The Most Unhinged Anime Character Creator Is Back in Code Vein 2 With Even More Eyebrows, Color Gradients, and Hair Layers
No shortcuts, no surprises — a high-stakes plan faces a microscope, every clause and cost audited down to the last detail.
If you, like me, can lose an entire Saturday tweaking eyelashes and eyebrow arches, brace yourself. Bandai Namco just showed off Code Vein 2 again, and the character creator is a full-blown time sink. The sequel is locked for January 30, 2026, and between a fresh gameplay presentation and that State of Play trailer from September 2025, it looks like the team built a cathedral to goth customization and then said, what if we added more?
The when and where
The release date dropped during the PlayStation State of Play in September 2025, where Code Vein 2 flashed its sumptuously doom-chic vibe in a new trailer. I also caught additional footage at Summer Game Fest 2025, and the vibe up close is very much: vampiric grandeur, sharpened systems, and a creator toolkit that does not know when to stop (in a good way).
"I think there is something that really attracts us to this idea of a vampire as a motif or backdrop for character and storytelling," series producer Keita Iizuka told me through an interpreter at Summer Game Fest. "Because they are extremely powerful and very strong. Yet, they have very clear weaknesses. I think everyone kind of universally understands they are not invincible."
That character creator though
Bandai Namco brought in Bandai consumer insights analyst Dan Tack to walk through the tools, and it was basically a siren song for anyone who has ever spent 45 minutes positioning a beauty mark. You can start with eerie, porcelain-faced templates that look ready to headline a vampire opera or jump straight into the weeds with micro-toggles galore.
- Pick a preset or customize everything: eyes, hair, scars, and plenty more.
- Skin tones run the full spectrum, from ultra-pale to rich, deep shades.
- There is literally a slider for where a curl starts in your hair.
- Advanced options let you adjust the glossiness of your eyeballs. Yes, your eyeballs.
World, factions, and the sequel glow-up
Code Vein 2 is arriving right in the middle of a broader vampire-game upswing, and it is not shy about the aesthetic. Two factions, The Duskbloods and The Blood of Dawnwalker, flank the action, adding some extra lore drama to the goth spectacle. Underneath all the satin and steel, the pitch is clear: take the Soulslike RPG we met six years ago and clean it up without sanding off the personality. The 2019 original had charm and some wobble; this one is aiming to keep the former and fix the latter.
So yes, I am already blocking off a few evenings for the kind of tinkering that starts with lashes and ends with existential questions about iris shine. Code Vein 2 lands January 30, 2026. Consider this your calendar warning.