Although Game Freak is primarily known as the developer of the Pokémon series , the Japanese developer has worked on other projects unrelated to the massively popular franchise. None of them became truly successful, as they were relatively minor projects compared to the behemoth that is the Pokémon franchise.

As the developer's history outside of the Pokémon franchise is not well known, many were surprised when Beast of Reincarnation was announced back in 2023 as Project Bloom . Although the Japanese developer only handled creative direction and the overall project management , leaving much of the actual development to external partners, Game Freak's name still helped put it on the radar of many gamers .

And once it officially launches, I expect even more gamers to take an interest in it , as it is a really solid action game that tries to do quite a few things, and mostly succeeds at them, even with a certain roughness and a narrative that takes more than a few pages from the NieR series book, with a marked inspiration from the beloved Princess Mononoke animated movie from Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli.

The one-person, one-dog action RPG by Game Freak and Fictions stars Emma , an 18-year-old Purifier, who has no recollection of her past, as she embarks on a journey through Japan in the year 4026 to reach the Capital and defeat the Beast of Reincarnation , a mysterious being which is said to be one of the reasons behind the Blight which has corrupted much of our world and caused the almost complete end of civilization, and the cyclical nature of this decay.

Accompanied by her mysterious Blight- afflicted canine companion Koo, and a sort of spirit called Violet, Emma will not only have to confront Malefacts , creatures corrupted by the Blight, but also take a deep, personal journey into her past, her Blight- affliction which has caused her to be shunned by the colony she was born in, and come to grips with human emotions she has never felt before with the help of other characters, including the old man Brad who drives the Cleanse Walker who seems to know more than he lets on, the young girl Kagura who used to bring Emma food when she lived as an outcast in the Ogouchi colony and a few other gifted individuals who are also journeying toward the Capital.

During the journey, Emma will also learn more about what happened to humanity after the cataclysm that destroyed society. Unable to withstand the Blight, human beings left their bodies behind, transferring into steel Golems to continue living . However, over time, souls deteriorate and start to go mad, leaving only a few sane Golems roaming a hostile land where only the Blight and Malefacts seem to prosper.

Anyone who played NieR Replicant and NieR: Automata won't fail to notice the many similarities Beast of Reincarnation shares with the outstanding games directed by Yoko Taro, similarities further compounded by the soundtrack, but thankfully, the game's story and characters have a lot more going on for themselves.

Emma is a surprisingly compelling main character , whose lack of emotions is compounded by the rest of the cast, especially Koo . In addition, the story is very well paced , offering both new mysteries and answers to older questions in each chapter, not wasting any time with side stories that do not matter much in the grand scheme of things, making the player feel like they are indeed embarking on a journey so important for the future of the world that there is no time to waste on anything else. Ultimately, the culmination of this roughly 30-hour-long journey may not feel particularly original, but it's so well crafted that it's difficult not to enjoy it.

If the narrative elements of Beast of Reincarnation feel like a tribute to the NieR series mixed with a visual identity inspired by Princess Mononoke , the gameplay has little in common with the series created by Yoko Taro. While the core of the action combat of the game is clearly inspired by FromSoftware's Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice , Game Freak and Fictions took more than a few pages from the Stellar Blade book for its heavy reliance on skills and from the Final Fantasy VII Remake book for the unique mix between action and turn-based mechanics which works quite well despite lacking the same polish Square Enix's trilogy has.

Doing away with the open-world mechanics employed by more and more games each year, Beast of Reincarnation opts for a linear experience set within mid-sized maps. The linear nature of the game, however, doesn't mean that it is, by any means, small. The different maps are quite open, with excellent vertical design that forces players to learn to use Emma's movement abilities properly. While there is still a single path, or two at best, to main quest objectives, the wealth of optional areas does an excellent job making each map feel bigger than it actually is. In this, much like in the parry-focused combat, I believe the comparison with Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is very appropriate, as the level design philosophy is pretty similar across the two games, not counting the visual variety, which is a little lacking here. Add in some basic stealth mechanics to the mix, and anyone who played FromSoftware's game will feel right at home from the very first second.

No matter how similar the level design approach is, Beast of Reincarnation doesn't handle its maps with the same finesse as Sekiro . In this regard, as with others related to combat, the game's relatively low budget has had a noticeable impact. There are plenty of optional areas that do not hide anything worthwhile; a few ledges here and there similarly lead to nothing, and some collision and terrain wonkiness give off a "budget" Sekiro feel, making the first 5 or so hours of the adventure not particularly remarkable.

With hindsight, I called the first 5 or so hours of Beast of Reincarnation unremarkable, but as I was going through them, I had much harsher terms in mind. Although the game looked solid enough in the pre-release footage, playing it was a different matter altogether.

While the game doesn't do anything wrong, it could have done a lot better in its early segments . With a single combo string, a tad too much delay for attacks, a dodge maneuver with little invincibility frames and significant end delay, and a parry window that is so generous that it easily throws the player off, it's difficult to fully appreciate what feels great right from the get-go, namely Koo's Bloom Arts , special attacks with unique properties that are unleashed in turn-based style by hitting the Triangle/Y button to bring up a menu and slow down the action. Even with the initial roughness, however, there's a clear rhythm to the combat that feels fun enough to push the player forward.

This rhythm is largely dictated by Emma's parries, which act as the "ATB" charges of Beast of Reincarnation . At the start of a combat encounter, Koo starts with a base value of 4 FPs. At the start of the game, parrying is the only way to restore FPs, so the only way to continue using his abilities is to keep parrying, which sometimes forces a somewhat passive playstyle.

