Code Vein is a bigger game than we expected. The number of cutscenes, Blood Codes, bosses, enemy variations, and weapons is pretty huge with tons of optional content as well. The game obviously borrows heavily from the Dark Souls games, but it has an identity all its own too. Revenants rule the earth now, long in the future, after an apocalyptic event occurs. Luckily, our player character and his rag-tag group of anime supermodels are here to save the day. They don't eat, they're obsessed with their hot springs, and they drink blood from beads that grow from trees. What's not to love? In any case, that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to macabre yet wacky setting, story, and overall content in this game. For the biggest things people are breezing past, here our 10 Hidden Secrets Many Still Haven’t Found In Code Vein.
10 The Alternate Drain Attacks
Weirdly enough, people are somehow missing one of the biggest combat-based gems in Code Vein, the drain attack! Sure, most people quickly figured out the charged version of it, but not many are using the mid-combo variant or the launcher combo-into-drain version. Frankly, the tutorials for these two attacks aren't great, and that might be why. But, yes, Revenants can use their Drain Attacks mid-combo. All it requires is a bit stamina and it can't be used to start said combo. Additionally, it's great for recovering Ichor mid-fight and knocking the enemy down like 80% of the time. The launcher, on the other hand, can only be used when in the Focused State. While people have figured out how to use it, many are forgetting to follow up by pressing the drain-attack button. Doing this causes the player character to juggle enemies with a drain attack mid-air, recovering great amounts of Ichor, and doing pretty absurd damage to any enemy it hits.
9
Restoring Successor Memories Before Fighting Them
The "Successors" in Code Vein are comprised of three elite enemies that make up the more difficult boss fights in the game. Explaining them any further than that involves dropping some pretty heavy spoilers, so we'll hold back for now. But, what's important to unlocking other endings and nabbing some pretty amazing Blood Codes is that part about restoring their Vestiges. That plural was on purpose by the way, as there are multiple Vestiges to restore per Successor. The game tries to signpost this pretty clearly by having an "attendant" remain outside their boss rooms that can restore Vestiges much in the same way Io can. But, because this has to be done before each Successor is defeated, and because finding Vestiges becomes a chore after a while, many players are accidentally missing this extra content.
8 Obtaining All The Endings
So like most games that attempt to embody the Souls franchise, Code Vein has multiple endings. There are four of them, although the fourth is basically just a version of the "Dwellers in The Dark" ending with an extra scene. The road to obtaining these though is heavily tied into the Vestiges system, as players will need to restore all the vestiges of certain characters (psst we may have just talked about them) before some boss fights in order to obtain all the endings. But, finding these extra bosses and restoring their memories is not something the game explains very well, so many players have been missing them entirely. Which is sad, because these fights are some of the most bombastic in the game, with some of the best Blood Codes to boot! So do us a favor, keep an eye open for doors with "wings" on them, and go back to look for them before clearing the final boss, because we can't even imagine how hard they'll be on NG+.
7 Returning Everyone's Memories
The Vestige system in Code Vein is awesome, we've made that clear. Honestly, we hope future games of this genre give it a try, because it's a fantastic money-saving method for giving NPC characters backstory. Plus, if the player simply wants all gameplay and no story, they can skip these "cutscenes" no problem, which is always a great option to include. Basically, to unlock these extra Gifts, cutscenes, and dialogue players have to find the parts of the Vestiges spread throughout the game. Each Blood Code has a "Core" that lets the player equip it, but the remaining Vestige pieces unlock other skills on the tree as they combine into a complete form. But, because there are tons of Vestiges, players end up missing a few. This hurts more than we would've thought because some Vestiges can only be "restored" once a pre-requisite amount of other Vestiges have been fixed beforehand. So keep an ear open for that creepy whispering.
6 Completing All The NPC Side Quests
The game really doesn't explain it at all, and kind of just hopes players explore old zones, but there are tons and tons of side quests in Code Vein! Honestly, it was incredibly smart game design to put a percentage meter on each "zone" so that OCD-influenced players like ourselves would be tempted to try and 100% every zone as they progress through the story. In any case, these are other revenants that require the help of our rag-tag group of vampires. Most of them boil down to one of three tasks; find an item in the surrounding area, find an item in a Depths map, or clear our a certain beefy enemy/group of enemies. But, the writing behind each of them is just barely good enough that it doesn't feel super repetitive, and the rewards range from free skills to some Depths maps, so they're very much worth doing.
5 Presents Are More Valuable Than You'd Think
Another weird little mechanic Code Vein introduces to the Souls-like Genre is the Presents. These are literal gifts the NPCs give your player character randomly. We couldn't figure out what caused it, but it's probably either dependent on time passing or the amount of Haze gained during a play session. In any case, what they actually are is about 4000 Haze, but they also give clues as to what the NPC themselves like to be given. Players might've noticed that some random "Valuables" give more Trading Points depending on who they're given to. For example, Louis likes fancy items like Ancient Coins and Ballpoint Pens. So, paying attention to what NPCs give you is absolute the best in-game hint as to what they'd like in return.
4 Clearing Out The Depths
The Hermes Blood Code is given relatively early in Code Vein by the iron-clad Government representative, Davis. This is one of the less friendly Revenants in the game who is always standing around the Weapons Shop. Talking to him allows the player to explore the Depths, but only if they've found the corresponding maps hidden throughout the game. Bringing these maps to Davis unlocks more to explore for a grand total of 12 different Depths maps. These areas are all procedurally generated and are also where most of Davis' Hermes Vestiges are found. But, because they're optional and require a bit of legwork to unlock, people aren't experiencing all these optional dungeons have to offer! Which is extra sad considering these zones are the primary place for Haze grinding and post-game multiplayer encounters.
3 Learning How To Zoom (PS4 Only)
Let's get this out of the way, Io is absolutely underdressed for the post-apocolypse. I mean, doesn't she get cold? And everyone else seems to be wearing incredibly fancy garb, why can't they share a bit with this forlorn girl so she can cover up a bit? More power to her, but at least step it up from literal rags. In any case, Io has some well, assets that fans have been drawn to. So much so that PS4 players have figured out there's an accessibility option in the game that isn't explained at all, the Zoom feature. Seems like even the humans of today are just a thirsty as the Revenants in the game, just in a different way.
2 Utilizing All The Character Creator Tools
Players might be aware that the character creator in Code Vein is good, but we don't think they know just how good! For example, just take a look at the Code Vein Reddit. You'll notice that 90% of the "Most Popular" posts since the games release has been people managing to make just about any fan-favorite from popular cartoons, video games, and of course anime. The amount of customization options, details, and accessories in Code Vein is one of the best we've ever seen. It truly allows people to make their ultimate self-insert for this vampire anime gore-fest. But, people aren't aware that the "Advanced Editing" setting allows players to put accessories anywhere on their body, change their size, their shape, their orientation, and more. We just want people to figure out all this creator has to offer so our eyes can be graced with more amazing creations!
1 Sitting Down For A Slice Of Pizza In The Vampire Apocalypse
This last entry isn't necessarily fair, considering these voice lines aren't actually in the game themselves - but they are in the files. Basically, before Code Vein released, some early-game screenshots came out that showed the developers might've intended some cross promotion with Dominoes, a partnership no one expected. But, now, once players got access to the game files, dataminers found some disturbing. They found tons and tons of voice files, from the voice actors themselves, where they promote pizza as if they were the characters. These lines are hilarious, and we mean utterly gut-busting. Seriously, the line about how the aroma of pizza might draw in the lost almost made us pass out, Check this tweet out so we can help make someones day.