Beast of Reincarnation Review
Bottom Line
Choose it for expressive parry-driven combat, flexible difficulty, and inventive vine traversal. Skip it if unclear tutorials, targeting issues, or a familiar post-apocalyptic story would undermine the experience.
Best for
Best for action-RPG players who enjoy parries, build experimentation, companion tactics, and exploring vertical open zones with a strong visual identity.
Not for
Less suitable for players who dislike timing-based defense, expect comprehensive tutorials, or want a fully open world and immediately original story premise.
Verdict
Beast of Reincarnation’s opening hours make a persuasive case for its combat. Emma’s responsive swordplay and Koo’s slow-motion Bloom Arts create a tactical rhythm that feels more expressive than a conventional Soulslike, while vine-powered traversal gives the open zones unusual vertical freedom. The ruined Japan setting is visually striking, bosses feel imposing, and flexible difficulty plus short runbacks keep the challenge from becoming needlessly punitive. The main reservation is onboarding: important mechanics, targeting cues, and even basic actions are explained too lightly, which can make the early learning curve feel harsher than the combat itself. Story reactions are also less consistent, balancing an affecting Emma-and-Koo bond against a familiar corruption premise. These are preview impressions rather than a full-game verdict, but the foundation looks unusually strong.
Feature Scorecards
Summary
50 reviewed features- Very positive 4.5-5.0 52% 26 features
- Positive 3.5-4.4 34% 17 features
- Neutral 2.5-3.4 4% 2 features
- Negative 1.5-2.4 10% 5 features
- Very negative below 1.5 0% 0 features
Pros
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The soundtrack receives direct, enthusiastic praise, with its dramatic music reinforcing the action and ruined-world mood. Broader musical variety was not evaluated in these previews.
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Exploration is one of the strongest early impressions, thanks to vertical movement, secrets, hidden paths, and striking ruined environments. The open zones consistently invite detours without losing the main route.
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A $60 base price was viewed favorably compared with the common $70 tier, especially given the expected scope. Final value still depends on the full game’s length, polish, and content quality.
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Emma moves quickly through large, vertical spaces using vine grapples, lifts, and player-made bridges. Traversal feels smooth, playful, and unusually free for this style of action RPG.
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Overgrown concrete, plant-infested creatures, sci-fi ruins, and anime-inspired character design create a striking identity. The art direction balances beauty, melancholy, and horror particularly well.
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The atmosphere blends lush beauty, melancholy, ruined technology, and quiet terror. Ethereal music and overgrown landscapes give the journey a distinctive, reflective mood.
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Collapsed structures, rusted machinery, overgrown cities, and corrupted wildlife make the zones rewarding to inspect. The environmental detail consistently strengthens both atmosphere and exploration.
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The main loop of parrying, charging Koo’s abilities, exploring open zones, and upgrading the duo is highly engaging. Several players came away eager to continue after only the opening hours.
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Deaths are softened by short runbacks, persistent environmental unlocks, and natural checkpoints between larger rest sites. This keeps difficult encounters from becoming excessively repetitive.
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Parry-driven swordplay gains real tactical depth from Koo’s slow-motion Bloom Arts and support abilities. It is the clearest standout, with multiple hands-on players describing it as satisfying, expressive, and difficult to put down.
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Koo is more than a passive sidekick: he attacks independently, supports exploration, and provides tactical abilities fueled by Emma’s parries. His behavior usually feels useful and naturally integrated rather than intrusive.
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Enthusiasm is consistently high after hands-on play, especially around combat and traversal. Even players frustrated by the tutorials still wanted to continue and see how the systems develop.
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Combat, traversal, companion commands, and ranged tools fit together into a deliberate but flexible system. The mechanics encourage reading enemies and choosing the right response rather than relying on one tactic.
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The game looks unusually polished and cinematic for Game Freak, with high-fidelity environments and impressive visual presentation. Multiple previews were immediately struck by its beauty.
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Blending real-time parries with slow-motion companion commands creates a fresh tactical rhythm. Koo’s abilities and Emma’s vine movement help the game distinguish itself from straightforward Soulslike comparisons.
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The large Nushi encounters are imposing, punishing, and repeatedly highlighted as memorable. Winning can feel genuinely triumphant, and at least one showcase called the bosses the game’s strongest feature.
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The vine abilities offer unusual freedom to create crossings, reach high ground, and approach enemies from above. The zones feel open without depending on a traditional open-world structure.
