Code Vein Is Bandai Namco's New Action RPG

The 'Prepare to Dine' teaser hinted at the player's role in the new game.

By Casey DeFreitas

The most recent issue of Japanese magazine Weekly Famitsu revealed more information on Bandai Namco's mysterious new project, teased last week with an animated short.

Code Vein is the name of the new upcoming action RPG, which was previously hinted at with the "Prepare to Dine" teaser. The "dining" refers to players' ability to chow down on monsters as super-powered vampires in the new project.

The animated teaser's tagline, an obvious nod to Dark Souls, led many to believe this new game would directly relate to the punishing series. However, the team behind God Eater is developing the new project, aiming to create a new "dramatic exploration hard action RPG," for unknown consoles, unrelated to God Eater.

Here's what we know so far, as translated by Gematsu:

Code Vein takes place in a near dystopian future, where players take control of Revenants, vampires with supernatural abilities who have transcended humanity and lost their memories as a result. A Revenant who has failed to consume enough blood transforms into a monster called a "Lost," which the short animation last week touched upon.

For an unknown reason, the vampires are confined to an isolated society known as "Vein," and must cooperate with each other to survive and reveal the secrets and lost knowledge of the world. When exploring a dungeon, players can bring a single "Buddy" with them, a main feature of Code Vein. These Buddies help players overcome challenges, and will act on their own as an AI, but players will need to act to help them out as well.

Revenants mainly use melee-weapons including great swords, short swords, spears, hammers, and possible more, supplemented by special abilities.

Blood Veil is an article of unique equipment that functions as armor, usually in the shape of clothing, that absorbs the blood of Lost. Some sort of dedicated mechanism is exposed at the time of use, and the user's mask changes disastrously.

The special ability Tempered Blood can be triggered after a Blood Veil blood sucking attack succeeds. The large variety of effects, ranging from strengthening yourself, weakening enemies, and attacking directly, depends on the type of Lost the blood was taken from.

Development for Code Vein is about 35 percent complete. Expect an official worldwide announcement on April 20 and a full trailer in early May.

Casey DeFreitas is an Associate Editor for IGN. Follow her on Twitter at @ShinyCaseyD

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