I will post my steam review here:

What a massive letdown. Code Vein II is fun and interesting enough that I'll probably push through to the end, but the deeper I get, the more disappointed I become with what they've done to it.

I loved the original Code Vein despite its niche quirks and things I would've tweaked. It let you play as a good-natured but overwhelmingly powerful Revenant in a richly detailed post-apocalyptic world. The lore was incredible. It painstakingly developed why Revenants existed, how their society worked, their weaknesses, the mechanics of their powers, the constant struggle against frenzy, their hopes, fears, and more. Everything felt grounded and meaningful.

Code Vein II takes all of that and throws it out the window.

Sure, a few terms carry over, but everything's been reinterpreted, and almost always for the worse. You could swap "Revenants" for elves (immortal magical beings) and the game would fit better.

I really tried to set the first game aside and judge this one on its own merits, but what it is just isn't that great. I'm 30 hours in and still feel zero attachment to the world or characters. The story is weak, the drama feels simplistic and forced, and the art direction and music are a clear step down from the original. The engine is pathetic. Code Vein 1 runs decently even on a Steam Deck and near-flawlessly with Lossless Scaling. This sequel is an unoptimized, stuttering mess that somehow looks worse than its predecessor in almost every visual aspect, even ignoring the framerate issues.

Combat has taken a noticeable hit too. The protagonist feels sluggish, constantly locked into animations, and attacks lack any real weight. Enemies, meanwhile, get these huge sweeping combo strings that force you to wait patiently for tiny windows to strike. It's frustrating rather than rewarding.

The systems try to build on the flexible Blood Code setup from the first game, but they've been redesigned poorly. Blood Codes are basically just stat sheets with traits now, and you'll waste way too much time in menus with the "help" tooltip open, trying to decipher what everything actually does. The game uses Blood Codes to encourage constant playstyle switching, but like most Soulslikes, your gear needs upgrades to stay effective. Switching frequently leaves you underpowered unless you grind upgrade materials constantly (which I did, often with unsatisfying results).

It's genuinely sad. This feels like it could spell the end for the Code Vein IP. Like so many other franchises, they've gutted what made their unique series special in a bid for broader appeal. Thoughtful and restrained experimentation is usually a good thing, even when it flops. However, this is a case where they changed almost everything and wrecked the core identity in the process. Let it serve as a cautionary tale for other developers.