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Combat finishers, boss attacks, and cinematic framing give the action strong visual impact. The effects are energetic and dramatic without obscuring the tactical structure.
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The horror is more unsettling than relentlessly frightening, using corrupted animals and beautiful-but-wrong natural imagery. That restrained tension gives the world an effective eerie edge.
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The combination of beautiful ruins, ethereal music, fast traversal, and absorbing combat creates a strong sense of immersion. One two-hour session reportedly felt like only minutes.
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Emma can reshape routes by growing bridges, vertical vines, and temporary platforms. These tools make the environment part of both traversal and combat preparation.
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Difficulty can be raised or lowered at any time, and generous parry timing makes the combat more approachable. No broader accessibility suite was evaluated, but the available flexibility is encouraging.
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The game uses broad, explorable stages rather than one continuous open world. Hidden paths, optional items, side activities, and compact runbacks give the zones both freedom and structure.
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Multiple skill trees, ability modifiers, and distinct companion options support varied builds. Early impressions suggest enough depth for melee, ranged, and Koo-focused playstyles.
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New skills, equipment, and upgraded Bloom Arts appear capable of changing how encounters are handled. The system looks flexible and rewarding, but long-term upgrade balance is still unknown.
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The strongest emotional material comes from Emma’s rejection and her decision to save Koo. Their bond gives the otherwise bleak setting warmth and a clear human center.
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Skill trees, gear, ability modifiers, and separate Emma-and-Koo options support several playstyles. Early builds suggest meaningful customization for melee, ranged, and companion-heavy approaches.
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The story uses familiar post-apocalyptic and corruption ideas, but the companion combat and player-created traversal give the game a recognizable identity. Its originality is strongest in mechanics rather than premise.
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Emma makes a strong first impression through her stoic demeanor, distinctive samurai-inspired design, and unusual plant abilities. Her vulnerability and social isolation add emotional appeal beyond the visual concept.
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The opening moves quickly into conflict and core mechanics, while early cutscenes establish the premise without overstaying. That briskness helps momentum, though it also contributes to thin explanations.
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Melee remains central, but bows and crossbows appear genuinely viable rather than token options. Ranged attacks can deal meaningful damage and even finish bosses when close combat becomes risky.
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Separate skill growth, gear, and build-crafting systems create a promising progression path for Emma and Koo. The opening hours suggest meaningful specialization, even though the full depth remains untested.
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Flashbacks give Emma and Koo’s relationship a warm, understandable foundation. Emma’s rejection by society also creates room for a stronger personal arc as the story develops.
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The opening hours mix melee, ranged weapons, companion arts, stealth, traversal, loot, upgrades, and home-base activities. That variety is promising, though the full game’s breadth has not yet been tested.
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Early dialogue carries noticeable philosophical overtones about humanity, emotion, and identity. The tone may appeal most to players comfortable with earnest, anime-influenced storytelling.
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Early zones combine corrupted animals, mechanical golems, flying threats, armored enemies, and giant Nushi. The mix supports different combat responses, although long-term variety is still uncertain.
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Playable flashbacks and hints about the blight, golems, and social hierarchy add useful background. The lore appears promising, but previews only reveal enough to suggest depth rather than confirm it.
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Challenge is substantial, especially against bosses, but adjustable difficulty, forgiving parry windows, short runbacks, and in-combat recovery soften the punishment. Players who dislike frequent parrying may still find the design restrictive.
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The ruined future Japan is compelling, melancholy, and filled with intriguing social tensions. The world’s presentation is strong, though some of its corruption-based mythology initially feels familiar.
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The premise, Emma’s isolation, and her bond with Koo create an intriguing opening. Reactions are split because the world has emotional and philosophical promise, while parts of the blight storyline feel familiar or melodramatic.
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Creating elevated perches can lead to satisfying stealth takedowns and alternate approaches. Still, the direct combat is so strong that stealth can feel less rewarding by comparison.
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Basic attacks and ranged bursts can feel extremely responsive, but contextual interactions are less consistent. Some prompts require unusually precise facing before they activate.
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The vine-based platforming is inventive and opens creative routes, but placement can be imprecise. Missing targeting guidance sometimes sends structures somewhere other than intended.
Cons
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The writing shows heartfelt character moments and thoughtful philosophical themes. Its central corruption premise can also feel derivative, leaving the early narrative promising but not yet distinctive.
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There is a meaningful learning curve, but poor explanation makes it steeper than necessary. One player reached the first serious boss without understanding several expected mechanics.
