Code Vein once again made an appearance this year at E3, after having been delayed for a year after last years E3 showing.

Following up on the stress test demo that was available for a short time last month, the anime -esque, Dark Souls like action RPG by Bandai Namco retraces the same area of the game that we saw last year, with new elements added in from the stress test.

This time around, we were able to change about our “Blood Codes”, which are basically the way classes are represented in the game.

We were able to choose from a very straightforward melee styled Blood Code, a more stealth and speed orientated Code and, my personal favorite here and in the stress test, a caster style Code. Not only were we now able to change our Blood Codes around, players were also able to level up and gain strength from the various enemies in the demo.

Code Vein is perhaps one of my most looked forward to games of 2019 and one that I have been following closely. The stress test and the hands on demo at E3 shows that Bandai Namco is dedicated to giving fans of this burgeoning genre a full and engrossing adventure.

There is a lot that is offered up in Code Vein that has me more interested in it than in previous soulsborn style games, namely the blood code style of class changing and the anime aesthetic that it is going for.

It still very much has the standard soulsborn style of gameplay that the genre is known for, with a new and unique aesthetic that I find very appealing. It may sound sacrilegious to some of our readers, but I also greatly enjoy Bandai Namco’s style of storytelling with Code Vein. 

Yes, I enjoyed Bloodborne and Dark Souls, and how the story was hidden from the player and how you had to really pay attention and hunt things down to understand exactly what was going on.

However now, having an actual story, one that you can follow along with and feel like you’re a part of, instead of having to hunt down every little detail, is a breath of fresh air.

The weapons, air rebreathers, cloaks and mutation/vampiric designs of the enemies, plus the post apocalyptic atmosphere of the game and the setting are all something I found very intriguing and all helped draw me into the world the developers are trying to create.

Code Vein might have been delayed for a year, but the level of detail and the work that has gone in to it since last years E3 showing were on full display with this years demo.

Code Vein really is shaping up to be a must have for any fan of the soulsborn style of games, and will probably even draw in players who perhaps think the genre just isn’t for them.

My only hope is that Bandai Namco doesn’t bend the knee and add in a super easy difficulty mode for Code Vein. We really don’t need that watering down an otherwise extremely promising game.

In case you missed it – you can find a block of gameplay we recorded from our hands-on preview sessions at E3 here.

Code Vein is launching across Windows PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on September 27th.