Dark Souls Meets Tokyo Ghoul
IGN released the first of its IGN First series for September which takes a look at the Dark Souls-inspired Code Vein from Bandai Namco. While FromSoftware’s influential title’s presence is felt heavily from Code Vein‘s combat mechanics and sound design, the upcoming vampire-inspired title shows some of its own flair in this seventeen-minute gameplay video.
Plot-wise, neon-yellow roots called ‘Thorns of Judgement’ have sprouted around the world, ending life as we know it. With the pesky roots, beings called ‘The Lost’ emerged to help descend the world into the chaos. On the flip side, you play as ‘The Revenants’, blood-cursed creatures who lost their memories and gained a lust for blood. But, they also gained some vampire-ish powers to help save the world.
For mechanics, one of the biggest difference from the Souls series shown here is that you can bring an AI-controlled companion on your adventures. In the video, our main character is accompanied by a sword-wielding fellow named, Louis, who can distract enemies and even revive you. However, the video reports that the companion system is completely optional as you can make a run without them. It certainly helps make the game more accessible too.
The video also sheds light on its Gifts system, which are eight abilities you can bring into battle. These Gifts (which either falls into buffs or actions) are governed by blood charges which can be replenished by doing damage. The Gifts appear to cost different amount of blood charges too to differentiate between tiers for your blood-based magic. Besides that, there is a Focus system which lets you enter the ‘Focus State’ where you won’t recoil from enemy attacks and send enemies flying into air with a launch attack. Yup, it sounds like something you’d find in a fighting game, but it sure looked fun here. The Focus gauge is built up from taking damage or dodging the last frame of an attack.
Some other random bits from the video include the ability to change your weapon without going into an equipment screen. Code Vein‘s modern post-apocalyptic aesthetic means you’ll see abandoned trucks amidst dodging an enemy attack. The video showed mostly human-like monsters, but I hope future videos will show off more varied enemy designs. Also, its purposefully empty sound design evokes Souls as well.
Code Vein is scheduled for a 2018 release for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
Source: IGN