Code Vein 2’s Open World Ruins an Otherwise Focused Soulslike

Code Vein 2 is an ambitious sequel by Bandai Namco, and fans of the first will be overjoyed the moment they exit its in-depth character creator. The most exciting aspect, and the draw for many players, is the intense and challenging combat. It has been expanded and enhanced with new weapons, new abilities, and, of course, the new AI companion system. Generally, the sequel does everything better than the first game. That is, except for one aspect that didn’t need to be reworked: the world.

Code Vein 2 follows a separate storyline from the first game, but is set in the same universe. While some fans are understandably upset by this decision, my frustrations lie in the world design. Code Vein featured large open areas, but it never strayed into an open world. Code Vein 2 has made that jump, chasing the trend that has taken over the industry, and it is a lesser experience because of it. Elden Ring showed that soulslike gameplay can thrive in an open world, but it just doesn’t work here.

A Beautiful but Empty World

Don’t get me wrong, the world of Code Vein 2 is a visual treat. It may clash with the anime aesthetic the characters have going, but the environments are fantastic. Bandai Namco has made them more varied than the first game, and I genuinely enjoyed discovering each one. But the problem lies with how they are presented, and this stems directly from the open world. While the areas are unique, beautiful, and offer different locations to explore, there just isn’t that much to them.

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The world has been expanded to offer that open-world feel that has dominated trends for years, but Code Vein 2 does not properly fill it with enough interesting content. Part of the reason is the scale, but the other is a lack of interesting points of interest, and even enemy placement feels scarce. The motorcycle does cut down on travel time, but this is a band-aid placed on a bigger wound. As much as I enjoyed the rides with my companions, I’d have preferred this mechanic to have been cut and more attention focused on filling up the environments.

Traveling aside, there just wasn’t much motivation to explore. The occasional upgrade to healing was my primary reason, but even these were mostly marked on the map and not usually found organically. Furthermore, I’d find what feels like a secret route only to end with disappointing rewards or a dead end. The expanded world also led to more time wandering rather than battling, the core experience in soulslike games. Code Vein 2 has opted to make its world bigger, but it forgot to make it better in the process.

Dungeons Are Tight and Delightful

Now, where Bandai Namco has nailed the world is its dungeons. Every time I popped into Code Vein 2’s dungeons, I was thrilled. The layouts were tight and meaningful, with interesting enemy placements that test your skills. There were also hidden chests that could only be found by locating and destroying map jammers. Not only that, but enemy placement was better, and I could always expect an interesting and challenging boss fight at the end.

Visually, dungeons were also distinct and reflected the environment they were found in. In this way, I commend Bandai Namco’s ability to intertwine the open world with the dungeons in Code Vein 2. Some dungeons had secret entrances and exits that allowed you to skip a majority of it, almost getting straight to the boss. This clever design had me searching nearby locations whenever I was coming up to a dungeon, especially if it would lead me to secret loot.

With how much I enjoyed Code Vein 2’s dungeons, I can’t help but wish that the same approach had been taken with the open world. Scaling back the areas to what the first game did would allow Bandai Namco to show off the exciting environments while maintaining a more focused direction. It would encourage leaning into a more connected feel with dungeons and the world, possibly providing more ways to enter and exit them. In the end, the open world feels like a road that points you toward the dungeons rather than a meaningful place to explore.

Code Vein 2’s World May Be Lacking, but Its Combat Isn’t

While the world may have its flaws, Code Vein 2’s combat is stellar and elevates the game beyond other soulslikes. For many fans, this is the primary reason they’ll be picking up the game. And in this way, the world does lean into the game’s enemy design. One of my favorite aspects of discovering a new environment or dungeon was encountering the diverse array of enemies it contained. Early on, the game throws similar enemies at you, but even then, these fit the areas you are in. Later on, the game opens up, and enemy diversity increases.

This opens up the combat and begins testing your skills even more, and encourages you to not only continue the story, but to explore surrounding regions. For me, it became the primary drive for exploring the open world. It was less of looking for secrets and more searching for new enemies to challenge. There were numerous times when I’d discover a new foe and jump into battle, only to run away on my motorcycle, tail tucked between my legs, and retreat to the nearest Mistle. This loop of finding new enemies and having to adapt my combat strategy was such an enjoyable part of Code Vein 2.

Now, as much as I loved this aspect, it also showed the problem with the world’s size. These moments were some of the highlights of Code Vein 2, but the travel time between them was still there. Even trying to find more of the same, common enemy I’d defeated time and time again felt like a drag. Because of the open world, it felt like I spent more time moving from place to place, looking for something to fight, than actually enjoying the combat. Had the environments been streamlined into open areas, this problem could have been negated and given the player more time to enjoy the strongest component of Code Vein 2.

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