REVIEW: ‘Beast Of Reincarnation’ Showcases Game Freak At It’s Finest

Beast of Reincarnation is Game Freak’s latest action RPG, and it’s a far cry from the developer’s traditional games. It offers a brand-new, interesting world and characters, along with several unique elements. The game succeeds with many of its executions, but some aspects that aren’t up to scratch ruin what could have been a near-perfect experience.

Beast of Reincarnation is set in post-apocalyptic Japan, where humans are on the verge of extinction due to the surfacing of malicious creatures and entities known as the Malefacts and the blight they spread. At the core of the blight is the Beast of Reincarnation, which humanity has been in conflict with for several decades before ultimately giving up the fight.

However, hope is found when a Blighted girl and outcast named Emma is discovered to have strength and abilities unlike any other Blighted, enabling her to easily defeat Malefacts. The game follows Emma, who’s given the title of a Purifier and the goal of defeating several Malefacts known as Nushi before taking on the Beast of Reincarnation.

Beast of Reincarnation takes players into a post-apocalyptic world where humans have given up the fight.

The game’s narrative concept is quite interesting as it puts players in the shoes of a mysterious protagonist in a strange world corrupted by unknown entities. It hits the ground running and begins with Emma on her duties, taking out Malefacts and even a Nushi before explaining several narrative elements such as who Emma is, what the state of the world and humans is, the truth behind the Malefacts, and even what the Beast of Reincarnation is, through playable flashbacks and little narrative breaks between the chaos.

Several questions, such as who some characters are and why Emma has these mysterious powers, are brushed aside from the start to get players accustomed to the gameplay elements. And while this can be jarring at first, as the story can be confusing to follow at times, the narrative progression is great, and the answers are satisfying. What’s more, the game’s world-building and lore are some of its best aspects.

As players progress through the game, they’ll encounter and learn about several elements and concepts. Malefacts are creatures corrupted by blight; Golems are robots and droids who have been infused with the spirits of dead humans so they can go on living in some shape or form. Humanity is reduced to several struggling colonies and cities, and Nushi are powerful Malefacts that showcase a combination of flora and fauna.

Worldbuilding and lore shine in this RPG. 

These are just some narrative facets that make the world interesting. The game’s world also showcases a unique blend of fantasy and science fiction, and this blend is executed immaculately in a way unlike any other game. The world-building also sports a lot of depth, as everything has an explanation and history behind it.

However, the narrative also has some downsides, mainly due to its characters. Emma as a protagonist is very underwhelming because she is emotionless due to her affliction. As a result, many things that occur during the game’s story lack impact due to her lack of reaction, and dialogue between her and others is boring to sit through.

While charismatic side characters are usually used to make up for a protagonist’s lack of personality, the side characters aren’t that much better. Emma has associates that frequently communicate with her while she’s out on the field. While some conversations are endearing and charming, most are mundane due to the characters’ bog-standard or tropey personalities.

Even when the narrative stumbles, Beast of Reincarnation’s combat more than makes up for it.

Thankfully, gameplay makes up for the narrative’s lackluster elements. Beast of Reincarnation‘s real-time third-person hack-and-slash combat is swift yet precise. Attacks and combos are fluid, and enemies are fun to fight thanks to advanced AI that makes many fights appropriately challenging, especially boss fights, which are a highlight of the game. Players have access to several types of weapons and projectiles in their arsenal, such as several types of Katanas, bows, and arrows. They can also use Emma’s hair to execute several types of combos.

Most notably, players can also partially control Koo, Emma’s loyal dog Malefact companion, through his several skills and special attacks. These range from elemental projectiles that cause status effects to physical attacks and combos. As players progress the game, they’ll get access to more combos and abilities by leveling up both Koo and Emma and using skill points.

However, it’s worth noting that unlocking specific skills on the skill tree can be very tedious, as players must first reach certain levels in the Skill, Vitality, and Fluorescence categories before unlocking skills in their respective branches.

Beast of Reincarnation’s art direction is immaculate.

What makes this especially tedious is that finding enemies to grind is usually tiresome, at least in the first half of the game, as enemies are sparsely spread around the map. What’s more, weapons are also quite sparse, and the variety is disappointing. Lastly, while a lot of the combos and special moves look amazing, some attacks have very little weight and impact behind them and feel lackluster and floaty.

All that said, every other aspect of Beast of Reincarnation is immaculate. Some more of the game’s stellar parts are its traversal and movement. Emma can use her hair to leap and elevate herself above and over long distances and buildings. She can also use it to make bridges instantaneously almost anywhere.

These two combined make for a surprisingly seamless and painless traversal system that incentivizes players to explore the game’s map and all it has to offer, rather than just fast-traveling between places. Moreover, traversal is not just functional but also fun, as lifting Emma above buildings and structures that would otherwise be a pain to climb is especially enjoyable, especially since the game has no fall damage.

This RPG expands Gaem Freak’s creative depth as a studio. 

Beast of Reincarnation also sports immaculate visuals and art direction. It features detailed character and background models, as well as intricate, stunning monster designs that showcase a unique fusion of flora and fauna. The game’s art direction is nothing short of striking, with a blend of fantasy and science fiction evident in environmental designs featuring large mechanical structures and dilapidated buildings, as well as droids and robots overtaken by vegetation and blight.

Performance-wise, despite the developer’s reputation for its previous games, Beast of Reincarnation is surprisingly well-optimized on PC. It runs smoothly for the most part, with only minor framerate drops in specific parts of the game. Lastly, the game features an amazing soundtrack with many melodic, atmospheric background songs that match its melancholic nature.

Overall, Beast of Reincarnation, despite some of its flaws, is a well-designed, beautiful, and engaging action RPG with several unique, well-executed elements. It succeeds in almost everything that it set out to do and, if done well, could be a great new series for the developer.

Beast of Reincarnation will launch on August 4 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series.