Beast of Reincarnation is an Action, Adventure, RPG from the studio GAME FREAK. Yes, the studio that makes almost only Pokemon religiously made another game. Which still has us fighting alongside a beast of some type however we can’t choose who it is. But, I wouldn’t trade Koo for anything in the world. Now lets go fetch us some Nishi to eat and start the review!
So, I can raise normal chickens, but in this world I can get golden eggs but not GOLDEN CHICKENS!!!!
Gameplay
In Beast of Reincarnation, we play as Emma. A young girl who is a Purifier or a Stain person that everyone calls her because she’s just like the beasts. Her ponytail exhibits similar traits to Koo’s tail and some of the enemies we come across. The world has a few automatons or golems as they call it who get corrupt. They attack anything that isn’t a fellow golem. I’ve come across several times when I see these golems attack the beast, but stop when I’m spotted. Almost like it’s Destiny 2 when you see two factions fight, but drop everything just to kill you.
You have the option to approach your enemies with either the direct approach aka the sword method. The sneak around path with the many tall flowers, high vantage points to deliver a powerful blow. Or the range option with the different arrays of weapons you unlock along the way. I jump between melee and range depending on the type of enemy. However, with the parry mechanic being pretty good, but the dodge being slightly sluggish I prefer up-close and personal.
I also like harvesting food, plants and eggs to use to eat or make more. Plus, finding different vendors who sell skills, books and other great items while exploring made me want to search for more stuff.
The game allows you to branch around which form of combat suits you and Koo. My Koo plants traps and helps me with making sure I’m alive if I run out of healing syringes. Which Koo’s AI isn’t that bad honestly…well there could be a few things that I feel like should get worked on. Koo’s tracking skill is great, but without having a mini-map around.
Graphics and Audio
I’ll give GAME FREAK some credit on the visual of the game and the UI. The looks of a dystopia Japan and seeing what a walled up city would look like. The attention to the dilapidated building and homes I came across. Even the major structures for example, the dam system in the second area is well . The first time I entered the area, it made me wonder if the inside of a dam and the infrastructure were one to one to the real thing.
The animation and fluid motion while in combat seems honestly incredible. With the special moves that nature uses to spring up flowers and roots that are used to pierce the enemies from underground. However, with the fact that the game refuses to go to full screen since the only options are borderless or window. This just causes my computer to choke up at certain scenes and literally blue screen me twice! It also interfered with the lip sync no matter which language I choose.
Since I brought up the audio, it’s actually amazing from both the English and Japanese voice actors. I honestly believe that having to voice Emma was the biggest challenge for the voice actresses. Besides the voices, the sound of the blades making contact with either flesh or just clashing with metal. But, because of the issues with the graphics happening so often, it kind of made it impossible to not kill my momentum and have me stop.
Longevity
The story alone takes about a good 24 hours with the right motivation. I almost did one of my infamous 24 hours game rampages, but with the constant crashes, I lose my momentum. If GAME FREAK ever fixes the PC port of the game, I might go back to fully complete it. You could invest the same amount of time into Beast of Reincarnation as you would with any Souls Like game. But, with its current build, it makes it slightly difficult to replay it again.
Final Thoughts
Beast of Reincarnation is honestly a great game, with a beautiful concept. It just feels that it needs more time to cook, but we get what we get. Though there were issues where the button input keeps changing. Even when I placed it for PlayStation controller in mind. Hopefully with some time and some updates, I can see wanting to return to this game with a better PC. I hope this doesn’t discourage GAME FREAK from continuing to do other projects like this to allow them to spread their wings.
I give Beast of Reincarnation the Thumb Culture Gold Award
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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