Faster Pace and Combos
Gifts and abilities tie directly into another vital aspect of Code Vein’s combat, the speed. If I had to compare it, Code Vein feels more akin to Bloodborne than it does Dark Souls, and at least from what I played being aggressive really paid off. In order to use Gifts, you’ll need a resource known as Ichor, which can be gained by draining blood from enemies. Backstabbing enemies results in a ton of Ichor, while parrying and using any ability that has drain also produces some. Mid combo you’re even able to hit R1+X to use a “mid combo drain,” where your character plunges a massive claw into the enemy and drains their blood.
Ichor becomes something that you need to manage, and linking all of the myriad systems together lets you pull of lengthy combos, unlike Dark Souls which is more focused on individual attacks. It’s a constant challenge of juggling your basic attacks, using Gifts, draining enemies, and dodging, and it’s easy to fall into a rhythm with the game’s combat. In an interview with VG247, Code Vein’s director, Hiroshi Yoshimura, commented on the idea of combos in the game saying “There are ways where you watch the enemy’s actions you can wait until after they’ve attacked and use it in their moment of weakness, or you can do something like a combo where you attack and actively create that moment of weakness in order to use the blood veil to suck the enemy’s blood. That’s the kind of combos we’re providing.”
As if all this wasn’t enough there’s another mechanic called Focus, which builds as you’re attacked and take damage. Once your Focus is full you can enter a special “Focus State,” which boosts your defense against attacks and lets you launch enemies into the air with a special move, performing an auto-drain in the process.
Once you combine the abilities of both you and your partner, Code Vein’s battles feel like a much different experience than Dark Souls, even if the core of it is similar.
