Code Vein and the Enjoyment of Flawed Things
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- Опубликовано: 29 авг 2023
- In this short video essay, I will briefly review Code Vein and explain why and how to love it and other media despite the prevalence of abundant flaws.
Code Vein Main Theme: / code-vein-memory-of-th...
Songs used in the video taken from here: • you put your pen down ...
Incurious - Isaak Wolf, Nycto
Familiar Fonts - Nycto, Isaak Wolf 
Развлечения
Code vein has heart, it's a lovable mess, rare and precious in this age of corporate assembled by committee Games as a Service.
Aurora made the catedral so confusing so that no one may find the source, it being a maze is intentional.
Was looking to see if anyone said this. The story all but tells you it.
The Blood Code and Gifts systems are honestly the primary reason I love this game so much.
Also I hated the Cathedral on my first playthrough, but honestly I like it a lot better now. That's probably because I know the layout better now, but I feel like it has the most interesting level design in the game (especially considering how many of the levels are just caves)
I really like the soundtrack of Code Vein. Especially the one inside memory
I still listen to it OST to fall asleep.
Code Vein is definitely a very memorable game. When the game just released years ago, i didn't have any good device to play it, but i watched my friend streaming it in discord while i became their navigator.
Then this year, i get a lot better PC and last month i buy it. Playing it by myself this game is really fun. I really love the atmosphere this game has, the characters, the story, the builds, the music and ofc it gives me nostalgic feelings from the past. I never really find any games that stroke me this hard to this point. For me, for now, this is my most favorite game but even if someday there will be an another game that become my favorite, this game will forever have special place in my heart.
Is it bad that i hope there will be sequel for this game? 😢
Even though the game was rough, I had a good time with it. I especially enjoyed the Cathedral of Sacred Blood because at the very least it was a memorable experience to be completely lost for a long few hours.
I also feel the same way about Drakengard 3. Even though the game is very rough, I still had a good time with the overall experience as good parts like the overarching story, even if the execution was well below mid, were memorable enough to hold my attention and keep me entertained.
There's definitely value in playing flawed games, and soon I'm going to start Drakengard 1 which I hear is even more rough, but the story concept certainly has me intrigued and I belive that good parts like that will be enough for me to enjoy it.
Code Vein was the first soulslike I played, and I had quite a bit of fun with it. Maybe I should do another playthough sometime, now that I've played Elden Ring and (most of) Sekiro.
I’ve beaten code vein like 8 times I love it, to be fair I was already a huge fan of the go dealer games
God eater games auto correct screwed me there
I too love this game, I love the style, it’s rusty and gritty… but underneath you can find hope
Code Vein is special to me. It's the only Soulslike I've played so far and one of my favorite games in general. Some of the issues stated in this video have not been an issue for me. The enemies for example are, to a good extent, all just re-skins. That helped my ability to passively learn their attack patterns. Like, at the start of the mid game, I was not only able to dodge many attacks, I was able to use that "knowledge" effectively on bosses too. The story was also a big reason for me. The story is an important part of games like this for me. Code Vein was speaking to me in a way I never imagined. Of course, it's nothing in comparison to rdr2, but the settings and the characters spoke to me. Together with my "hobby" of thinking my own character in existing stories, it just worked for me. It's not for everyone, but if you want a story that is somewhat deep, has nice written characters and a good all in one story, then you should try it. And take a guide for the cathedral, by the love of God, it was terrible. And a side note from my side: make sure you have all seen all the memories from bosses starting with the one in the cathedral. Trust me, the ending you get then, the secret ending, is worth it. Even if you don't gonna use their abilities.
I started playing this game recently. I've been having a blast! The setting and the general tone of it is just right for me, and the fact that my character looks like she doesn't want to be here will never stop being funny to me.
There have been about two times that I've screamed in fear from this game so far. One was one of the dog things, the other was from one of the wave invasion things when I picked up a red thing that gave me a ranger class. I am having so much fun
In Code Vein you care about the characters due to many reasons (not going to elaborate here). Rare thing in games.
I love that this game has more lore aspects, like the vestiges giving you backstories, and even exploring your own lost memories later.
I also love that you can swap builds on a whim, which as you said, is something that the other souls games don't provide.
