Code Vein II is a Mess...

Article at a glance:
Code Vein II had big shoes to fill, and sadly, it trips hard right out of the gate.
Great art, flexible builds, but baffling technical choices and design decisions drag the experience down.
Poor performance, an empty open world, and missing features make this feel rushed and undercooked.

I have been with the Soulslike genre since it was niche. I’ve been here since the OG Dark Souls, and over the years, I’ve seen the highs and lows of this genre. The original Code Vein was an interesting take on the formula, to say the least. Sure, the game stumbled here and there, but it did get a few things right. I think we can all agree that the character creator was absolutely amazing, and the build flexibility the game offered made it very interesting. Suffice to say, I was very excited about Code Vein II, yeah, you see where this review is going, right?

Look, I won’t pretend to be the “Scholar of the First Sin” of Souls/Soulslike games or anything. It’s just that this is a genre I love deeply, and whenever a major installment like Code Vein II turns out to be bad, it doesn’t feel good. So yeah welocme to my Code Vein II review, let’s talk about it.

Of course, no spoilers.

My Thoughts on Code Vein II

Let’s start with the elephant in the room. My first red flag for this game was seeing the system requirements sheet. A 7800X3D as a “recommended” for 1080p 60 fps is straight up diabolical. Even then, it’s not like the game is very stable, even if you do meet the absurd system requirements. I think THIS game of all DID NOT need Unreal Engine 5. UE5 is a very good engins but barely anyone knows how to optimize it, and as a result, the games just end up being resource hogs that don’t perform well.

The game does look amazing; some locations are straight-up breathtaking, but that’s because of the art team cooking. Code Vein II looks good because of the art, not because of UE5 graphics. I would’ve looked just as good on a lower-end engine. Like, come on, man, Time Stranger looks amazing for how low the system requirements are because of the art style. Now, I am aware that some of the designs were centered to meet the Teen rating; it’s not the biggest deal in the world, but I just can’t stand censorship of any kind.

Coming to the gameplay, there are just like 10 different enemy types in the open world. And why did they make this open world? Like, seriously, it is pretty empty for the most part. Most of the time, you’ll only find a couple of enemies guarding a chest and sometimes a random mini-boss, but the open world really does feel sparse. The combat itself is still pretty good with more build flexibility than the first game. More fun playstyles to explore and all. But the enemy design feels like a step back, so there’s nothing to really challenge you.

In Conclusion

Code Vein II feels like another victim of rushed development. I won’t comment much on the writing since I am only halfway through the story. But I am very underwhelmed so far. Runs poorly, badly designed open world, combat is good but feels repetitive because very few enemy types, and most people probably can’t even run this game. Oh yeah, they took away multiplayer too, which is just a dumb choice.

Only get this game if you really want to play it, and even then, I recommend just waiting a few months to grab it on sale. It is NOT worth the 70$ price tag, no matter what. So yeah, that was my review for Code Vein II. Let me know what you guys think in the comments. I will take my leave here. See ya!

Also, check out my thoughts on why I think Rooftop Sword Master is terrible here!