Code Vein II

Code Vein II is a Soulslike action role-playing video game played from a third-person perspective. In the game, the player assumes control of the Revenant Hunter, who must fight against Horrors, beings corrupted by a mysterious entity known as the Luna Rapacis. The Revenant Hunter is accompanied by a girl named Lou, who possesses the power to manipulate time, allowing players to travel to the past and alter events to influence the present and future. Throughout the game, players are also assisted by AI-controlled companion characters who can assist them in combat.

Alternatively, these characters can be assimilated, removing them from the battlefield while granting the player additional bonuses and abilities. According to the team, Code Vein II's world design was more open when compared with the first game, with the players able to traverse the world using a motorcycle.

Code Vein II is set in a post-apocalyptic world where both human and Revenant civilizations were nearly rendered extinct by a phenomenon called the Resurgence, which unleashed waves of energy that mutated all living beings, including human and Revenant alike, into mutated monsters dubbed Horrors. Both humans and Revenants banded together to fight off the Horrors, while the Revenants' leader Idris sacrificed himself to seal the Resurgence away. For the next hundred years, humans and Revenants continued to live in relative peace until Idris' seal failed and the Resurgence returned in an event called the Upheaval, which once again nearly rendered humans and Revenants extinct until five Revenant heroes sacrificed themselves to create a new seal called the Luna Rapacis. While it was successful at sealing the Resurgence, the Luna Rapacis also had the unfortunate effect of weakening Revenants exposed to its light and eventually turning them mad.

For the next hundred years after the Upheaval, humans and Revenants lived in an increasingly uneasy peace as Revenants began to prey on humans to sate their thirst for blood. In response, humanity formed the Revenant Hunters, an elite military force to defend themselves from rogue Revenants. However, just like Idris' seal, the Luna Rapacis begins to fail, necessitating a new ritual to seal the Resurgence.

After the release of Code Vein in 2019, the team at Bandai Namco Studios evaluated player feedback and decided to retain the anime aesthetic while significantly expanding certain features, such as deeper customization options, refined companion characters, and improved boss battles in both difficulty and presentation. Producer Keita Iizuka described the sequel as being "completely different" to the original game, as it is set in a different world and features an original cast of characters.

Code Vein II received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator website Metacritic. Review aggregator OpenCritic determined that 48% of critics recommended the game.