Beast of Reincarnation | REVIEW | PC/STEAM

''BEAST WARS''

---

Developed: Game Freak

Published: Fictions

Genre: Action RPG

Release Date: August 4th, 2026

Platforms: PS5/XBOX Family/PC

GAME PROVIDED TO ME GREEN MAN GAMING/GAME FREAK

Purchase the game NOW on Green Man Gaming and get 12% off! - https://greenmangaming.sjv.io/BeastStandard

Beast of Reincarnation is the latest action R.P.G. to hit the market and it is developed by Game Freak and published by Fictions. With the action R.P.G. market being pretty stacked lately between good, bad or even mediocre games filling out the genre, Game Freak has decided to step out of their comfort zone and give it a try themselves. However, was this a wise decision on their part? or should they have stayed with what they know works in the first place? Only one way to find out, so lets go!

''CAN I PET THAT DOG!?''

---

GAMEPLAY:

If you had told me years before that Game Freak was bound for the bigger budget R.P.G. market and trying to mix it up with games the likes of Sekiro, I would've called you crazy, but here we are, it has happened and I have played it. For people living under a rock for the last 30 years or you younglings who dont know any better, Game Freak is obviously known as the creative minds behind the Pokemon series, and whether you love their visions for each game or you hate them, the fact of the matter is they're epitome of the R.P.G. market. However, their history of games isn't just stuck to squishing little pocket monsters into a ball, but they also branch off into other titles and I.P's as well, albeit, still at the same or lower budget that they're given with Pokemon. Beyond Pokemon we've seen Game Freak take on the platform puzzle genre with Giga Wrecker, dip toes into action platformers with Tembo The Badass Elephant... what? oh that name? no that wasn't a joke, that's the actual name of the game, no joke, and it's pretty awesome, we've definitely come along way since the days of Dumbo's Circus on Disney from back in the day with its joyous singing or Elephun the Elephant toys, and now we just stopped the crap, cut the bull and its just, HERES THIS BAD ASS ELEPHANT, straight to the point, no fluff, perfect. Huh? no Mr. Bucket, just because I name obscure 90's toys doesn't mean you're allowed to.... put our what in your WHAT?.. GO AWAY YOU SICK FREAK. As I was saying, these titles I mentioned, alongside 2019's R.P.G. release of Little Town Hero, aren't exactly huge games in their own right, both in budget or their scope, but Beast of Reincarnation changes that, for better or for worse. So does Game Freak achieve the level of greatness they were setting out for when creating their first major big budget title? ehhh... yes and no, it's a pretty mixed bag right from the start, but being a mixed bag doesn't mean a game is inherently just straight up bad or even great, unless you're part of the social media gaming space right now, that anything under an 8 is considered ''trash'' due to the lack of I.Q. hivemind, so pay no attention to that please. MR BUCKET NO!, WE ARENT DOING THAT!. On the topic of Beast of Reincarnation, your experience with the action R.P.G. genre in general is going to determine how you feel about this game, because it tends to take inspiration from or attempts to emulate a lot of winning formulas, and... sometimes it works... and sometimes it doesn't work at all. At least we know this cage works to hold that danger to society Mr Bucket, so thankfully everyone can rest easy now, your balls are safe. QUIET DOWN IN THERE YOU STUPID BUCKET, IM TRYING TO DO A REVIEW.

Right from the get go, Beast of Reincarnation kind of has its own identity crisis. Does it want to be something brand new to the genre to try to set itself apart? or take from others and mold it into your own unique experience. The solution Game Freak came up with is the latter, take what a lot of other action R.P.G's are currently doing and combining those mechanics into one game, along side a few new additions they thought up on their own to try to make their first big outing a unique experience. As the player, you control the character known as Emma, alongside her dog friend that aids Emma in her journey, in order to hunt, track, and kill beasts known as Nushi, stop a spreading blight and defeat Melfacts, which are an even more deranged version of the plants in Plants versus Zombies or Little Shop Of Horrors. Yeah, we went there for that reference, I'm old, sue me. I make the reference because like in my two examples, they involve plants, and here in Beast of Reincarnation, these Melfacts are animal and plant hybrids. Luckily they're easily beatable by beating the living crap out of them and I just dont randomly hear ''SUDDENLY SEYMOUR'' being screamed at the top of Audrey's lungs, otherwise I might get distracted...and want to sing along too, dont judge me. Honestly, just from the description alone with the Blights and Melfacts, and having to clear and clean nature up by killing them, this sounds an awful lot like South Of Midnight by Compulsion games, where you must defeat enemies to clear out the plague that's infected the world... so right off the bat, I'm like okay I've seen this story arc before, but hey, cute doggo!, so I'll allow it. The only thing that sets it apart though is the title of the game actually being relevant and literal at the same, because Beast of Reincarnation is exactly that, a monster that threatens to end the world when it awakens every century to wreak havoc upon that world. Oh wait, that's Sin from Final Fantasy 10, yeah, were not getting into that again, I already spent an hour rambling about it earlier this year, so its okay, you don't have to listen to my story about it again. While I did enjoy the story overall in this game because to me the art style and world thats trying to be built here is both gorgeous and interesting, as well as makes you want to learn more about the lore itself. But having said that, the story is told in a very weird and non-immersive way, through your hub or as you wait between missions here and there, and the bigger lore drops are not directly through the actual main gameplay storyline itself, mostly, so in order to find key moments throughout history, you're going to have to be like a raccoon digging through a dumpster for one morsel of a sandwich. Granted, the story and lore here ISNT garbage, not by any means, I'm just saying you have to really DIG to find the most important stuff about the world, and that's very disheartening for me personally. Pacing I see as also a toss up issue for people in regards to the stories movement. Although I personally did not have any issue whatsoever with pacing, I can see how it will be an issue for people that just wants to go from one set piece to another back to back, but I'm okay with having the action slow down here and there to be able to take in the world around me, so in that respect, it came through beautifully, it just fell a little bit short of its goal for the lore drops. What the hell, what was that noise?. OH MY GOD. ALERT ALERT! MR BUCKET HAS ESCAPED LEVEL 5 CONTAINMENT! EVERYBODY STAY ON ALERT!, PROTECT YOUR BALLS.''

