Though it toes more firmly in ARPG territory, Code Vein employs many JRPG tropes to fit in with its anime aesthetic, one of them being multiple endings that vary depending on player choice. Like other games with multiple endings — usually a “good” ending, a “bad” ending, and a “true” ending — Bandai’s new Souls-like makes you work to achieve the “true” ending by adding multiple collectibles associated with each of the late-game bosses that you must find.
So, What Are The Three Endings?
Well, first things first: Code Vein employs the Bad-Neutral-Good model of ending triads instead of the more common Bad-Good-True model. So really, the game only has one happy ending and you have to do a good deal of footwork to get it.
The endings are based on how the player deals with the Successor bosses who appear halfway through the game. Starting with the Successor of the Ribcage, who is the final boss of the Cathedral of Sacred Blood, an Attendant (an NPC who resembles Io) will wait at the entrance to the boss area to restore specific vestige fragments into vestige cores associated with their Successor. The player will have to collect all of the vestiges fragments associated with that Successor and bring them to this Attendant in order to convert them into vestige cores. If done right, players will have the chance to approach the Successor after the end of their memory sequence to “restore” them.
- The bad ending, “Heirs,” is achieved by defeating all of the Successors without restoring them.
- The neutral ending, “To Eternity,” is achieved by restoring at least one Successor.
- The good ending, “Dweller In The Dark,” is achieved by not only restoring every Successor, but collecting all of the Eos Vestiges that become available after defeating the Successor of the Ribcage.
You will know whether or not you restored a Successor based on the Blood Code you receive at the end of the fight: failing to restore a Successor will give you the Blood Code associated with the body part they are named after, while succeeding will give you the Blood Code of the Successor themselves. If you get the Queen’s Ribcage Blood Code instead of the Isis Blood Code, or if you get the Queen’s Breath Blood Code instead of the Ffionn Blood Code, that means you’ve failed to restore them.
Fortunately, the game doesn’t autosave after winning the boss fights, so you can simply reload to before you entered the fight and go hunt down the vestige fragments you’re missing.
How Do You Get The Good Ending?
To get the only happy ending in the game, you not only have to restore every successor, but gather all of the Eos Vestiges. Most of these are found scattered in the associated areas: here’s a handy inventory of all the required Vestiges to cross-reference your inventory with before proceeding with the boss fight.
Isis Vestige (Cathedral Of The Sacred Blood)
- Isis Vestige I
- Isis Vestige II
- Isis Vestige III (First half - fragment part D - given during a cutscene while meeting the Attendant for the first time)
Ffionn Vestige (Howling Pit - Ridge Of Frozen Souls)
- Ffionn Vestige I (Given during a cutscene after defeating the final boss of the Howling Pit)
- Ffionn Vestige II
- Ffionn Vestige III (Given during a cutscene while exploring the Ridge Of Frozen Souls)
- Ffion Vestige IV
Scathach Vestige (City Of Falling Flame)
- Scathach Vestige I (Given during a cutscene while exploring the City of Falling Flame)
- Scathach Vestige II
- Scathach Vestige III
- Scathach Vestige IV
Harmonia Vestige (Crown Of Sands)
- Harmonia Vestige I
- Harmonia Vestige II
- Harmonia Vestige III
Eos Vestige (Various Locations - Provisional Government)
- Eos Vestige I (Given while speaking to Io after defeating the Successor of the Ribcage)
- Eos Vestige II
- Eos Vestige III
- Eos Vestige IV
- Eos Vestige V (Found in the Provisional Government Outskirts)
- Eos Vestige VI (Given after defeating a boss in the Provisional Government Center)
- Eos Vestige VII (Found near the end of the Provisional Government Center)
(Note: the fragments for Eos Vestiges II, III, and IV are found outside the crypts after the boss fights. After defeating a Successor, return to the place where the Attendant for that Successor was and you'll find an Eos fragment where she once stood.)
Remember, it’s not enough to simply find the fragments: you must take them to either Io or an Attendant NPC in order to restore them. Progressing past her will trigger the boss fight, so only do it once you’ve made sure that you have all the associated vestiges restored. There will be an Attendant NPC for the Eos vestiges as well in the Provisional Government Center, so you’ll know when you need to have them all collected by. The vestige fragments are often hidden behind and under boxes, so remember to search thoroughly!
So, there you go— the key to viewing all three endings, in whichever order you want. For those of you planning to view all three, we recommend you start with the bad ending, then the neutral, and then finally the good to end on a happier note. If you’re only planning on playing through once and not sure if you’ll head on to NG+, it’s probably better to snipe for the good ending from the get-go. Happy hunting!