Beast of Reincarnation is both everything you’d expect and everything you wouldn’t, depending on how you look at it. On one hand, it’s a very pedestrian mash-up of the greatest action RPGs of the last decade while on the other, it’s a very different kind of project for developer Game Freak. While they’ve dabbled in other projects besides Pokemon from time to time, Beast of Reincarnation feels like a first for them in many ways. And ultimately, while it’s decision to imitate some of the greats has borne some fruitful results, it’s an action game that people will both enjoy but at the same time be left wanting more.
Beast of Reincarnation takes place in a version of Japan in which monsters are spreading a plant-like blight across the country, plunging the world into a post-apocalyptic state. You play as Emma, a sealer, who is able to cleanse this corruption brought about by the Beast of Reincarnation itself. The catch here is that any of the corruption that Emma cleanses is taken in by herself. Partnered with her trust dog Koo, who is himself riddled with the blight, Emma sets off on her mission to cleanse the nation to results that you can probably predict.
If you’re somebody who plays the games that inspired it, Beast Of Reincarnation is obviously trying its hardest to evoke the same feelings you might have plying games like NieR or the later From Software games. The world is presented with an air of quietness to it, and as a result, there’s not a smidge of whimsy to be found in any of the world, its characters, or practically anywhere. Again, this feels like games like Dark Souls and Elden Ring, though the story never reaches the philosophical heights of NieR, which it feels like its imitating in droves.
Though at its core, Beast of Reincarnation plays like any typical third person action RPG. Emma is equipped with a sword and projective weapons which she can augment with her abilities that she has absorbed from the enemies she has cleansed. Parrying is central to the combat flow of Reincarnation, inviting comparison to Sekiro, but not only does it charge her own abilities but also Koos. It also activates latent abilities in each of the weapons Emma wields, so parrying is a core of the combat loop. The result is something that is fast paced and satisfying, though given how much Reincarnation is trying to emulate Sekiro, it’s disappointing that the sharp ear for sound design of the combat was not translated over.
I spoke previously about the abilities that Koo can use, and this is perhaps (and I say that word with great emphasis) comparisons can be drawn to Game Freak’s previous work in Pokemon. By holding a button, a menu pops up that slows time and allows Emma to direct Koo to attack enemies using his own abilities. These abilities have elements that are more effective against certain enemies than others, and if you’re parrying enough, you’ll be able to sprinkle them into combat fairly regularly. Some of them do simple damage, others bind enemies in place and some even can inflict status effects on enemies or buff Emma. Synergising these attacks with Emmas is the key to ending battles quickly.
While the combat system is strong and the flow incredibly smooth, the biggest area in which Beast of Reincarnation is let down is with enemy variety. This is a particularly large pitfall for an action game that can take anywhere from twenty to thirty hours to complete, as becoming more and more familiar with these enemies removes a lot of the challenge from the combat. Put simply, there is just not enough types of enemies to keep the combat loop consistently interesting and it has a detrimental effect on the difficulty of the game overall.
That being said, the main “bosses” you encounter, called the Nushi, are a little bit more inspired in terms of their deigns. Essentially the Nushi are animals such as a boar, a salamander or a crow that have been claimed by the blight. Think something like the Giant Kemono from Wild Hearts. You’ll usually fight them in two distinct phases within each stage, and while they aren’t the most challenging boss battles (most experience players won’t take more than three turns to clear them), they punctuate every zone nicely and give Emma new abilities upon their defeat. Something I appreciated is that all of Koo’s abilities that work on smaller enemies work similarly on the Nushi, rather than creating a separate set of rules for boss enemies versus normal ones.
When you’re not fighting, you’ll be exploring, and this is where Beast of Reincarnation feels closer to games like Nioh or NieR more than anything. Quests aren’t doled out to you in quest log, instead you’ll discover them naturally or with the help of Koo, who can detect them within a certain radius. It’s a simple system that feels like a happy medium between the vaguer open worlds of modern Zelda or Elden Ring and the most directed worlds of games like Assassin’s Creed. It’s made all the more pleasant with Emma’s abilities – in which she can extend her hair to make platforms, grapple to certain locations and pretty much float jump to anywhere you can see.
Put simply, any time I went off the beaten path to look for something in Beast of Reincarnation, I was rarely disappointed.
Between missions, you’ll spend time in a walker that transports you across Japan with the rest of the supporting cast. While in the walker, you can interact with Koo and the others to build rapport with them. You can also cultivate parts to cook food, which improves your stats, as well as upgrade your weapons and learn abilities on a skill tree. They’re a nice little diversion, though there are so many systems at play here that are ultimately not really required to be engaged with that they do feel a bit diluted when all is said and done. I suppose for less experience players who need the extra help, they could be fruitful, but they do feel elementary in the big scheme of things.
Regardless of your skill level, you’ll still get a lot out of Beast of Reincarnation. Most players will take twenty to thirty hours to finish, though exploring and finishing everything the game has to offer will be way in excess of that. There’s multiple difficulty levels that will allow you to find the right level of challenge too, and while the variety is rather thin, a new game+ mode offers incentive to play the game through again if you so wish.
But ultimately, the biggest thing letting down Beast of Reincarnation is the variety of the experience. I’ve already harped on about the enemy variety, but even the location variety is sorely lacking. Most (not all) of the areas you’ll visit in Reincarnation are just cities that have been overgrown with greenery and flora. It’s inspired the first time you see it, but it loses a lot of its lustre the most and more you see it. Regardless of my issues with the repetition, it is still a striking looking game.
That being said, the typical shortfalls that come with most Unreal Engine games rear their head here. During more intense battles where there is a lot going on, the game drops and stutters from time to time. Given the parry windows in Reincarnation are quite generous, it’s not totally game breaking, but it is jarring especially given I was playing on PlayStation 5 Pro. I dread to imagine how performance would fair on lesser powerful rigs or even base hardware of the consoles.
Sonically speaking, however, Reincarnation is rather strong. Again, drawing heavy inspiration from NieR, the games soundtrack does a great job of invoking that same sense of sombre melancholia with plenty of slow piano, ethereal vocals and haunting acoustics filling out the sonic landscape of this world. While I can’t be totally sure that NieR vocalist Emi Evans is lending her work for these tracks, if it’s someone else they’ve done an incredible job emulating her. The English dub, however, is rather vacant and uninspired, to the point where I can completely understand why Game Freak makes the original Japanese voice track the default option.
All in all, Beast of Reincarnation is enjoyable, though by no means groundbreaking. It’s the perfect game for somebody who found games like Sekiro too challenging, but at the same time also appropriate for those looking for their From Software fix after so long. Just know that the enemy and environmental variety brings down the whole experience considerably, but regardless, it’s hard to deny that the action here is anything but satisfying and punchy.