UPDATE: Replaced the Japanese Yakumo Shinonome trailer with the English one; Original Story below
Bandai Namco has shared more information on characters in their upcoming vampire-themed action-RPG Code Vein. In the two recent trailers, female companion Mia Karnstein and another friendly aide Yakumo Shinonome are introduced. The Souls-like party-based action game is planned to come out soon, on September 28th for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.
The Japanese publisher has a knack to release a Japanese trailer first, with an English one following a day later. The introduction trailer to Mia Karnstein is available in English and we recommend you check it out, since it sets up the character and motive nicely. The newer trailer which focuses on the male AI companion Yakumo Shinonome is fresh off the press, so only the Japanese dubbed trailer is availble at the moment. Seeing how there’s more to gain from theses character trailers than just flashy in-game footage, we recommend you follow Bandai Namco’s American Youtube channel for when the English version of the trailer is inevitably going to arrive soon.
Ever since its first announcement in 2017, Code Vein has been constantly compared to FromSoftware’s cult Souls series of action-RPGs. The focus on an almost methodical and deliberate approach at melee combat, lock-on targeting enemies while circle-strafing them and a post-apocalyptic world where the game set is, made it difficult for Code Vein to be taken serious only on its own merits. It doesn’t help that Bandai Namco is also the publisher of many Souls titles which led to some cynical gamers to outright disregard Code Vein as a cheap chash-in.
These are knee-jerk reactions though sadly, since from the plethora of trailers we have come to see that Code Vein decidely aims to deliver a different type of experience to players. Yes, the aesthetics of the game are obviously influenced by an anime style and the amount of lewd fanservice seen with female characters is only working into the hands of people nicknaming Code Vein as Anime Souls but once you take a closer look, it’s easy to spot positive features the developers are focusing on, like a more cohesive narrative with characters that have easy to follow motivations unlike Souls games who are cryptic and obtuse. Whether it’s their lore or even game systems.
The more Bandai Namco shares about Code Vein, the further we see that something unique is approaching us in the coming September.
