Beast of Reincarnation

Beast of Reincarnation is an action RPG that has some great ideas blossoming here and there, but they can be hard to spot among the weeds.

Beast of Reincarnation is an ambitious game that often overextends itself.

Game Freak borrows liberally from the genre's biggest hits. And while its messy and muddled, it's salvaged by exhilarating combat and traversal, and a surprising amount of soul.

Mixing close-range action freneticism with a gorgeous, meditative atmosphere, Beast of Reincarnation is fun, admirable, gorgeous and flawed.

The game surfs on waves of philosophy and existential questions.

Game Freak channels a post-apocalyptic reality that reflects our own repetitive erosion cycles, with a fair bit of hand-holding

Beast of Reincarnation is a good game. Ignoring how original or otherwise it may be, the combat has a satisfying weight to it, and the exploration mechanics are an interesting wrinkle as you delve through the various environments.

Beast of Reincarnation is an interesting action RPG that ties together various elements to present something quite unique. While the narrative isn't particularly enthralling and it suffers from some visual and technical issues, the combat is a highlight, focusing on parries and a mix of melee and pseudo-turn-based commands that feels fun to balance. It wears its influences on its sleeve, but there are just enough fresh ideas that mean it stands apart.

Beast of Reincarnation is a bold new title from Game Freak that liberally takes inspiration from a handful of other games, including Pokémon, but manages to twist it all into something charmingly unique.

Beast of Reincarnation sounds great on paper, but is ultimately a hollow set of empty promises that fails to launch.