Today's issue of Weekly Famitsu had a massive 8-page spread on the upcoming Souls-like JRPG Code Vein by Bandai Namco.

It included a ton of screenshots and information on the new title, starting with the character creation and customization. The main character can be either male or female, and their appearance fully customizable, with a high degree of flexibility and many options.

We can select things like physique, hair style, voice, eye color, shape and even glow. There are many more, and you can create your own ideal hero or heroine. The voices available are from various actors that did leading roles in various titles. In the gallery, you can see several example of different characters created with the feature.

We also meet two new characters. Rui is a young leader that keeps searching for a way to save the revenant who suffer from blood thirst. He has his mind set on a possible surrogate for human blood, and he is willing to endanger himself to achieve his goal.

Io is a female revenant who lost all of her memories about herself, yet she has vast knowledge about revenants and the Vein, which she shares with the hero. What is the meaning of dwelling in places like the Altar of Blood? She seems anxious about the animal sculptures that can be seen on the altar.

Revenants take advantage of their blood veils to suck blood from their enemies. It's not a complex operation, as you can do it at the press of a button. The amount of blood that can be stocked will increase with the character's power, and it's crucial to activate the Blood Veil's abilities. It's crucial to alternate attacking with weapons and sucking blood while in battle against the lost, but since the animation and required time are different depending on the type of Blod Veil, timing is important.

When acting under the influence of the Blood Veil, not only you'll suck more blood from the enemy, but damage dealt is also greatly increased, making it an excellent offensive option. Yet, given that the enemies cause a lot of damage as well, it's very risky. If you can master it, it will be a precious weapon.

If you press and hold R2, the battle palette at the lower right of the screen will expand, and you can perform the Hemorrhage (special Blood Veil action) that you have equipped. Up to Eight different types can be set for attack and defense, activating various effects. In addition, there are also passive Hemorrhage that don't require activation, but give you benefits simply by equipping them. They're crucial to increase your survival ability, but it's important to always keep a sizable stock of blood so that you don't end up dry when you need it.

By receiving more and more damage, you fill up a "concentration gauge," and when it reaches a certain point you automatically enter a crisis status that will make you more impervious to attacks, while the ability to suck blood is also increased for about twenty seconds. By mastering this you can turn danger into an opportunity, and you can overturn desperate situations.

Companions are available as reliable partners during exploration and battle. Not only they will flank the enemies to attack them from the sides and rear, but they will also support the hero with buffs and healing. There are also co-op Hemorrhages that can be performed together with the companions.

While companions can't receive detailed controls, you can give them generic orders like retreat, guard and more. Whether companions have growth elements of their own is still a secret. When a buddy is incapacitated, they will disappear, and you need to find a checkpoint to resurrect them. Incidentally, it's also possible to suck their blood to store it and perform Hemorrhage.

You can check out the many screenshots below, but do keep in mind that they're from magazine scans, so the quality isn't the best. If you want to see more, you can enjoy  some more impressive screenshots, another gallery, the first gameplay, a second gameplay clip, alongside the original reveal trailer of the game.

Code Vein will be released for PS4, Xbox One and PC in 2018.