If you want better controls responsiveness
Choose Saros. It scores 4.6 vs 3.7 for controls responsiveness, with a 4.3 overall score.
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 4.5-5.026 (52%)
-
Positive 3.5-4.417 (34%)
-
Neutral 2.5-3.42 (4%)
-
Negative 1.5-2.45 (10%)
Pros
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
Collapsed structures, rusted machinery, overgrown cities, and corrupted wildlife make the zones rewarding to inspect. The environmental detail consistently strengthens both atmosphere and exploration.
-
The atmosphere blends lush beauty, melancholy, ruined technology, and quiet terror. Ethereal music and overgrown landscapes give the journey a distinctive, reflective mood.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
Cons
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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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Targeting traversal abilities can require unnecessary camera adjustment. The issue appears most noticeable when trying to make a vine anchor or valid target appear.
-
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.
Compared With Category Average
Compared with other Video Games, this product is above average in companion AI, pacing, value for money, near average in fun factor, visual effects quality, below average in onboarding experience, tutorial quality, aiming precision.
Comparison summary
50 compared features-
Above average 0.4+ pts higher30 (60%)
-
Same as average within 0.3 pts14 (28%)
-
Below average 0.4+ pts lower6 (12%)
Largest category differences
| Attribute | This product | Category average | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| onboarding experience | 1.8 | 3.9 | -2.1 |
| companion AI | 4.6 | 3.3 | +1.3 |
| tutorial quality | 2.1 | 3.5 | -1.4 |
| aiming precision | 2.0 | 3.4 | -1.4 |
| HUD clarity | 2.0 | 3.4 | -1.4 |
| pacing | 4.4 | 3.3 | +1.1 |
| learning curve | 2.5 | 3.5 | -1.0 |
| value for money | 4.8 | 3.8 | +1.0 |
Consider This Instead
If you want better onboarding experience
Choose Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. It scores 4.9 vs 1.8 for onboarding experience, with a 4.5 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.
If you want better camera behavior
Choose Shinobi: Art of Vengeance. It scores 5.0 vs 2.2 for camera behavior, with a 4.4 overall score.
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.
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
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