However, in line with the game's themes, everything literally blooms once more options are unlocked. By defeating the powerful Nushi , Emma unlocks new strings and finishers with different areas of effect, and Koo's new Bloom Arts . While leveling up, enhancing stats to unlock new skills for Emma and modifiers for Koo's Bloom Arts, the number of combat options increases exponentially , with a number of interconnected mechanics that make fighting Golems and Malefacts very, very fun.

Much of the fun of Beast of Reincarnation doesn't just come from the number of combat options unlocked through progression, but also from the character-building possibilities . Although these mechanics are very straightforward , they carry a significant number of different possibilities for both characters.

The core of Emma's customization mechanics are centered on her swords , which all come with special effects that are activated with a successful parry, and Spirit Stones , which grant all sorts of passives, ranging from simple attack and defense boosts to more articulate passives, like getting a set chance to restore Koo's FP by hitting an enemy weakness with a ranged weapon to permanently increasing the starting Entanglement Gauge (which acts as Stamina for blocking and unleashing Blade Arts and Finishers) and FPs, a crucial ability to play a little bit more aggressively against regular enemies.

Koo's customization mechanics also rely on items , for the most part. As you explore the ruined world, you will come across books that teach the dog companion skills and how to craft certain items that only he can use. By equipping these into the dedicated slots (up to six, depending on the rapport with Emma), Koo will use them automatically during battle, allowing him to set up, for example, status affliction combos upon which the player can capitalize with the Bloom Arts modifiers . Unlocked via the Skill Tree , these modifiers often carry effects that grant Emma some benefits if the Art hits an enemy suffering from a certain affliction.

Enhancing both characters' stats is also more layered than expected . Besides employing the typical stat points system seen in Soulslikes, Beast of Reincarnation lets Emma and Koo increase their stats by eating the meals prepared by Kagura using ingredients harvested from the Walker's small greenhouse. This makes frequent trips back to the Walker to rest a requirement to take on the most powerful enemies with ease.

Although simple on paper, all of these mechanics are central to the experience and contribute to the fun that Beast of Reincarnation offers quite a bit, making it easy to look past the average start of the gam e. Once you get a better hang of the combat rhythm described earlier and start to put a solid build together, you will be flinging Bloom Arts around as Emma finishes off weakened enemies as if it were second nature. To be fair, the action-meets-turn-based combat system never reaches the heights of the Final Fantasy VII Remake series combat, but it's still very fun in its own way.

As Beast of Reincarnation wasn't designed as a Soulslike, despite sharing quite a bit with the genre, enemy design was clearly conceived to make the experience as accessible as possible.

Although there's a decent variety of enemies between Golems and Malefacts , it isn't big, as Golems are mostly distinguished by the weapons they wield, and the Malefacts by the beasts they originated from. Sadly, the movesets lean towards the simple side , featuring only a couple of different attack strings that are relatively easy to memorize. Some annoying flying enemies round up the enemy lineup, requiring the use of ranged weapons or some of Koo's Bloom Arts to take down.

Still, the game offers a solid level of challenge for those who are ready for it. At Hard difficulty, available from the start of the game, enemies hit hard, so missing a parry can have significant consequences, partially addressing a certain memorization ease.

However, with the bigger Nushi enemies , from which Emma and Koo absorb their special powers, things are different. These huge bosses come with two phases, timing variations within similar attack strings, and huge AOE attacks that require dodging, and are definitely one of the highlights of the experience , both in terms of visual design and gameplay. It's also against them that the game's excellent buildcrafting mechanics come into play most, as with certain setups, it's possible to make short work of them in a rather satisfying fashion.

The relatively low budget , at least compared to a modern AAA production, is most evident in Beast of Reincarnation 's visuals . They are not terribly bad, but they are far from the best we have seen in Unreal Engine 5 , sporting relatively simple character models, with the heavy lifting done by the aesthetics, especially for the Malefacts.

Similarly, locations aren't particularly detailed or diverse, and tend to look pretty similar to each other, featuring a mix of vegetation and ruined civilization that effectively conveys the idea of a world in ruin. Ray tracing is also available to improve lighting and reflections, though the difference isn't massive. With what look like undemanding visuals, one would have expected Beast of Reincarnation to run well, but I expect some systems will definitely struggle .

In a benchmark session set in the Ogouchi Buffer Zone, the very first map, at 4K resolution, NVIDIA DLSS in Balanced Mode (AMD FSR 1 and 3 are also supported, alongside UE5's TSR and TAUU) and a combination of high and max settings, the game ran at an average of 96 FPS, 53 FPS 1% low on my system (i7-13700F, RTX 4080 and 32GB RAM ).

Although gameplay was smooth for the most part, there are quite a few situations where the dreaded stuttering issues show up. While shader compilation stutters only manifested the first time I played the game, traversal stutters remain noticeable throughout, especially during quick movement like grappling onto ledges to launch in the air. As these stutters rarely caused the framerate to drop significantly below 60 FPS, they weren't a major issue, but as most don't have a system as performant as mine, this is something to keep in mind if you have a mid-range system or below.

In addition, the implementation of all upscalers isn't the best . Not only does the game revert to AMD FSR 1 every time it is launched with NVIDIA DLSS , but the image quality differences between all modes are also almost indiscernible, although there is a small performance difference between them. For example, inside the walker, the game maintained the 120 FPS cap in Performance Mode but could only reach the high 90 FPS range in Ultra Quality mode.

Before its launch, Beast of Reincarnation seemed like a great tribute to the NieR series, and a solid action RPG with some interesting ideas, and that's exactly what Game Freak and publisher Fictions have delivered. Emma's story is a great one to experience, thanks to its engaging narrative , linear yet wide-open progression, and solid RPG and combat mechanics . The game isn't perfect by any means, as it's not particularly original, but it's a great foundation for what has the potential to become a beloved series.

PC version tested. Review code provided by the publisher.

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8.5

WCCFTECH RATING

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