Another game reveal has been dropped at the Anime Expo 2019. This time it’s for the highly anticipated action RPG Code Vein from developer and publisher Bandai Namco.
The Ufotable-produced cinematic reveal was shown during Bandai Namco’s “Play Anime” Panel at the three-day anime convention. Anime studio is also known for creating the openings for other Bandai Namco titles, such as its Tales and God Eater franchises.
The four-minute opening cinematic barely makes any sense story wise, since this is the first time that we've seen anything new since Code Vein’s announcement back in 2017. It opens with a kid wearing a gas mask, running away from red-eyed beings we can only assume as the main antagonists of the game, called The Lost. These are former Revenants, which are immortal creatures that took on “vampire-like properties”. These vampire-like traits that come with being a Revenant come with cons, as giving in to your vampiric desires means that you turn in the one of these “Lost” creatures. However, surviving as a Revenant would mean that you gain powers, called “Gifts”. Humming along to a J-rock theme, these Revenants are successful in saving the helpless kid. What follows is a montage of characters we’ve yet to meet. If we’re lucky, the hack-and-slashing gorey goodness it showed should translate to the game itself.
Set in a post-apocalyptic world, Code Vein has already found similarities to another Bandai Namco franchise, Dark Souls. This is an effort to steer away from Bandai Namco's latest money-maker in Monster Hunter: World. We can probably expect some sort of hair-pulling difficulty that comes with being called a “Souls-like” game, along with a vast post-apocalyptic dystopia to wander. Hopefully there will be a more interesting story to follow, because let’s be honest, who really followed the plot of the Dark Souls franchise when you’re too busy trying to survive? Code Vein, despite its delays, deserves the hype it currently is receiving.
Code Vein is set to release on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC via Steam. A collector’s edition, called the Revenant Bundle, is also available in North America. Pre-orders are now available on all three platforms.
