Last night the Xbox Developer Direct showed off Beast of Reincarnation, PokeGame Freak’s next game, that has nothing to do with Pokémon.
Beast of Reincarnation tells the story of Emma, an “exiled protagonist” who explores a post-apocalyptic Japan that’s been taken over by ‘blight’, parasitic plants that have sprouted up everywhere.
It looks ace and there’s a lot to talk about, so below are five things we spotted while watching the gameplay trailer that really stood out to us.
5. Malefacts
Starting off with something obvious, the Malefacts are the creatures Emma will be facing throughout the game but one of them will be her trusted ally, the wolf Koo. The Malefacts are creatures that are bonded with nature and we see that Emma also has this bond, as her hair can grow and sprout vines to help her not just fight but traverse the environment. But did you spot that Koo also has a tail made of vines?
There’s clearly a deeper connection there and it’s one we’re looking forward to uncovering as we progress through the story. Check it out here!, and jump to 15:39 to spot Koo’s floral tail.
4. Just Like Pokémon!.. Sort Of
While Beast of Reincarnation isn’t a Pokémon game it clearly shares some of the same DNA, which is to be expected considering Game Freak has been the Pokémon developer for years now.
Aside from Koo being present as Emma’s powerful partner we see several status effects that’ll either buff or debuff Emma in a fight. During the presentation Game Freak showed off a few of these effects (jump to 23:29 in the video above to see the skill treee) and explained how some of them will enhance the in-game parry making it much more than a defensive skill you need to learn early. We spotted poison, corrosion, burn and shock, which is very similar to Pokemon. One that stood out to me in particular earlier in the presentation is called Bind, but maybe that’s because that’s also the name of a Pokémon move…
3. Blight At The Heart Of Nature
A recurring theme and threat in the game will be blight, and if that sounds familiar to you Nintendo fans out there that’s because we’ve seen it before. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild featured a similar environmental force and as we all know that game became the gold-standard for open-worlds moving forward, so it’s no surprise to see some of its creative input present in this game too.
If you want to see more from GAMINGbible, make us a preferred source on Google
It doesn’t stop there either as the wolf also reminds us of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. We’re not saying Beast of Reincarnation is going to be as good, but it’s shaping up to be quite something.
4. Similarities With Pokémon Pokopia
Like I said before Beast of Reincarnation is set in a post-apocalyptic Japan and while we’ve had our fair share of games set after the end of humanity as we know it the timing couldn’t be funnier.
The next official Pokémon game will be Pokémon Pokopia which will seemingly drop players into a ruined version of Kanto, where humans no longer thrive.
5. The Nintendo Switch 2’s Absence
Surprisingly the only platform you won’t find Beast of Reincarnation on is the Nintendo Switch 2. While it’s worked closely with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company in the past, Game Freak isn’t owned by either company.
While I’m sure there’s no bad blood between them it is sort of odd to see a Game Freak game that won’t launch on a Nintendo platform, though perhaps there’s plans for a port later down the line. It’ll all depend on if the Nintendo Switch 2 can run it.
