Beast of Reincarnation Review — Game Freak Is Much More Than Just Pokemon

It’s impossible to review Beast of Reincarnation without addressing the Donphan in the room. Unfortunately, Game Freak has become a company synonymous with low-effort production and corner-cutting due to the reputation and reception of the latest Pokémon games.

However, if Beast of Reincarnation proves anything, it’s that Game Freak can undoubtedly produce polished AAA titles with incredible visuals and exciting action gameplay. There’s a lot that the studio got right, making the game a great experience, but there are also some things that hold it back from being truly incredible.

For reference, I played on normal difficulty and completed the game in 30 hours while trying to explore every nook and cranny. Performance on PC was solid as I played on an RTX 5060 and got a stable 60 FPS on medium-to-high settings at 1440p. This was honestly really impressive, especially considering the quality of visuals and how chaotic combat can sometimes become. I would expect a game with such sprawling environments to experience more technical issues, but I rarely, if ever, encountered any bugs or glitches.

The Setting and Story

You play as Emma, a mysterious young woman with neither emotions nor memories. She is ordered to embark on a journey to slay powerful calamities called Nushi, with the ultimate goal of killing the Beast of Reincarnation. With its post-apocalyptic setting, Blight-stained beasts, nature reclaiming the world, and golems containing human souls that have lost their minds, the game’s atmosphere feels highly reminiscent of NieR: Automata. You’re also accompanied by your trusty sidekick, Koo, a Wolf Nushi who adds plenty of charm and carries much of the journey’s emotional weight.

The Nushi and Malefects are beasts that have been malformed and twisted by the Blight, and the game really leans into themes of otherworldly eco-horror. They sport these eerie, almost Lovecraftian designs, each being more impressive than the last. Facing off against these behemoths is an incredible spectacle as you hunt them down and absorb their powers during your journey to defeat the Beast of Reincarnation and uncover the true history of this ruined world.

While the overall setting and the mystery of how the world became this way are intriguing, the same can’t be said for the character writing. The pacing is handled quite well, but I felt that most side characters didn’t get enough screen time to be properly developed, and the interactions that they did get were too one-note to feel invested in their struggles. Emma, Koo, and their mutual fate are where the primary intrigue of the story lies, and this element is executed well enough to make you care. The story isn’t really what I’d call the game’s strongest aspect, but it’s fully voiced with solid performances and enough suspense and mystery to keep you invested.

Exploring a Ruined World

The environments and exploration are where this game truly shines. Each area has a unique atmosphere to it as you explore plains, mountains, caverns, wastelands, and more. The level of freedom you’re given while exploring is excellent, with multiple mobility options for traversal as you go through spacious, vertical, and mixed environments. If you can see a structure or area, then you can most definitely reach it and even circumvent intended paths with a little bit of creativity.

The game is semi-open-world, featuring almost a dozen zones, each with its own massive and unique ecosystem. Combined with the game’s gorgeous graphical fidelity, great art direction, and stunning views, the world of Beast of Reincarnation is an absolute joy to explore. Koo is constantly finding and alerting you about items and collectibles in the area, and it feels illegal to ignore such a good boy trying to help you out even if the item itself is worthless. It’s a great trick that makes exploration feel natural and avoids causing players frustration due to the sheer size of some of the maps.

You’ll experience the loop of arriving at a new area, exploring it while fighting mobs and elites, hunting down the boss in its lair, and then repeating this for the next area. Thankfully, there are enough twists and variations in every area to keep this formula engaging, and I never really got tired of exploring the environments.

My only real complaint about the exploration is the lack of incentives and rewards scattered throughout these massive maps. You will eventually collect everything that really matters halfway through the game, after which exploration, no matter how fun, feels somewhat pointless. There just aren’t enough secrets or collectibles to adorn these sprawling environments. Some puzzles and parkour challenges could’ve really elevated the whole experience. Which is a shame, because exploration is one of the game’s strongest aspects and it has such a solid foundation to build upon.

Meanwhile, some of the game’s special effects had me at a loss, as you can see forests grow and shrink around you in real time as you move around, and the world completely shifts as the Blight and daylight phase in and out. The soundtrack accompanying these vistas is also serene and contributes to that atmosphere of exploration in a post-apocalyptic world reclaimed by nature. However, I will say that some tracks overstay their welcome and feel almost grating at certain points.

The Feel of Combat

The combat, thankfully, is also another highlight of the game. It has a unique and responsive feeling to swings and parries, and enemy attacks are also well telegraphed. It plays out like a mix between the parrying of Sekiro, paired with the combos and abilities from action games similar to Black Myth: Wukong. Parries lead to stagger executions, or you can use them to build your meter to unleash powerful Bloom Arts and status effect attacks from Koo. You also have access to sneak attacks, crossbow spam, and arrows, which deal a surprising amount of damage.

Those looking for a challenge are in luck, as even on the normal difficulty, Beast of Reincarnation can feel quite challenging. You can easily die if you’re not planning your fights or using all the tools at your disposal. The initial learning curve is fairly daunting, especially if you’re not used to parry mechanics. However, you can eventually trivialize much of the challenge by unlocking upgrades and investing into the game’s fairly expansive skill tree. Luckily, higher difficulties exist for those really looking to experience the combat system at its maximum.

There’s a weapon and equipment system for Emma and Koo, but it’s fairly simple and doesn’t have enough depth to change things up drastically. That is perfectly fine since it lends itself well to casual progression, but I feel that the developers had to sacrifice a degree of build variety and creativity. Skills, on the other hand, either contribute very little or are outright game-changing, and it’s very rewarding to unlock some of them as you progress and become an unstoppable one-woman (and wolf) army.

My one major complaint is the lack of enemy variety, as seeing the same golems and Malefects throughout the game gets a bit tedious. There’s also the issue of some boss fights being repeated multiple times without changing enough to justify the encounter. The bosses often prioritize spectacle over complexity, and they could benefit from more varied movesets. Having some of the enemies be hyped up only to have 3 attack patterns was a bit disappointing. Although they occasionally mix things up, I felt that a lot of their potential for greatness was wasted, which is somewhat unfortunate given how polished and responsive the overall combat system feels.

Verdict

Beast of Reincarnation is one of the most enjoyable action games to come out this year. It’s a fun but challenging JRPG that takes you on an adventure through gorgeous vistas for a solid 20-25 hours. It struggles a bit with overstaying its welcome in some sections, but the journey is ultimately very satisfying. Game Freak has put on an impressive showing with this one, and I’m now excited to see what other projects they might have in store for us next.