Last week Bandai Namco, the publishers of Dark Souls, teased a new game with the tagline “Prepare to Dine”. This was recently revealed to be Code Vein, an action RPG from the makers of God Eater. Several key developers from God Eater will be working on the game including producer Keita Iizuka, director Hiroshi Yoshimura, and team leader Yusuke Tomizawa.
Code Vein takes place in the near future where the world has undergone a disaster known as “Thorns of Judgment”. These thorns have pierced the Earth’s crust and many manmade structures, leaving ruin across the world. A closed off society known as “Vein” barely managed to survive this event.
Those who live in Vein are “Revenants”, people who have given up being human in exchange for power and the opportunity to survive. Revenants have supernatural powers, but lose most of their memories and barely maintain their humanity. They now must suck up blood or risk losing their humanity and becoming a monster known as “Lost”. Because Revenants lived in a closed off world, countless Lost wander the lands in search of blood.
Players will take on the role of a Revenant as they search for both blood and a truth hidden deep within Vein. Of course players will not go on this journey alone.
One of the game’s most prominent features will be the “Buddy System”. In dungeons players will be able bring along a buddy. This is said to be an AI that can act independently, but will need support at times. Here is how Bandai Namco describes buddies:
“The buddies that you can take along increase as you progress through the story. Players and buddies will share both fear and chills, and support each other to overcome difficulties. When you finally manage to reach that new area, they are sure to share in the dramatic excitement. Even in desperate situations, by taking on challenges with your reassuring buddy and overcoming difficulties together, new dramas will unfold.”
Many of Code Vein’s other game mechanics will tie back into blood. Revenants will use equipment known as “Blood Veils”. This will normally take on the shape of clothing, but will have “aspects of armor”. It will also have a mechanism that activates during blood sucking that allows the player to perform special moves such as long range attacks with a scorpion tail or piercing attacks with a gauntlet. During blood sucking Blood Veils transform into face mask that pump blood into the player.
Sucking blood will allow players to manifest special abilities known as Gifts. These Gifts grant various battle effects such as weakening enemies, powering up the player or even direct attacks. Utilizing both Gifts and Blood Veils will be key when exploring and clearing dungeons.
Weapons used by the player will include swords, bayonets, spears, halberds, great swords and more. These weapons will be separate from Blood Veils and allows for many combinations. For example a player can use a one-handed sword for normal close range attack and use a scorpion tail for long range blood sucking attacks.
Code Vein’s environments will vary greatly and so far four different areas have been revealed. The city ruins are described as a major city ruined by the Thorns of Judgment and filled with blind spot that perfect for surprise attacks. Huge sprawling cave systems make up much of the underground. These systems are dark with the only light being holes in the Earth’s crust. There are also other underground structures where people used to walk, but are now fill with Lost. Steep snowy mountains contain areas encased in ice. The narrow and icy pathways of the mountains will be slippery and where the player fights Lost will be important.
Code Vein will launch on all “major home consoles” in 2018.
32 screenshots were given to the general press however Famitsu was given 8 additional screenshots. All screenshots can be seen below. A full trailer is set for May of this year.
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