Beyond the story feeling a bit underwhelming with its delivery, but not its content, what makes up for it in the long run is the games overall gameplay and mechanics used, especially in regards to the melee system and with the way you parry each enemy. As you as the player, parry, dodge, combat enemies, you can freely explore limited areas in order to find new discoveries and different platforming areas that diversify what would otherwise be an over linear experience. Think of games that have an open area to explore, but with walls and obstacles to block you off, should you go too far, and that's basically what you have level by level with the environments you fight and jump around in - its not open world, but not linear either, just the right amount of freedom for the player without getting overwhelming. Gameplay will also further remind you of games like Supe Mario R.P.G. or even the more recent Expedition 33, not due to the R.P.G. aspect they have, but because of the main focus of their combat being to parry or block, that same thing is done here of Beast of Reincarnation with the main focal point of combat focusing on parrying your enemies attacks, and when doing so, will raise your gauge up to its peak that unlocks even further abilities or chances to counter attack against your foe, on top of your own attacking, you can also pull out an A.T.B. system like in Final Fantasy 7 Remake series or even the recent hit like Pragmata, and use your command menu during battle to give your doggo an order and ability to use to aid you in your said battle, and when successful in your combination of attacks, you'll be able to stagger them, allowing you to inflict even more damage, again, ala Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Are you seeing a pattern here? I keep referring to what other games are doing or have done before it, like I said, this is a game with identity issues like a good ol game of Guess Who. Combat evolves the further you fight too, and lets you experiment on your journey by giving you new elemental based weapons that you can upgrade, your consumables to help during battles, and a progress system that even gives you access to further combat combo attacks, should you choose to want to get even crazier with your fights. Moving from section to section with Emma's hair to grapple all over the place is also pretty fun, albeit a little bit weird cause I just think she's going to start blurting out lyrics to ''I see The Light'' from Tangled, but hey, its still a really cool traversal technique that works in and outside of combat, so she can go ahead and sing if she wants to. The high for me of course, like a broken record like I always am in every review I make, is of course, the boss fights. If the regular enemy slaying gets you down, then the boss fights here in Beasts of Reincarnation more than make up for it in both difficulty and mechanically, with their move sets, phases, and even their design. Each boss you encounter fits to the world and feels like they belong and live within it and not just a random abomination placed somewhere to look cool, and as I mentioned earlier, the parry system is going to determine if they're going to whip your ass or if you'll steam roll them, its entirely up to your skill level. Having said that, while the combat is fun and engaging, the camera system is pretty clunky and off putting in addition to the headaches, which can ruin your experience during a critical battle that can cause you to have to restart at a check point, which is quite annoying.

---

''SQUARE UP, BRO''

---

OVERALL:

At the end of the day, Beast of Reincarnation ends up being a good attempt by Game Freak at a bigger budget title and action R.P.G, but sadly in falls short in a lot of ways, none that outright make it a bad game, but make it feel a tad bit underwhelming. The camera system is pretty flawed and makes it so you'll miss out on seeing an enemy attack coming your way, lock on system doesnt work all the time, and either will not lock on properly or onto the wrong enemy, on top of those, the game doesn't really have its own identity outside its art style, and a lot of what makes the game GOOD is just lifted from other successful I.P's, mainly Sekiro, who did this style of parrying system way better in my opinion, and way more responsive with its hit detection. But its not all bad, the game play, while not being wholly original, is still really great, the traversal aspects of the worlds environments and Emma herself are great, combat is fun with your doggo buddy, and boss fights are extremely fun. However, even the positives cant fully pull this game up for greatness, at least not at its current launch price, and in my opinion, would be the perfect title to pick up when it dips down to around a $40 sale, but that's just me. So with all that having been said, my verdict is clear, GameNChick says WAIT.

---