Anime Dark Souls? Why not! Maybe it's not the newest game, but is it still worth trying? Let's see...

Code Vein's story is a bit complicated, so I’ll try to explain it in a simpler way. You wake up as a Revenant with amnesia in the post-apocalyptic world where blood is everything and everyone is fighting for survival, so kind of like a vampire. There are these creatures called the Lost, who went wild after losing control, and your job is to explore the world, uncover your memories, and fight back against the chaos. As you keep playing, you meet characters with their own painful stories, and piece by piece you start to understand what really happened to this broken world.

⚠️ Warning: The story contains three endings: bad, neutral, and true. If you want to see all of them, you'll need to finish the game more than once.

I was lucky enough to get the True Ending on my first playthrough, but it's not that hard to reach, as long as you pay attention to the story and follow what the game shows you. If you take time to explore and don’t skip important moments, the game kind of guides you there naturally. I explored everything, didn’t miss a single memory called “vestiges” and completed all maps to 100%, which honestly isn’t that hard, except for one map that’s the biggest and most confusing. I heard a lot of people complain about it, and even I missed something too, got stuck at 87%, and had to go back to look for it again. Luckily, when you explore, there are “dots” on the map that show where you’ve already been, and to fully unlock maps you need to find all the “Mistles”, which are kind of like map-reveal points. Some of them also let you save the game and fast travel between other Mistles.

The main currency for everything is "haze", and you collect it from defeating enemies and exploring the world. Basically, you use it for almost everything, leveling up your character, buying items, unlocking abilities, upgrading weapons and armor called “veil”, and even unlocking Gifts for NPCs. If you die, all your haze drops where you fell, and you have to go back and grab it before dying again, or it’s gone for good. But honestly, you don’t need to worry too much about it, leveling up isn’t as important as it might seem. You could probably finish the game at level 1 if you really wanted to. I lost all my haze twice (like a huge amout of haze because i didn't spend it often enough) one time I dropped off a cliff or another time a monster pushed me from a ledge. So sometimes, it’s smarter to spend your haze before taking a risky path, just so you don’t lose it all in one bad moment. But in the late game, it becomes easy to get it back anyway. Since leveling up doesn’t seem that important, I believe you should spend your haze mostly on upgrading weapons, armor and to unlock abilities.

Combat is fast and smooth. You can dodge or parry, but to be honest, parrying is pretty bad, I was only using dodge the whole time and it felt way better to me. There’s a variety of weapons like swords, axes, halberds, hammers, and bayonet rifles, and each one changes your playstyle a lot, so feel free to try them all. But that’s not everything. You can also switch your fighting style depending on which “Blood Code” you equip. They’re kind of like classes, they change your stats and abilities, and there are 32 of them, so a lot to check and pick from. Plus, you can mix abilities from one Blood Code to another and use them, as long as you max that ability first and it fits with the Blood Code or weapon you’re using. If you want to check all of them, you definitely won’t be bored. I won’t lie, I didn’t try most of them, because once I switched to the Prometheus Blood Code, I didn’t feel like changing anymore. I did test out Harmonia, which is kind of like a mage, and I liked it, but I still felt much more comfortable with Prometheus. He’s fast, like really fast, especially later in the game, and I enjoy fast combat a lot. But of course, feel free to keep changing your class anytime, even before a boss fight. There’s no pressure at all, and the game gives you the freedom to play how you like.

You get Blood Codes mostly by progressing through the story and interacting with other characters. When you meet new NPCs or help them with something, you often unlock their Blood Code. Some Blood Codes are also found in the world as items, usually hidden or guarded, so it’s worth exploring every corner and make sure to break all the boxes you find. This way you collect “vestiges”, those memory fragments you find during your journey. If you gather all parts of a vestige and restore it, you’ll unlock new abilities and sometimes even a whole new Blood Code.

Code Vein has an online co-op system, but it’s a bit limited. You can call for help from another player if you’re in a dungeon and stuck, or just want someone to explore with. You send a signal, and if someone sees it and responds, they’ll join your world as a guest. You can’t pick exactly who joins though, there’s no direct invite system. But in reality, you don’t need to call for a signal unless you're really struggling with a specific area or boss. Throughout the whole game, you have an AI Helper, and you can keep switching between different NPCs. Everyone offers something different, so try them out and see who fits your style. But don’t worry, you can also stop using the AI Helper and go through the adventure totally solo. That makes the game harder and more challenging.

Overall, it's not like the game is really hard. Sometimes it's challenging, sometimes it's easy, but it might take a while to figure out how to beat some bosses. I can recommend the game, it’s fun, has a unique vibe, and there’s plenty to explore and enjoy, whether you're into the story, combat, or just experimenting with builds. I can't say I was fully invested in the story, sometimes i felt bored, but it definitely had some interesting parts and unique moments.

System Requirements:

Minimum:

• Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
• OS *: Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 10 (64-bit)
• Processor: Intel Core i5-2300
• Memory: 6 GB RAM
• Graphics: GeForce GTX 760 or Radeon HD 7850
• DirectX: Version 11
• Network: Broadband Internet connection
• Storage: 35 GB available space
• Sound Card: DirectX compatible soundcard or onboard chipset
• Additional Notes: Estimated performance: 1080p/60fps with graphics settings at "Low". Framerate might drop in graphics-intensive scenes. - 64-bit processor and operating system are required.

Recommended:

• Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
• OS *: Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 10 (64-bit)
• Processor: Intel Core i5-7400 or AMD Ryzen 3 2200G
• Memory: 8 GB RAM
• Graphics: GeForce GTX 960 or Radeon R9 380X
• DirectX: Version 11
• Network: Broadband Internet connection
• Storage: 35 GB available space
• Sound Card: DirectX compatible soundcard or onboard chipset
• Additional Notes: Estimated performance: 1080p/60fps with graphics settings at "High". Framerate might drop in graphics-intensive scenes. - 64-bit processor and operating system are required. - Windows 10 (Version 1809 or later) and a 4GB VRAM GPU (graphics board or video card) are required for DirectX 12 API.