Beast of Reincarnation Review – Game Freak’s Bold New IP Is Good, But It Never Escapes Its Influences
For nearly three decades, Game Freak has been synonymous with Pokémon.
While the studio experimented with smaller projects over the years, Beast of Reincarnation is easily its most ambitious non-Pokémon game.
Built as a full-scale action RPG, it throws you into a haunting post-apocalyptic version of Japan where humanity struggles to survive against corrupted creatures and forgotten machines.
It’s an enjoyable adventure with satisfying combat, beautiful art direction, and memorable boss fights.
However, despite doing many things well, Beast of Reincarnation rarely feels like it has an identity of its own.
Throughout its roughly 30-hour journey, you’ll constantly be reminded of games like Nier: Automata, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Monster Hunter, Death Stranding, and even Wild Hearts.
A Beautiful Yet Familiar World
Beast of Reincarnation takes place around 2,000 years after civilization collapsed.
Nature has reclaimed much of the world, while mysterious corruption has transformed wildlife into monstrous creatures.
Humanity survives in isolated settlements, with many people transferring their consciousness into mechanical bodies to escape extinction.
You play as Emma, a young warrior known as a Sealer, accompanied by her loyal canine companion Koo.
Together, they travel across ruined forests, abandoned cities, industrial facilities, and forgotten temples searching for the source of the corruption.
The game’s strongest storytelling comes from its atmosphere rather than lengthy dialogue.
Every location tells a story through environmental details, abandoned structures, and haunting music.
Unfortunately, the narrative itself often keeps players at a distance. Interesting lore is introduced but rarely explored deeply enough, making the world feel less impactful than its gorgeous visuals suggest.
Combat Is Where Beast Truly Shines
Combat is undoubtedly the game’s best part.
Beast of Reincarnation requires patience, timing, and careful observation.
Perfect dodges, well-timed parries, and posture-breaking attacks are essential against stronger enemies.
Every encounter demands attention, especially boss battles that test everything you’ve learned.
Emma’s plant-based abilities add welcome variety beyond traditional sword combat.
Vines can manipulate the environment, control enemy positioning, and create new opportunities during battle.
These abilities prevent combat from feeling repetitive and help distinguish Beast from other action RPGs.
Koo isn’t simply an AI companion tagging along for the journey. Your massive canine partner actively participates in combat, distracting enemies, creating openings, and unleashing powerful attacks.
As you progress, your relationship with Koo grows through new abilities and upgrades that make teamwork increasingly important.
Boss Battles Deliver Consistently
The highlight of Beast of Reincarnation is its boss encounters.
Every major enemy is dangerous, visually impressive, and mechanically unique.
Rather than overwhelming players with impossible difficulty, bosses encourage learning attack patterns and mastering defensive mechanics.
The sense of accomplishment after defeating a challenging beast is incredibly satisfying.
Even players unfamiliar with Soulslike games should find the difficulty approachable thanks to generous accessibility options and adjustable settings.
While many boss designs are memorable, several clearly borrow ideas from Monster Hunter, Sekiro, and other action RPGs.
They remain fun to fight, but originality is often lacking.
Exploration Is Good, Not Great
Despite its impressive world, exploration doesn’t always reach the same heights as combat.
Beast of Reincarnation isn’t a fully open-world game. Instead, it features interconnected zones with little exploration on the side.
Hidden paths, optional bosses, crafting materials, and side quests reward curious players. Unfortunately, level design often feels too linear.
Some areas become repetitive, platforming sections lack excitement, and navigation rarely surprises players.
There are moments where the beautiful scenery hides fairly straightforward map layouts.
The game remains enjoyable to explore, but it never reaches the sense of discovery found in genre leaders.
Presentation Is Excellent
Game Freak deserves praise for creating such a visually distinct world.
The contrast between lush forests reclaiming ruined cities creates striking scenery throughout the adventure.
Creature designs balance fantasy and horror well, while lighting effects make many locations genuinely breathtaking.
The soundtrack perfectly complements the game’s melancholic atmosphere.
Quiet moments of exploration transition seamlessly into intense orchestral themes during boss encounters, helping maintain emotional weight throughout the experience.
Character animations during combat are fluid, although facial animations during story scenes can occasionally appear stiff.
On PC, performance remains solid with stable frame rates across most of the adventure, though visual polish occasionally falls short of other AAA releases.
Progression Keeps You Invested
Character progression offers enough flexibility to suit different playstyles.
You can unlock new combat abilities, passive upgrades, weapon improvements, and enhancements for Koo throughout the journey.
Crafting and cooking systems also provide additional customization without being unnecessarily complex.
The progression system constantly rewards exploration, which makes optional content worthwhile
The Biggest Problem: It Lacks Its Own Identity
Ironically, Beast of Reincarnation’s biggest weakness comes from doing too many things well.
Nearly every major mechanic reminds players of another successful game.
Combat recalls Sekiro, the emotional atmosphere resembles Nier: Automata, the boss design echoes Monster Hunter, while certain progression systems and world structures feel borrowed from several modern action RPGs.
None of these inspirations are inherently bad, and Game Freak executes most of them competently.
The problem is that Beast rarely establishes a unique identity that players will remember years later.
It’s an excellent collection of familiar ideas rather than a revolutionary new experience.
Final Verdict
Beast of Reincarnation proves that Game Freak is capable of creating far more than Pokémon.
Its fast-paced combat, memorable boss fights, atmospheric world, and emotional companion dynamic make it one of the studio’s strongest games outside its flagship franchise.
At the same time, it never fully escapes the shadow of the games that inspired it.
The story doesn’t capitalize on its fascinating world, exploration occasionally feels repetitive, and originality remains its biggest missing ingredient.
Even so, if you’re a fan of action RPGs featuring challenging combat and rewarding progression, Beast of Reincarnation is absolutely worth your time.
It delivers a polished, consistently enjoyable adventure that lays a promising foundation for what could become Game Freak’s next major franchise.
TechGamesNews Rating: 8/10
