad time, but if you manage to make it work, congratulations. For the most part, you dodge to win, though if you manage to master parrying then things will likely go a bit better for you. * If you're looking for Soulsborne levels of stat customization, sorry, we don't have that. Instead, you can mix and match class abilities to taste, and if you're good enough you can actually do this in the middle of combat (though why you would do that to yourself is beyond me). * This game is made slightly easier than Soulsborne stuff by the fact that you can bring an AI partner into combat with you. You are not alone in the world of Vein. * Code Vein is a lot more hopeful than the Soulsborne games. In those games, the world sucks and there's very little you can do about it. In this game, there are people (yourself included) actively trying to make the world a better place. Which ending you get determines how successful this attempt is. * There are about 3.25 endings. I say 3.25 because the Good Ending is slightly altered if you manage to complete a certain task right before fighting the final boss. * I mentioned earlier that this game is slightly easier than Soulsborne because of the presence of an AI partner. Emphasis on the slightly. This game is still very hard, and you can choose to make it harder by choosing not to bring a partner. * The Blood Veil finishers are really cool, especially the Stinger-type veils (long coats that give you a stinger tail) and the Ivy-type veils (If you've seen Fate/Apocrypha, think Lancer of Black's spikes being summoned by what is more or less a scarf). * You will likely struggle to find a human co-op partner just randomly. This is unfortunate, however I've found that there will occasionally be someone willing to help. I've even tried being that person on occasion. * You can sit on all but maybe two of the chairs in the Home Base. This includes the piano bench and all of the bar stools. If you sit there for long enough (like 10 minutes), your character will fall asleep. Different chairs have different animations for this. You will also fall asleep faster if you decide to lie on one of the beds in the back. They really put too much time into it. I appreciate whoever put in the time and effort in to make all of those animations work. Such people are heroes and deserve to be recognized as such. * They managed to tie in a couple of different mechanics into their hot spring fanservice. First, resting in a hotspring will restore half of any lost Haze (Haze is the equivalent of Souls in Dark Souls and I think it's called Blood Echoes in Bloodborne. You can also lose it in the same way). The other half will be lost forever, but it's better than nothing. The other mechanic is an index/cutscene viewer. It's literally described as your character collecting his/her thoughts. * The story is kind of eh, admittedly. I enjoy it, but it's not the best. If you're looking for Soulsborne levels of world building and writing, you will be disappointed. There is a little bit of that here and there (there are hints here and there about the outside world and in one area you can see a landmark that tells you exactly where in the world you are), but it's not as well done as Soulsborne. * You can't leave messages to other players like you can in Soulsborne, unfortunately. On the other hand, random people won't invade your game and try to kill you, so I guess it's a worthy sacrifice. You might disagree, which is entirely reasonable, however I've found that in many games the people who actively pursue PvP opportunities are typically way better at the game than the people who don't. * Rule number one: You are being ambushed. Rule number two: If you are not being ambushed, you are walking into an ambush. Rule number three: If the first two rules do not apply, you are either walking into or are in the middle of a boss fight. Rule number 4: If none of the previous rules are true, you're somewhere in the Home Base. * I should probably talk about the level design. From what I can tell, it's not Soulsborne level of good, however there are clearly areas inspired by that series. Notable examples: The Cathedral of the Sacred Blood has similarities to Anor Londo (though the latter is likely easier to navigate. The Cathedral is a maze of walkways that are nigh indistinguishable from each other); I forget what the area is called, however there's a sewer level that features large numbers of enemies that can poison you and puddles deep enough to slow down both your movement and your dodge speed. I have been told that many of the Soulsborne games have an area that is like this. It's pain incarnate. Final verdict: Play the demo. The demo is set up to give you an idea of what you'll be facing in the main game, and it does a pretty good job of that. If you hate the demo, then the full game isn't for you. If you decide to get the full game, it's $5 cheaper to buy the Deluxe Edition than to buy the base game and then later add the Season Pass. Plus, getting the Deluxe Edition gets you some extra cosmetics to play with. Always important. Another thing with the demo: If you save your appearance settings, then they'll carry over to the full game. Your progress won't be saved (which is actually pretty reasonable if you ask me), but if you liked how your character looked you won't lose it. You can even tweak it a bit since some of the cosmetics in the full game aren't available in the demo. Video game fashion is serious business.