Despite being relatively young in the grand scheme of things, the Soulsborne genre is one of the most clearly defined in gaming. Whereas the industry might lump other titles together based on quite vague characteristics (An FPS needs to have guns for example), the releases in this category are far more in step with one another, to a weirdly specific degree.

For a start, they all share an approximation of the same combat, with an emphasis on being cautious, dodging attacks and waiting for the right moment to strike. They also tend to feature a riff on Metroidvania level-design and have a distinct punishment for death, wherein you lose your XP upon defeat and have just one shot to reclaim it.

Those are only the broader traits as well, and there are even more precise elements that keep cropping up – like talismans that return you to your latest checkpoint and the option to ‘’summon’’ a one-off co-op partner.

Given that Soulsborne games are so beholden to these tropes, they are at risk of getting increasingly samey and unless they find a way to meaningfully innovate upon the rigid formula, they will soon become stale. You can already see the beginnings of this with shrug-worthy titles like The Surge or Lords of the Fallen, both of which failed to make any cultural impact because they were too preoccupied with ticking the conventional boxes.

At a glance, a similar accusation could be leveled at Code Vein. After all, Bandai Namco’s post-apocalyptic-anime-vampire hybrid… thing… bears all the hallmarks of a boilerplate Dark Souls clone. Right down to the typical checkpointing system and punishing boss battles.

Indeed, the expected items and mechanics are all present and accounted for, even if they have gone through an obligatory name change. All you need to do is translate them back to their FromSoftware equivalent, and you see just how derivative the game is on the surface. For instance, Souls are now called ‘’Haze’’, Homeward Bones have been rebranded as ‘’Stakes’’,’’Mistle’’ is basically a stand-in for Bonfires, and there’s even a vampiric twist on the Alluring Skulls.

However, whilst your first impression of Code Vein might be that it’s just another desperate copycat, it actually has a few (much-needed) tricks up its sleeve, helping it stand out from the crowd. The most effective of these being the titular ‘’Code’’ system, which we managed to test out quite a bit during a recent preview event.

In a nutshell, the game is set in a dystopian future populated by ‘’Revenants’’, amnesiac vampire-warriors who have their own ‘’’blood codes’’. For the sake of brevity, these are essentially their character-specifications: determining if they rogues; mages; berserkers etc.

Now that might sound unremarkable at first (pretty much every RPG has classes) but what gives this game its edge is that the player can actually switch codes on the fly, via a quick menu selection. You are therefore free to experiment with different abilities, different stats and different weapon loadouts. You can also gamble with your haze, spending it on whatever skills you want, without fear of regretting it later. Because if something you buy doesn’t gel with your current build, then you can just change to another one.

This is a nice contrast from other RPGs, where you might feel dissuaded from investing XP in anything other than your core stats. For instance, if I’m not explicitly playing as a sorcerer in Dark Souls, then I know not to waste my time on attunement or intelligence. But in just a few hours with Code Vein, I had already managed to get to grips with about 8 different classes and I found something to love about each of them.

There’s another great little nuance to the system where you get to ‘’inherent’’ skills after you first acquire them. This might sound a little convoluted, but it essentially means that you can transfer class-specific abilities over to different codes. All you have to do is keep practicing with them until they have been mastered, at which point you’ll be able to use them no matter what class you are. So, for example, you’ll able to cast a mage’s spell whilst still getting the benefits of a fighter’s strength. Again, it’s an intelligent way of encouraging you to make use of all the tools in your arsenal.

Speaking of which, Code Vein separates itself further from the competition by putting a heavy emphasis on special abilities, known as ‘’Gifts’’.  You can have up to 8 of these equipped for any given code, and they can easily turn the tide of battle.

From devastating ice blasts, to huge stat buffs and life-saving heals, you could almost say they’re overpowered. In fact, I became so reliant on a certain projectile spell that I started to neglect my melee weapon altogether. Maybe they need to nerf these gifts a little so that standard combat still has purpose. Regardless, they’re enjoyable to use and should make the game far more accessible to players who are often overwhelmed by Dark Souls’ difficulty.

On that note, Code Vein seems to be far more accommodating of a casual audience. Not only does the code system alleviate some of the pressure that comes with spending XP, but if you choose to exploit the gift mechanic to its full potential, then you can basically create your own easy mode.

Meanwhile, unlike in Bloodborne, you don’t need to summon for assistance here, as you’ll have a permanent A.I buddy to escort you throughout. There are several to choose from (four of whom were available in the preview) and each of them is designed to complement a different strategy.

Calling attention to potential hazards, taking out smaller threats and even reviving you, these companions fundamentally transform the whole experience, making it much more forgiving. Of course, if you still want that extra challenge, or bragging rights, then you can always choose to go it alone without a partner.

So those are the basic mechanics, but what did we actually get to see in this preview?

Well, it opened with a robust character-customization screen, which had a pleasing amount of depth. There were options to tailor everything from your protagonist’s fashion sense to their hairstyle, their complexion, the timbre of their voice and even the special visor they use when traversing the world. Unfortunately, as anyone who’s ever seen my Fallout characters will attest, this isn’t my forte. So, after trying to cobble together something that loosely resembled a working face, I ended up settling for one of the presets instead.

I was then transported to a short-but-sweet tutorial that introduced all the basics controls. Nothing too elaborate: you’ve got quick attacks; a chargeable strong move; a parry; a dodge; a block and a critical it that gives you the action points required to perform gifts.

Once that was over, I then launched into the main story segment where there was copious lore to digest. Suffice it to say, it was hard to keep track of who was who and what they were all trying to achieve. Nevertheless, I think I got the rough gist.

As a wandering revenant, we had been captured by a mysterious despot who has ordered us to track down a levy of ‘’Blood Tears’’. From what I can gather, these are rare nutrients that grow on a special tree and are sought after by revenants, who need them in order to control their vampiric urges. If the warriors are not supplied with the vital sustenance, then they will go rabid and turn into one of ‘’the Lost’’, crazed beasties that dwell in the depths.

After interacting with a few NPCs in the opening prison area, I then headed off into the dungeon where most of the demo took place. Accompanied by a fellow revenant, named Oliver, our objective was to scour this labyrinthine environment for Blood Tears and take the offering back to the surface. This was easier said than done, however, as the place was crawling with monsters.

Thankfully the enemy variety was to a high standard – as we duked it out with basic grunts, giant ogres and those weird blob things that seem to make their way into every RPG nowadays. Likewise, the unique level-design kept things feeling fresh, even when I ended up circling around on myself. A cave that is encroaching upon a submerged car park, it was a visually arresting location with lots of memorable landmarks.

At the end of it all was an enormous boss encounter, which was everything a Soulsborne veteran could hope for. My opponent was quick, aggressive and had a sturdy move set that kept me on my toes. What’s more, when I finally managed to get him down to about a third of his health bar, he did what all good bosses do and entered a second phase, which was even more ferocious, with a huge damage buff and faster attack patterns.

Having conquered the dungeon, I was then taken to the final area of the demo: our home base. Kind of like the Hunter’s dream in Bloodborne, this is a hub area where you can chat with your buddies, purchase additional items, upgrade your armor, transform weapons and so on. You can also trade belongings with certain NPCs, which adds an interesting wrinkle to the in-game economy. I got the distinct impression that you’ll be able to spend hour-upon-hours here and still only scratch the surface of what it has to offer.

All in all, Code Vein is shaping up quite nicely. It might struggle to escape the inevitable Dark Souls comparisons, but it does enough to distinguish itself as its own thing. Let’s just hope that this encouraging preview is an accurate representation of what’s to come.