Don’t miss your chance to play Code Vein this month

There’s a network test on PS4 and Xbox One

[Update: The Code Vein network test will run from May 31 to June 3. Get in there!]

Bandai Namco’s vampire-themed action-RPG Code Vein missed its 2018 release window and promptly slipped out of my mind. Now it’s back and hopefully better than ever. The developers chose to delay it to “refine its gameplay,” but they haven’t committed to a replacement date. It’s still just “2019.”

That said, the time draws near. Bandai Namco is running a Code Vein closed network test in May not unlike what From Software has hosted in the past for the Dark Souls series. PS4 and Xbox One players can sign up for the network test using this website, but PC users are going to be left in the dust.

Even now, I’m not sure what to make of Code Vein‘s dramatic post-apocalyptic tale, but those worries won’t hold me back. It’s an action-RPG about timing and reflexes and taking down big anime-lookin’ bosses. You can customize your hero, which, given the theme, I’m thinking Vampire’s Kiss-era Nic Cage. The game also emphasizes fighting side by side with your AI partners. I’m into all of these things.

Coinciding with today’s news, there’s a glut of gameplay footage captured from a recent Code Vein media event. None of the videos have swayed my opinion one way or another, but they’re a great reintroduction. I am one-hundred percent going for a caster build, though. My mind’s made up.

I just finished Sekiro for good (I’m free!), so this network test is landing at the exact right time. Assuming we’re at least a few more months out from the full release, if not longer, I’ll be ready to lose myself in yet another tough, frustrating, rewarding action-RPG when Code Vein rolls out proper.

Please be good! Bandai Namco surely has high expectations for this IP, but I’ll settle for “good.”