Code Vein 2 is Bigger and Better

One of the biggest surprises during Summer Game Fest was the announcement of Code Vein 2, Bandai Namco's follow-up to the 2019 vampiric soulslike RPG. The game is slated to launch sometime in 2026, and I got a chance to learn more about it through a hands-off preview with Bandai Namco.

Code Vein 2 follows a young Revenant Hunter, who is a completely customizable character. This time around, Bandai Namco expanded the customization options to include more variation of hair, clothing, and expressions. The debut trailer showed off the default look of the Revenant Hunter, who dons a blue coat that's similar to Virgil from Devil May Cry. While the protagonist certainly is cool-looking, players will be able to customize their character however they wish.

Story details are light at the moment, but the protagonist meets a girl named Lou, who offers up half of her heart so that the protagonist can resurrect themselves. In soulslike games, death is part of the gameplay experience, so this at least gives an in-game explanation as to why you're able to come back to life after dying.

The world is impacted by an event called the Resurgence, which spawned a giant orb above the land called the Luna Rapacis—it turns humans into dangerous creatures called Horrors. We don't know much yet, but Lou also has the ability to turn back time, potentially making for some interesting story setups and environments to travel across as the Revenant Hunter tries to unravel the mystery behind the Luna Rapacis. Bandai Namco producer Keita Iizuka also confirmed that Code Vein 2 is a completely standalone title. This lets players go into Code Vein freely without worrying if they had to play the first game.

Like in the previous Code Vein, you'll be able to bring along a partner character to help you out. When I played through the game years ago, I found that they were helpful teammates (and distractions) against bosses compared to the majority of other soulslike games that had you go solo. It was a welcome change of pace that made Code Vein more approachable. It also had multiplayer co-op for up to three people, and while unconfirmed, I hope that the sequel does too. It's always nice to have actual human characters to help you out if you're having trouble

A big change that's coming to Code Vein 2 is that it seemingly has a semi-open world. The Revenant Hunter has a bike that they can traverse on in order to reach the game's interconnected dungeons. It's unclear how expansive Code Vein 2's world is going to be, but the inclusion of a bike suggests that it'll be bigger than its predecessor's.

In the first Code Vein, there was only one standard difficulty on your first playthrough. However, once you beat the game once, you can start NG+ at an enhanced difficulty. I asked Iizuka whether it'd be the same case in Code Vein 2, and while he didn't give a straight up answer, he suggested that it would be.

From the footage I watched, Code Vein definitely still looks like it needs time in the oven, as the framerate was a tiny bit choppy. So it seems like it'll be a later 2026 release rather than earlier. But who knows, perhaps Bandai Namco might be farther along than the footage they showed us. Regardless, Code Vein was a personal sleeper hit back in 2019 and I enjoyed it for what it was: anime Dark Souls. I'm excited to check out Code Vein in 2026 when it launches for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.