Beast of Reincarnation Review – A Promising Action RPG That Comes Close to Greatness

Game Freak has spent decades teaching us how to catch monsters, train them, and throw them into chaotic battles. So, seeing the studio walk into the action RPG world with Beast of Reincarnation felt a little like watching Growlithe take on monsters in an open arena to me.

Beast of Reincarnation is an ambitious action RPG set in a post-apocalyptic Japan in 4026, where Emma and her blighted canine companion, Koo, travel through the world swallowed by nature. Well, the mix of sword combat, parrying, skill trees, and Koo’s turn-based attacks is surely distinct from any other Game Freak titles.

While those systems can take some time to get used to, the result is a genuinely fascinating game hidden underneath a few rough edges that hooked me far more than I anticipated. So, here’s my Beast of Reincarnation review where I talk about the standout features alongside the areas where it fell short.

The First Hour Nearly Made Me Regret Starting Beast of Reincarnation

I’ll admit that Beast of Reincarnation initially had me worried. Setting aside the lower-tier fodder enemies, the first boss fight against the Rangifer made me feel like I accidentally signed up for another Souls-like exam. Defeating the hybrid Nushi was certainly a steep wall at first, but not in the “controller throwing” way I remember from my first few hours with Sekiro.

Thankfully, the parry system in Beast of Reincarnation is remarkably forgiving, offering generous timing windows. After a few encounters, I stopped treating every incoming attack like an impending nuclear strike and actually started leaning into the rhythm of battle.

To my extent, none of the bosses in this game approach the sheer personal hostility of Gyoubu Oniwa or Sword Saint Isshin of Sekiro, let alone the enemies of some of the popular souls-like games. In my opinion, the learning curve is far more approachable for any beginner RPG gamer.

Parries, Powers, and Perfect Timing Make Combat Surprisingly Addictive

The clever part of the combat in Beast of Reincarnation is how Emma and Koo complement one another. Attacking and successfully parrying enemies can help build the resources required to unleash Emma’s stronger abilities and feed into Koo’s special attacks.

Suddenly, combat doesn’t feel like just swinging a sword until something stops moving. It’s more like I’m watching the enemy, waiting for an attack, landing a parry, building my meter, and deciding whether it’s time to unleash Koo. The mix of real-time action and command-based inputs is easily one of the game’s best ideas.

However, if parrying isn’t your entire personality, there are ranged weapons and other abilities to fall back on. Weapons like the Spring Thunder Crossbow and the Zangetsu Bow can become an absolute powerhouse with the right upgrades.

Koo and Emma Make One Heck of a Team

Koo is undeniably the star of Beast of Reincarnation. Yes, he’s an adorable dog and shows more emotions than Emma, but more importantly, he is immensely useful in combat.

This is where Game Freak’s classic DNA shines through. Giving commands to Koo feels strangely familiar, except now, my “Pokémon” is a massive dog capable of helping me dismantle the massive nightmarish creatures.

Koo’s attacks aren’t just flashy animations. With enough Fluorescence Points collected by successful parries, I can decide when to call on him strategically into a battle. His moves produce satisfying attack combinations with Emma, giving the combat a two-character rhythm. Moreover, it never felt like taking control of Emma away from me.

This makes a smart design choice that gives the game its distinct identity compared to other RPG titles that it draws inspiration from.

Then there’s Emma herself, whose hair is apparently far more versatile than anyone I know of. Her hair can function as a grappling tool, create temporary paths, and help her gain vertical height for air strikes and stealth assassinations.

A Gorgeous Post-Apocalyptic Japan That Begs to Be Explored

The world is one of the strongest selling points of Beast of Reincarnation. This isn’t the usual gray, miserable apocalypse where everything looks like it has been dipped in concrete. Instead, nature has aggressively reclaimed the civilization, creating lush green landscapes with overgrowth on buildings.

There are resources, upgrade materials, food ingredients, Cleanse Walker parts to collect, along with a bunch of goodies scattered around. However, I occasionally felt compelled to revisit an area, simply because I loved being there.

Eventually, I reached a point where I would rather follow the story than spend another ten minutes grinding and searching for the ingredients to make a meal that I wasn’t particularly desperate to cook. This isn’t because the exploration is bad; rather, the rewards rarely made me desperate to investigate every nook and corner.

The More I Played, the More Beast of Reincarnation Started Showing Its Cracks

While Emma’s emotional detachment is explained by the game’s story, I still struggled with the protagonist. The narrative no doubt has plenty of layers, yet Emma often feels like she’s just a passive observer rather than participating in her own journey. I kept thinking about how powerful certain moments could have been if she had shown more personal depth.

The gameplay momentum also hits a wall with boss recycling. The initial encounters were exciting because I was learning their attacks and figuring out when to parry. Then, the game started bringing some of those bosses back. Again, and again. The problem is that the individual fights aren’t terrible, but the repetition is what drained my enthusiasm.

A similar issue plagues the audio design. While the atmospheric soundtrack fits the mood initially, I realized that I was hearing the same style of music over and over again. For an action RPG focusing on discovery and mystery, a broader and more dynamic soundtrack would have gone a long way.

Performance: My RTX 4060 Had Little to Complain About

My experience was considerably better than some of the harsher PC reports that I’ve seen. I waited for the major Beast of Reincarnation update patch before properly playing, and I have never experienced the crashes or black-screen problems.

My Setup:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7435HS
Motherboard: LA-N591P Laptop Motherboard
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060
RAM: (2x12GB) 4800MHz DDR5
SSD: M.2 PCIe Gen 4×4 NVMe SSD

I did encounter occasional stutters, but they were rare and roughly one in ten times in my experience. I also noticed some amusing collision problems in cramped spaces, where Koo would pass through Emma or decide to share the same physical space as his human companion.

Verdict: Beast of Reincarnation Has the Bones of Something Great

Beast of Reincarnation is a genuinely solid action RPG game. The combat system is clever, Koo is a standout companion, and Emma’s hair traversal adds fun mobility. The world boasts a unique visual identity that keeps me interested.

However, the recycled bosses, soundtrack repetition, and uneven visuals make the $60 price point a bit tough to justify. Beast of Reincarnation feels like Game Freak discovering a new playground and then forgetting to fill every corner of it.

With the combat clicks, I genuinely had a good time. Landing a perfect parry, building my resource, calling Koo into the fight, and following it with a powerful attack never got old. Traversing the world with Emma’s bizarre hair-based mobility also grew on me far more than I expected.