Developer: Game Freak
Publisher: Fictions
Reviewed On: PS5
Available On: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC
Release Date: August 4, 2026
Review Copy Provided By: Fictions
The very first time I booted up Beasts of Reincarnation I wasn’t very impressed. Sorry to be so blunt right at the beginning, but that’s really how I feel when it came to first impressions. Not only did I not know what was going on, the game didn’t seem to be very interested in easing me into whatever is happening.
All I know is that I’m a cute anime girl with a giant dog and a katana. On almost any grounds that should’ve been a winning combination but for some reason it just doesn’t kick for me. Maybe it’s because of the stale voice acting? I’ve never consumed media where I thought both English and Japanese voice acting sounded robotic and uninspired.
This game is actually developed by the same team who made the Pokémon games so I wasn’t surprised to see some elements of commanding your own pet to inflict attacks on your enemies.
It’s too bad that the performance of the characters isn’t interesting enough to suck me in because underneath it all Beasts of Reincarnation does have an interesting world to explore. It just feels like it’s undercooked in everything else that matters.
For starters, the characters weren’t drawing me in. Emma, our cool headed protagonist, suffers from coming off as incredibly generic and forgettable. She has some cool gimmicks especially with her canine companion, Koo, but without emotional range it’s hard to really get attached to her. The fact other characters felt just as bland to me weren’t helping make a case for Beasts of Reincarnation.
That being said, where this game does shine is how it plays. If you set aside the story and characters, the gameplay is actually rather stellar. I love how Emma uses her hair to create ways to traverse around the open world. Her hair can be used as a grappling hook, extended to have a surface to walk on, or used to elevate her to reach higher areas. Getting around is actually pretty fun.
The environment is also gorgeous. The year is 4026 and humanity is mostly gone. Remnants of civilization is filled with overgrown greenery as mother earth has come to take it back. I can sometimes take it slow and chew the scenery. And while it was worth it to admire the world at times, I can’t help but be a bit annoyed with how often my canine companion, Koo, would get close in front of the camera blocking my view.
Beasts of Reincarnation features a fast paced combat system. While it has elements of a Souslike, it’s more of an action-adventure game with bits of the genre. I found the combat to be very satisfying especially once you unlock more of Emma and Koo’s abilities.
While Emma’s primary method of fighting is using her sword, she can also use ranged weapons. However fighting with bows or crossbows doesn’t really as impactful as it should’ve been and I often forget I even had them to begin with. What’s a real game changer is her hair which allows her to grapple around the environment or gain a vertical advantage while in combat.
Your faithful companion, Koo, will also help you out in battle. This is Game Freak after all, and you can pull up a menu midst combat to command Koo to do attacks which enemies could be weak to giving you an opening.
Like other Soulslike, enemies in Beasts of Reincarnation can be staggered if you hit them enough and parry their attacks on time. Once their stagger meter is filled, Emma can execute a move that can deal massive amounts of damage making quick work of enemy encounters.
Outside of battle, Emma and Koo can rest up at campsites where you can improve their attributes, learn new skills, and upgrade their weapons. Skills here are locked behind your stats so you won’t be able to learn certain skills if a certain attribute is too low.
There’s only three attributes to invest in each for both Emma and Koo. It keeps things simple. While there are only a small bit of attributes to build upon, there are a vast amount of skills you can acquire stemming from these attributes for both Emma and Koo. It’s worth noting that while Emma and Koo earn different attribute points, they share the same skill points so once you invest in one skill tree those are points that you could’ve used for the other.
Interestingly you don’t lose any of your skill points/attribute points upon dying and you spawn at the last campsite you interacted with. You can choose to go back to your main base at any of these campsites where you can rest until morning.
Beasts of Reincarnation offers multiple difficulty options from the beginning. You can adjust this at anytime during your playthrough. I found Normal difficulty to be just enough for combat to be satisfying but not too easy that I can breeze through without running into trouble if I’m unprepared.
I think Beasts of Reincarnation is at its weakest when it’s tries to take a slow approach of getting you invested in the characters and background. It fairs much better when it allows you to cut lose and just explore while fighting against the Malefacts spread throughout the world.
As I mentioned before, I found both the English and Japanese dub to be rather lackluster. However I did find the latter to be slightly a bit more tolerable to I played the game with English subtitles. It still didn’t help me get attached to any of the characters but it was an improvement. Sure, there’s a lore reason why Emma is as emotionless as she is but the fact that everyone else around her doesn’t feel too different makes characters come off as emotionally uncanny and disconnected.
I played the game on a standard PS5 and on performance mode. Beasts of Reincarnation was a smooth experience despite Game Freak’s history of optimization struggles with their Pokémon games. I don’t think I ever went down sixty frames per second despite being in the middle of some heavy action.
I enjoyed Beasts of Reincarnation but I can’t recommend it. I just couldn’t find anything that this game did that other action-adventure games aren’t already doing better. With such a weak main cast and a forgettable story, the stellar gameplay wasn’t enough to carry the game for me to recommend getting a copy.
Beasts of Reincarnation (PS5)
I enjoyed Beasts of Reincarnation but I don't think I can totally recommend it for everyone unless you're really looking for it. I just couldn't find anything that the game did that other action-adventure games aren't already doing better. With such a weak main cast and a forgettable story, the stellar gameplay wasn't enough to carry the game for me to recommend getting a copy.
The Good
- Engaging, fast paced gameplay
- Gorgeous environments
The Bad
- Flat characters and forgetable story
- Bland voice acting
