Beast Of Reincarnation’s Cinematic Focus Fails Its Flashy Action

When you start a new game in Game Freak’s Beast of Reincarnation, a prompt asks if you’d like to play in cinematic mode. This locks the cutscene frame rate to 24 frames per second, but, understandably, leaves the gameplay as is. When I first saw this during my 90-minute preview session last month, it felt like a bold statement from Game Freak. Pokemon, Game Freak’s multigenerational smash-hit, can be described as many things, but cinematic it certainly is not. Unfortunately, aside from its flashy combat and a few cutscenes, Beast of Reincarnation isn’t really cinematic, either. Flat performances and robotic animations undermine its fascinating story, bland environments sour its beautiful art direction, and an overall lack of polish hampers its intense combat. Though there are aspects of Beast of Reincarnation that I adored, for each one of them there’s always something that holds it back.

Beast of Reincarnation takes place exactly 2,000 years in the future, in 4026. After civilization was nearly wiped out by a phenomenon called The Blight, an infection that causes humans and animals alike to sprout vegetation, humanity transferred their souls into machines called golems to quell the spread. This inadvertently conquered death, but the relocated souls eventually deteriorated, leaving corrupted golems in their wake. The wildlife didn’t fare much better. Infected beasts called Malefacts wander the ruins of Japan attacking everything and everyone in their path. There’s a captivating history here that weaves together multiple science-fiction subgenres to create an intriguing world. The creatures that wander the wasteland feel biopunk-inspired, the aforementioned golem backstory is pulled from the cyberpunk genre, and the landscapes and architecture would feel at home in solarpunk fiction. Despite its many inspirations, Beast of Reincarnation’s world feels distinct.

This, in part, is due to the art direction. The futuristic technology juxtaposed alongside the overgrown ruins of Japan creates some memorable vistas that reflect the world’s alluring history. Emma, Beast of Reincarnation’s stoic protagonist, represents that fusion of technology and nature succinctly with her design. Her angular monochrome outfit is punctuated by a braid adorned with flowers that grows longer as she becomes stronger. It’s a nice touch that reflects your progress in her character design.

The plot centers around Emma and her dog Koo as they travel across Japan to reach the capital and hunt down the titular Beast of Reincarnation. Emma and Koo’s journey is frequently halted as they’re tasked with taking down a Nushi in each area–powerful Malefacts that spread The Blight. Each of these semi-open areas share a similar structure: You arrive, battle your way through the area, explore a little, and fight the boss. There are optional enemies to dispatch and loot to find, but these locales start to blend together after a while. Most of them consist of open fields with tall, green grass. As you get closer to the capital, those fields will be replaced with dry deserts. There are some interesting nooks hidden around each map, but it feels like a lot of wasted space.

There’s really not much to say about Emma. She’s a vessel, meaning she can absorb the power from enemies she’s defeated, but she is devoid of personality. She’s been told to fight and that’s exactly what she does. There are lore reasons for her languid disposition, but it doesn’t change the fact that nearly every interaction she has falls flat. In one scene, she robotically asks one of her traveling companions what love is. Her companion dryly explains that love is what happens when you miss people. This is made worse by deadpan voice work, static animations, and awkward editing that often leaves seconds of dead air between dialogue. The actors’ performances are a little easier to stomach in Japanese, but the characters never escape what’s largely dull writing.

This isn’t relegated to a few scenes, either. The entire script lacks subtext and nuance. Frequently, you return to your mobile base of operations, called a Cleanse Walker, to chat with your teammates. A young girl named Kagura who Emma saves early in the story tends to your base by cooking meals and managing resources. She happens to be just as dull as Emma, making their shared conversations painful to witness as the two emotionlessly talk about food or journals. There’s no energy behind their performances, the camera work lacks any creative direction, and they are always confined to the grey walls of the Cleanse Walker.

Ironically, the best character in the game doesn’t talk. Koo, Emma’s canine companion, is fierce and adorable. In one moment he’s lovingly looking up at Emma as they explore the world, and in the next he’s ripping out the titanium throat of a golem. He whimpers, barks, and even collects items for Emma. He’s an endearing companion with some charming animations, but Emma and Koo’s relationship never really develops throughout the game. We get some backstory here and there, but I never felt like they were forging a bond. Emma just doesn’t seem all that interested in Koo for most of the game. In one scene, a character suggests that Emma do something nice for Koo and after some consideration, she suggests petting him. Once again, there are lore reasons for her listlessness, which I won’t spoil, but it doesn’t change the fact that these scenes are so dull.

If there’s anything in Beast of Reincarnation that can be described as “cinematic,” it’s the combat. The parry-heavy skirmishes are fantastic. Enemies are deadly and aggressive, and can cut Emma down in a few hits. While it isn’t nearly as hard as something like From Software’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice or Neowiz’s Lies of P, Beast of Reincarnation can be tough–especially if you aren’t using the full range of Emma and Koo’s abilities.

The fundamentals are there. Emma’s slashes feel weighty, the clang of parrying a attack is gratifying, and her lethal blows are vicious. Like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, enemies have a health bar and a stagger bar. Deflecting attacks and pressuring enemies will fill up the stagger bar. Once it’s full, Emma can unleash a powerful attack that instantly kills a basic enemy. There is a dodge and a block too, but mastering the parry window is far more rewarding. 

