CODE VEIN is the first souls-like game I have ever finished. It was hell, but made better by the partner system (thank you Yakumo!).

I loved the art direction, some of the characters have really cool designs while some... were giving fan service, but that didn't ruin the experience. The story was decent, pretty easy to follow and interesting enough to keep you wanting to know more. The only complain I have is the amount of bloom (You can lower it though in the setting I recall) and the Final boss battle. The camera was janky and the locking on the boss was targeting the torso is pretty hard to reach, would probably work better if you can lock different body parts. I'm not sure, but it def was a hard time aiming at parts .

Code Vein is basically Dark Souls lite. It does everything From Software does except with much less polish. The map design is god awful, there really is not many different weapons to experiment and play around with, and the environmental storytelling is uninteresting. What it does do better that a From Software game is the sheer amount of character customization options it gives you if you are remotely interested in creating your perfect waifu.
It can be a fun game and is worth it when it is on sale and you do not want to play Elden Ring for the 8th time in a row.

Its pretty decent if you stop playing at Cathedral of ♥♥♥♥