A big problem for me is that the difference in difficulty from playing with and without companion is quite large, so it can be hard to find the right balance for your play experience.
I absolutely love Code Vein. The setting, the lore, the story, the gameplay, all of it is exactly the stuff I love, -stick it in my veins.- But I agree, the game could use work. The way I describe it is that the game is anemic. It runs thin in places. There's not very many main areas, there's only 1 true side area, some of the characters need more development, there aren't many enemy types, etc.
An example of this is Mia. Did you realize that she was likely the Hunter, not Jack? Or that she likely hated other people before the party helps her? I'll admit this is reading between the lines a bit, but after playing the game several times, it was the vibe I got from her. All of the memory fragments involving her are about people harming her and Nicola. She runs off with him and they live alone for untold years. She immediately tries to kill you the first time you meet in an attempt to steal your Blood Beads. She still shuns your help even after the first encounter, despite Nicola's dire condition. Even after joining you, she admits to not liking people and being surprised that she enjoys being in the group.
You could say that this is intentional; as a detail under the surface. But I don't think so. This would be a major character development for a party member in most games. Mia's story should have been fleshed out a bit more to show this change in character.
All in all, Code Vein was so close to being stellar. "We were on the verge of greatness, we were this close." And that's why I'm eagerly awaiting Code Vein 2. Code Vein has an excellent foundation to build off of. If a sequel can polish out the flaws and flesh out the game, it would be amazing.
A couple of side notes:
6:51 I'd argue there is a reason. Aurora wanted to keep people out of the Cathedral. Making the entire area a confusing death maze is a good way of doing that.
1:59 The deep lore of Code Vein is amazing. I particularly love the fact that the world is on its 3rd, 4th or even 5th apocalyptic event depending on how you count it. And the story and environments show it.
3:36 Crystal Nuke is an amazing term.
@@thomaswinwood I don't think Jack is the capital-H Hunter because it doesn't make any sense in hind sight. I think that's just what Yakumo assumed when we come across Jack killing the successor in the Dried-Up Trenches Crypt as Jack looked the part and was killing a revenant, thus he fit the bill.
However, as we learn, Jack's job is to constantly travel between the crypts and check on the successors. Crypts are often in remote, danger filled locations that are often hard to get to, and easy to miss if you don't know they are there. Sure, Jack has to kill successors sometimes and probably kill intruders if needed (he's got a gun after all), but sometimes killing people in remote, dangerous locations isn't how you build a serial killer reputation. And I highly doubt he was randomly attacking people while traveling between crypts; he has more important things to do, and the government was supplying him.
In order for rumor like the Hunter to get started, someone had to have been attacking people frequently enough to cause alarm. Seeing as the game opens up with revenants enslaving other revenants, revenant vs revenant conflicts aren't uncommon, and thus the Hunter attacks must have been truly frequent. They would also have to been in areas that were considered relatively safe, as if someone goes off into super-infested-lost territory and dies, you have no reason to assume a revenant did it without eye witnesses.
So that's why I don't think Jack could be the Hunter.
I like your idea of the Hunter being more of a boogeyman than an actual person. Several people warn you about the Hunter, but no one gives you a physical description. This does give it a vibe of a rumor that's being passed through the telephone a few too many times. It might be a case that Mia's attacks, Jack protecting the crypts, and other random conflicts all coalesced into the Hunter rumor.
@@thomaswinwood So, I played Code Vein a a little while ago and found something that blew a hole in my theory. One of the side quest guys (the one looking for a new place to live with his little brothers), mentions that the hunter has been seen frequently in "places that have changed a lot". Which is referring to areas around the crypts. So yeah, I guess Jack is the hunter.
i love this game so much lol
A souls game with an ending. No need for part 2 -22. I love that its a full game and it dosent feel rushed or copied.
What i like about Code Vein is that it does have a more upbeat canon ending.
All the soulsborne games are just so damn depressing. Even the good endings are miserable. In Code Vein though, the good ending is an actually good ending.
Its so good that i replayed it more than ds2
Not a masterpiece? Eh. I disagree. Code Vein is a beautifully tragic game with interesting characters, Fun combat and a beautiful soundtrack. 8 out of 10.