Alongside Emma’s basic attacks, she has unlockable skills that can be deployed mid-combo for dazzling effect. These skills are themed around different blossoms and successfully pulling off one of these moves results in massive flowers blooming on the battlefield. Generally, these combos do significantly more damage than basic attacks, but they require some windup and leave Emma vulnerable. This means you need to study an enemy’s patterns to find an opening. Combat, especially later in the game, is a spectacle. Flowers and trees spring up around Emma as she cuts down foes with style.

What separates Beast of Reincarnation’s combat from similar action games is Koo. By pressing Y or Triangle, time stops, and Emma can issue commands. These commands cost FP, which is accumulated by successfully parrying attacks. In order to efficiently take down tougher enemies and bosses, you need to be aggressive with Emma while juggling Koo’s FP and commands. Some of these moves may also synergize with Emma’s skills. For example, Koo has a command that can bind or stun some enemies for a brief period of time, giving Emma just enough time to follow up with one of her powerful combos.

The near-constant stream of new combos, abilities, commands, and weapons kept the combat fresh throughout my entire playthrough. It’s almost a little overwhelming as Emma and Koo’s individual skill trees grow larger and larger throughout the story, but I never felt compelled to unlock everything. Each branch and root within Emma and Koo’s skill trees supports a different playstyle, and part of the fun is mixing and matching these different abilities to fit into your playstyle. While the parry-first combat is at the center of every approach, there are dozens of ancillary strategies that you can lean into. For example, I heavily invested skill points into Emma’s Sakura Blade Art, which happens to be one of the longest combos in the game. Given its windup, I prioritized Koo commands that would bind enemies. Max Blumenthal, a video producer on staff, focused more on Emma’s Kiku Blade Art, which has a much shorter windup and more range. He also invested more heavily in Koo’s commands, finding ways to chain his attacks to great effect. 

This all comes together during boss fights. These special Malefacts, known as Nushi, tower over Emma and Koo. They are based on real-world animals that have been infected by the Blight. Root tendrils hang off of them and giant flowers sprout from their body. They are beautiful and terrifying. Most of these bosses have two phases, and pushed me to conserve resources and tap into both Emma and Koo’s many abilities. There’s an engaging back and forth of reacting to the boss’s attacks and applying pressure whenever you find an opening. Sprinkling in commands from Koo can extend those openings or exploit a weakness. Some bosses are tricky but none felt insurmountable thanks to Emma and Koo’s wide array of skills and commands.

The problem is that most of these bosses are reused in the second half of the game. They are a higher level, but their attack patterns are nearly identical. This makes most of the high stakes encounters in later areas a cake walk. I don’t necessarily mind refighting bosses, but it robs these fights of any tension and opportunity for further experimentation. I know which attacks to counter and when to use one of Emma’s skill arts before the introductory cutscene has finished.

As stylish as the combat is, it lacks the polish of its inspirations. The camera can be unruly, timing perfect dodges feels inconsistent, and Emma’s traversal maneuvers can lead to some awkward situations. Where the camera struggles the most is against large bosses. In order to pressure a Nushi, you need to get in close, but when you’re stuck under their legs, it’s tough to tell when they are swinging and if they will even hit you. Occasionally they’ll fire off an attack that can only be dodged, and if you time your dodge right, time will slow down, allowing you to counter attack. Nailing this timing feels good, but it didn’t always behave consistently. Sometimes I’d dodge well before an attack and it would trigger the slowdown, and other times I would time it right before an attack and I’d still get hit. 

You can also get around enemy attacks with Emma’s hair. By holding the jump button or right trigger, you can extend Emma’s root-like hair to reach new heights and cross gaps. These abilities can be used to close the distance between an enemy, get out of harm’s way, or kick off aerial combos and attacks. It’s fun to weave these traversal skills into her moves, but they don’t always work as intended. At times her hair wouldn’t extend all the way, and other times I wouldn’t be able to grapple onto the endpoint to pull her forward. These issues are minor, but they add up and leave the combat feeling messy at times. 

Part of that messiness stems from Beast of Reincarnation’s inconsistent performance and visual bugs. I played a majority of the game on a PC equipped with an RTX 4080, and I noticed some micro-stutters and hitches at 1080p and 1440p. I can’t say how well it fares at higher resolutions, because it wouldn’t let me change resolution settings unless I set it to full screen–a setting that doesn’t seem to exist for me in the current build. Based on our testing, the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Pro seems to be the best option while the Xbox Series X has severe frame rate issues that Game Freak is aware of and intends to address before its release.

Beast of Reincarnation is an ambitious game that often overextends itself. The lack of polish taints its versatile combat, the mundane performances and wearisome dialogue suffocate its tantalizing story, and the uninteresting areas drag down strong art direction. That isn’t to say Beast of Reincarnation is a total miss, though. The combat, despite my nitpicks, feels and looks great when you’re chaining together combos and deflecting ferocious attacks. And aside from the cutscenes, my 25-hour adventure didn’t feel like a slog–I was eager to improve Emma and Koo’s skills to take down tougher enemies. But everything surrounding that core loop falls flat. Despite Beast of Reincarnation’s enticing mix of high-quality inspirations, it fails to reach the same heights as those experiences.