Beast of Reincarnation Was Not What I Expected
I think a lot of people, myself included, were taken aback — if not downright perplexed — by the announcement that Game Freak was making a mature action RPG. What? The house of all things Pokémon making a gritty Soulslike? Until trailers and teasers appear, we had no idea what Beast of Reincarnation was all about. Having finally played it, I was surprised. While critical opinion has been a little mixed, I found many aspects of the game charming, unique and very interesting.
Surprise 1: The Story is Opaque but Fascinating
Post-apocalyptic narratives are the bread-and-butter of action games. Add a supernatural disease that’s corrupting the world and you have the elevator pitch for dozens of games. What makes this oft-told tale surprising in Beast of Reincarnation is the emotionless protagonist Emma and the way the game uses memory and flashbacks to tell the story. Also — and you can tell by the title — there’s more than a little Buddhist influence. Most prominently the notion of samsara, the endless cycle of birth, suffering and death.
Surprise 2: Fluid Traversal
Action adventure games have solved the challenge of moving the player character around the world in many different ways. In Beast of Reincarnation, Emma’s hair serves as a grapping hook, expandible platform and a multifaceted weapon, depending on how you spec it out. By spending points in Vitality and skills such as Helm Splitter, Emma’s locks can do massive AoE damage. Bad hair day, indeed.
Surprise 3: Koo
I’m a sucker for companion animals in games. In Koo, Beast of Reincarnation has introduced a really great one. First, Koo’s exposure to the Blight has turned his tail in to a mass of flowers and vines, giving him the ability to cast elemental spells. He acts as an enemy detector and can absorb the energy of Malefacts. Maybe best of all, Koo allows combat to become an interesting hybrid of real time and turn-based mechanics.
Surprise 4: Level Design Emphasizes Verticality
If not done well, it can be frustrating, but I enjjoy games that have puzzle-like elements built into exploring the world. For example, Beast of Reincarnation is obviously driving Emma towards a vertical location, and the player has to figure out what combination of tools (like Emma’s hair) works the best. The game’s level design offers lots of opportunities for sneak attacks as well as the option to bypass strong enemies until later. Beast of Reincarnation’s world is attractive and lush. It’s rare when a “post-apocalyptic” world is not dull, muted or disturbing.
Surprise 5: It’s Not Perfect, But Still Lots of Fun
I’ve played way too many action RPGs and Soulslikes that are actively bad and no fun at all. Beast of Reincarnation is in no sense a bad game, though it has some issues. Enemy variety is lacking, the protagonist is a cypher and its combat mechanics are both opaque and a bit limited. Those are all true to some degree. But what’s also true is the game’s fiction is genuinely intriguing, the mood of melancholy is affecting and chaining combos in coordination with Koo is a blast. And by the way, anyone who complains that the game’s story is cryptic hasn’t been paying attention to FromSoft’s games.
Props to Game Freak for moving outside the Pokémon comfort zone, and if Beast of Reincarnation isn’t adventure RPG perfection, it’s an awesome jumping-off point for additional games, should the developer want to keep moving in that direction.