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Targeting traversal abilities can require unnecessary camera adjustment. The issue appears most noticeable when trying to make a vine anchor or valid target appear.
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The opening tutorials are the most consistent weakness. Important mechanics receive minimal explanation, and even a basic crouch lesson can arrive after the first boss.
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Vine targeting lacks a clear reticle in the opening build, making placement harder than it should be. Players may spend extra time adjusting their aim before a valid target appears.
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Important targeting information is not always communicated clearly. The missing vine reticle and unexplained combat meters can leave players unsure how a mechanic is supposed to work.
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The game introduces many combat, traversal, and progression systems faster than it teaches them. A detailed codex exists, but the main onboarding leaves players to discover too much on their own.
Compared With Category Average
Compared with other Video Games, this product is above average in companion AI, pacing, checkpoint system, below average in onboarding experience, tutorial quality, aiming precision.
Summary
8 compared features- Above average 0.4+ pts higher 38% 3 features
- Same as average within 0.3 pts 0% 0 features
- Below average 0.4+ pts lower 63% 5 features
| Attribute | This product | Category average | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| onboarding experience | 1.8 | 3.9 | -2.1 |
| tutorial quality | 2.1 | 3.5 | -1.4 |
| aiming precision | 2.0 | 3.4 | -1.4 |
| HUD clarity | 2.0 | 3.4 | -1.4 |
| companion AI | 4.6 | 3.4 | +1.2 |
| learning curve | 2.5 | 3.5 | -1.0 |
| pacing | 4.4 | 3.4 | +1.0 |
| checkpoint system | 4.7 | 3.7 | +0.9 |
FAQ
Is Beast of Reincarnation a Soulslike?
It borrows parries, posture-style gauges, rest sites, and punishing bosses, but Koo’s slow-motion commands, flexible movement, adjustable difficulty, and forgiving checkpoints make it less rigid than a traditional Soulslike.
How difficult does the game seem?
Bosses can hit hard and parrying is central, but the timing window is relatively generous, difficulty can be changed at any time, and deaths have short runbacks with no major loss.
Is it an open-world game?
No. It uses large, explorable stages with secrets, optional routes, side activities, and vertical traversal rather than one continuous open world.
What is the biggest concern from the previews?
The opening teaches important mechanics poorly. Missing targeting guidance, late tutorials, and unclear combat meters can make the learning curve more frustrating than necessary.
Does the story look promising?
Emma and Koo’s bond, the ruined Japan setting, and themes of humanity and emotion are intriguing. Some impressions also find the blight premise familiar and the presentation potentially melodramatic.
Sample Expert Reviews We Analyzed
These are a few of the reviews included in our analysis.
Video Reviews
YouTube - GameCross
- Review score
- 4.4
YouTube - GameRant
- Review score
- 4.4
Article Reviews
gameinformer.com
After playing 90 minutes of Beast of Reincarnation, I am obsessed with dropping down on enemies from my own vines, eager to craft my build...
- Review score
- 4.7
psu.com
Watch the combat overview trailer for Beast of Reincarnation.
gamingtrend.com
Out August 4th
- Review score
- 4.2
polygon.com
Game Freak's action RPG is emphatically not a Pokémon game for widdle babies, but a combat-forward experience for tough customers
- Review score
- 3.5
gamespot.com
Beast of Reincarnation captures the rhythm of From Software's 2019 classic, minus the punishing difficulty.
- Review score
- 4.4
Compared in Reviews
Products reviewers directly compared with this model, grouped into quick takeaways.
- Similar: timed inputs for ability effectiveness Bloom Art quick-time inputs are compared with Clair Obscur’s timed-action system.
Death Stranding 2
- Similar: mobile base of operations Emma and Koo’s mobile base is likened to Death Stranding 2’s DHV Magellan.
Final Fantasy VII Remake
- Similar: slow-motion command selection Koo’s ability menu uses a similar combat slowdown for tactical choices.
Consider This Instead
If you want better camera behavior
Choose The Blood of Dawnwalker. It scores 4.5 vs 2.2 for camera behavior, with a 4.2 overall score.
If you want better controls responsiveness
Choose Saros. It scores 4.6 vs 3.7 for controls responsiveness, with a 4.2 overall score.
If you want better onboarding experience
Choose Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. It scores 4.9 vs 1.8 for onboarding experience, with a 4.3 overall score.
If you want better writing quality
Choose Hollow Knight: Silksong. It scores 5.0 vs 3.4 for writing quality, with a 4.3 overall score.
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