Tbh, this game is waay too underrated , cathedral was litteraly my fav zone
Very good points. Well made video
Always good to have a Haedal video before bed
This game is funny to play with a friend.
I always remember there was a time I and my AI teammate revived my friend at a same time, therefore we both got low health, then destroyed by the boss. Code Vein has its funny and wacky moments.
But in the same time I can not ignore how inhumanly punishing the movements of bosses are, whcih is the part that bugs me the most.
So, I will say I recommend this game, just be prepare that it is not perfect.
I enjoyed it I won't call it rough because I truly enjoyed the game I'm not going to bend to someone else's opinion but I will respect it.
Lore reason for the cathedral of the sacred blood: the successor Aurora purposefully made a labyrinth to prevent anyone from finding her in the first place.
Several reasons being that she didn’t want her attendant to kill revenants just wanting to survive, And to protect both hers and another successor’s relics, As well as to keep the flow of blood beads going (her crypt being the source)
ahh, my very 1st souls game, if its not from code vein i would never play ds, bb or elden ring, or even nioh and nioh 2, i am currently replaying code vein after 3 years, and whoa, still alot of fun to play.
I played the whole game with one slow heavy hitting giant sword.
I want to deal maximum damage.
I think there's this element of sincerity to Code Vein that the fans have kinda picked up on. We might not be able to point to a specific thing as a demonstration of that sincerity, but there's this general vibe that Shift cared about what they were making. Yes, they missed the mark in a few places. Yes, there's plenty of jank to be had. From an objective point of view, Code Vein is severely flawed... but what's objectively good and what we, as individuals, enjoy don't always line up. Look at the fighting game community's fondness for weird and janky titles. Look at all the media seen as "So Bad It's Good." Our fondness for a "mid" Soulslike is really not that unusual in the grand scheme of things.
I actually really enjoyed the cathedral both on my first and second playthroughs. After my third I was not looking forward to doing it all again, but I have moments like that in many games. It seems like it should be so easy to find your way through since you have a minimap and the whole thing is basically floating in the air, but you get lost and turned around and run into dead ends so much that you actually feel like you're navigating a puzzle where you DO have enough info to solve it but you just arent there yet. Many souls games have moments where you find the door you were supposed to find and it falls flat, like an "oh so the door was hidden in a stupid location who would find this on a first playthrough" (looking at you undead settlement).
I tottaly understand I played Code Vein recently and I went in full well aware of the negative connotations around this game but I'm a from soft junkie and will play any souls like if it at least has serviceable combat and complex build mechanics which this game most definitely has but by the end of it I found my self wanting more of this experience something about having anime fan service combined with good souls like combat really hits the spot they go together like peanut butter and jelly lol I hope we get a sequel and I hope we get even better games in this genre that are not live service games.
Just finished this game less than a month ago, and I couldn't agree more with your review.
Despite how conceivably flawee Codevein is, i think the Gameplay is the tightest in the Souls genre, it came out in a Post-DS3 Pre-ER moment in history and its very possible that with the games true ending and the games current system, a Codevein 2 could be one of the goats of the Souls genre, you know, if made correctly
Dragon's Dogma had the same system for skills.
I actually have a funny story about that: "Cathedral of The Sacred Blood" level as one time a good friend and me were talking while he played this game he was struggling getting through this level so wanting to help him I looked for a guide to get through the area and all I found was a really shitty IGN guide to this place and we spent at least an hour trying to find our way around, keep in mind I don't a visual reference for where he is all I got were his descriptions and whatever shitty reference pictures IGN had on that guide... It was actually hell, but we somehow made it work and in the end he did get through the level...
I’m loving the game, it seems like a really thought out homage to dark souls. As someone who’s played thousands of hours of souls games, the coop is the best! The map layouts are perfect, I never have to google answers like I used to do in dark souls, and always feel just the right amount of lost and intrigue.
Just started the video, but as much as I love this game, I will permanently be upset with it. It was one of the first games I went out of my way to platinum on PS4, but for some reason the trophy for "get all endings" would never appear no matter what I tried.
Did you get all 4 endings? More specifically, did you get both the good and the best endings? Despite the best ending being a continuation of the good ending, they count as separate endings and doing the best ending does not count as doing the good ending.
