Code Vein II is set to launch on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on January 30, 2026, but you can start playing it a week early when the Character Creator Demo launches on January 23, 2026. The news of the demo arrived alongside a new eight-minute gameplay walkthrough trailer and the release of several previews for the game, including one from Wccftech.
The gameplay walkthrough trailer is a solid showcase of what to expect when Code Vein II arrives at the end of the month. It goes through new elements of the combat, like the new dual blades, allowing for agile and deadly combos, or the tried-and-true halbred making its Code Vein debut.
It also shows off Sunken Pylon, a new area in Code Vein II that players will explore as they search for the key to purifying the Sunken City. The trailer also introduces another new combat mechanic for Code Vein II, Forma. These new special skills are broken down into three categories: weapons, defensive, and bequeathed, which consume a resource called Icor.
You'll gain Icor when attacking enemies, and when you have enough, you can use one of your Forma skills to unleash fatal and devastating attacks. The trailer also shows how you can switch between summoning and assimilation. Summoning allows your partner to fight alongside you, while assimilation fuses them to you and boosts your own health and stats.
The whole video is a good breakdown of what to expect in Code Vein II, but if you want to hear more about the game, then you should check out Kai Tatsumoto's preview, where they talked about several aspects of the game, including its combat, saying, "Defensive tech works a bit differently in Code Vein II than what players might expect. It all comes down to the defensive forma that players equip and set to the L1 button. One allows for blocking, another allows for timed parries. They’re each situational, but with enemy attacks being well telegraphed, the parry forma should be the perfect fit for Soulslike veterans."
"On the other hand, combat skills and weapon forma are much like their counterparts from the first game. Players can set a palette of four different weapon skills between active attacks and passive temporary boosts, each with their own resource cost. Attacking and using a special drain attack both recharge this resource, allowing players to pull off vicious combos if they’ve accumulated enough stocked resources."
And of course, if you're keen to dive in, then be sure to download the demo when it arrives on January 23, 2026. The character you create can be transferred into the full game, meaning you can get a head start on your playthrough and start getting a feel for the game a week ahead of launch.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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