The game introduces a fell queen whose blood turns people into her thralls, but you, one of a resistance of semi-undead soldiers, put her down. Her essence has carried on in her lieutenants, who are almost certainly large bosses waiting for the player. You'll have to dodge big enemies and eviscerate them with your oversized weapons, which is very Dark Souls -- but so few games are bold enough to emulate that brand of slow, brutal, bloody combat that fans should take any port in a storm.

Did we mention blood? Code Vein's world seems to run on it. "The world needs more blood beads!" a character mentions in the trailer, making every Bloodborne developers ears burn. But unlike that famously solitary game, Bandai Namco's title sets the player up with an appropriately broody cast of characters fashioned in Tsarist dapper outfits and goth-apocalypse gas masks. If you wanted a totally ripped Immortan Joe with a blood addiction, this is your bag. Oh, and everyone's turning into vampires? The game arrives this fall on PC, PS4 and Xbox One.