@@TonyRedgrave Yeah. I looked up guides and everything just to make sure I wasn't missing anything. It just wouldn't appear for me.
Also, on a different note. Never attempt a solo level 1 run of the game. It took me about 3 days to get past the Blade Bearer and Cannoneer.
@@Shirker12 I also did that run, though honestly I'd recommend it if you're up for a challenge. Blade Bearer and Cannoneer can be a pain, but the fight is manageable with the right setup (though it didn't stop me from dreading that fight basically from the start of the game until I won).
@@Shirker12did you get all of them with the same character? I read that in order to get the achievement, you have to do this way
the best part of cold vein is that you can play with the little fairies. best cross-over ever
At first I didn't like the range of the attacks or the parry, but I played it through and ended liking it, are there other souls games like this one?
Hey code vein was an offshoot of God Eater in the same world, you shoukd play god eater if you wanna know the main story that code veins the side story of.
I love this game and the fur siblings even made me cry. It's not perfect but magical. Which is better
Also i heavily agree with your last take
"This game is so mid throughout its extension, yet every now and then you get strokes of genius by the devs" This quote perfectly describes Code Vein.
I love this game so much, I got in back in 2019 and by now I have around 200 hours of playtime, and I've enjoyed every single one of them. Heck, I even enjoyed the DLC, the Hellfire Knight is probably my favorite boss in the entire game, and I love the visuals of the 3 DLC areas.
Sure, the game is way far from perfect, but its still very fun and has a ton of replayability nonetheless, wheter by messing around in the character customization, trying out different builds, going for a solo run, etc. Still hoping for Code Vein 2, if they polish some of the rough edges and add a bit more variety, it has a massive potential for an outstanding game (just don't rush the DLC for that one).
The only reason why I liked this game was because I could play a dark souls in a post apocalyptic setting. Same goes for the music.
The game have elements which ranged from "fine" to "great" (If you know what I mean ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ) with exception of Cathedral of Sacred Blood
That area drives anyone insane, even including Lovecraftian gods ended up shivering to demise when trying to explore and comprehend such magnanimous travesty of video game mapping designs
Honestly. While flawed. I loved the game
Everyone shits on the Cathedral... does no one have any fun exploring shit ?
it has a lot to do with the repetetive architecture,
it would have been fun to read into the design of it & have destingt designs on each secttion so you know better whare you are,
but it kindof just looks like the same pretty glittering halway for a lot of it & thus its easy to get lost without a map
Good video, with intelligent points about this game, and enjoying stuff in general. I wish this game was better, but it's still fun in some ways.
At least guys knew that dodge has to work on pressing a button instead of release. Unlike from software broken games.
I got stuck on what I'm guessing is the last boss lol not even sure, I beat all the souls.
Yeah this game was far from perfect, and it’s nowhere near as good as actual FromSoft games, but I still had a lot of fun with it. Wouldn’t mind a sequel at some point
Anime Dark Souls with a nice story
definitely a good game to play 👍
Jank ass feeling, after playing through elden master piece of cheesing bosses, i found the controls on this game JANK ass well got it for free on ps plus so yeah its gonna stay there
The first time I played this was horrible and almost broke me but then I played it again because a friend wanted to and I really like it now except for the Cathedral of the Sacred Blood fuck that place
Is ur character modded?
this game is literally sword art online to me. it's bad and honestly i could play any other game but man i love it
It's actually the same reason why people loved the Drakengard games. I might add, Code Vein and God Eater (which is a solid, much faster MH-like game) are in the same universe. If they are allowed to cook right by CAPCOM, we might have something special in the near future
Bro really said objectively mid 😂
The game is mid, here is 200 things it does better than many other games. Huh
overall i think the game sucks but no other souls game lets me turn the shitty starting pipe into an infinite mana glitch that, when combined with its insane attack speed and the poison ichor gift, lets me cast almost indefinitely and trivialize 90% of the game and that has to count for something
Dude, it's a 5, at best.
BROOO PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD TELL ME WHERE YOU GOT THAT HAIRSTYLE FROM? IS IT A MOD??
Nice vid
A souls game with an ending. No need for part 2 -22. I love that its a full game and it dosent feel rushed or copied.