Code Vein 2 positions itself as a Soulslike crafted in-house by Bandai Namco, the publisher behind FromSoftware’s Dark Souls series. It also leans into anime melodrama, a tonal blend the preview notes may polarize players. In a roughly three-hour hands-on session last December, the game showcased its core proposition: a Soulslike that can also function like Dark Souls with a gun.
Weapon systems stand at the center of the preview. Rifles sit apart from the usual melee toolkit, delivering a light attack that resembles a basic one-handed strike but a heavy attack that charges a substantial shot. Bullets are a finite resource, craftable and replenish-able at bonfires mistles, which nudges you toward careful resource management. The player can leverage distance to line up a lead-heavy engagement, effectively trading sprinting dodge windows for a precise ranged opening. Across the full game, the density of variables—Bleed Factor, Max Ichor, and various rune-enhanced options—offers a potentially deep buildcrafting space that could satisfy theorycrafters, even if it risks overload for newcomers.
From a combat rhythm standpoint, the early boss encounter tests that approach. A four-armed behemoth lady can leap across the room and punish mistakes with devastating hits, which forced a shift away from pure bullet cheesing toward a more deliberate, build-driven strategy. The player’s preferred tactic of pairing magical rune blades with an aerial suspended-damaging ability to keep constant pressure on the boss offered the more satisfying payoff.
Visually, the dungeon delves into a utilitarian vibe: plenty of steel gangways and corridors rather than Elden Ring–level spectacle. The focus appears to be squarely on story and combat and not on expansive exploration, a trade-off the preview suggests Code Vein 2 embraces rather than obscures. It’s clear the game isn’t trying to outclass FromSoftware’s peaks across every axis, and that restraint reads as a deliberate choice rather than a shortcoming.
Pricing and timing complicate the equation. At a $70 launch price and with Nioh 3 arriving within a week, Code Vein 2 faces a crowded market window. The preview’s verdict leans toward “it could be good in its lane if it plays to its strengths” rather than “must-have” hype.
Wes, PC Gamer’s veteran writer on hardware and Japanese games, anchors the preview coverage. The piece emphasizes how the upgrade and customization systems could drive meaningful variety in endgame builds, even as it notes the breadth can be intimidating. His background—years writing about hardware, emulation, and the broader tech side of PC gaming—shapes a perspective that weighs performance and tooling alongside design.
In sum, Code Vein 2 seems positioned to offer a distinct flavor in the Soulslike space: a gun-enabled combat loop with robust build options, tempered by a focus on narrative and a level design that prioritizes fights over exploration. It may not match Elden Ring’s ambition, but it doesn’t need to if its strengths land with the right players. The preview leaves a practical takeaway for PC gamers considering a $70 bet: guns—and souls—can work together, but the release window will test its staying power.