A lot of people don’t realize that Game Freak, the studio behind the bulk of the mainline Pokémon RPGs, also make games that have nothing to do with Pikachu and friends. It happens infrequently, but every now and then the team partners with a publisher to create something outside its usual monster-taming wheelhouse, like card game Pocket Card Jockey or the platformer Tembo the Badass Elephant. Of all these ventures, however, Beast of Reincarnation, a new action RPG coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S later this year, is easily the largest in scope thus far. Here’s everything we know about Game Freak’s next big RPG.
What’s the premise of Beast of Reincarnation?
Beast of Reincarnation follows a young woman named Emma in an overgrown, post-apocalyptic Japan 2000 years into the future. She has a partner in Koo, a dog blighted by the same overgrowth that has taken over Japan, so she’s not entirely alone here. The two fight their way through this world, facing creatures and robots still wandering around this dilapidated landscape that marries both science fiction and fantasy.
The “blight” that has overtaken this world manifests as overgrowth, which you can see has overtaken some of Koo’s body, and which Emma has the ability to seal inside hers. While the two are considered outcasts by much of the remaining civilization, they are tasked with defeating the titular Beast of Reincarnation, and must fight and absorb the power of monsters called the “Nushi” in order to gain the strength they’ll need. Because Emma is able to absorb the blight, she is also able to manipulate growths throughout the world. This can be seen in trailers when she creates pathways using vines, and raises plants from the ground as she fights.
Beast of Reincarnation blends both real-time and turn-based combat
As Emma, you face enemies in fast-paced, action-based combat. She wields a sword, zips around, parries, and has some ranged options with a crossbow. At the same time, Emma can issue commands to Koo, who will aid her in battle. So even if it’s not Pokémon, the connection between humans and animals is still very much a part of Beast of Reincarnation.
You’ll primarily play as Emma, upgrading and refining her playstyle through the game’s skill tree. As you move through these upgrades, you’ll find ways to tweak Koo’s skillset as well. You can run into fights with your sword out, approach some situations with stealth, or send Koo in to start a fight, following up his surprise attack with one of your own.
Beast of Reincarnation had an interesting start at Game Freak
Beast of Reincarnation began development around 2020, and started as part of an internal program called “Gear Project” that challenges Game Freak staff to come up with an original game idea. Director Kota Furushima said he wanted the game to capture feelings of “loneliness, isolation, and warmth.”
Game Freak’s games haven’t exactly been technical powerhouses…
The technical woes of Game Freak releases like Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are well documented, and those games don’t look like anything close to what Beast of Reincarnation is aiming for in terms of fidelity and scope. So should you be concerned about how Beast of Reincarnation is going to run? Maybe, but it also sounds like Game Freak is working with a lot of external partner developers while it handles direction and project management, as the studio itself is relatively small for a game this large.
“We managed to seek out a lot of partner companies to work with us, companies, studios that are able to realize the vision of this game in the way that we wanted to make it, so we’re lucky to have a lot of people working on it externally as well,” Furushima told IGN.
Is this going to be another huge open-world RPG? I don’t have time for that
According to Game Freak, Beast of Reincarnation isn’t an open-world game, but is instead made up of stages that are larger in scope than, say, those in a Devil May Cry game. Furushima told IGN the game will be a middle ground between linear and open-world gameplay.
The way we created this game, it is about a journey with a beginning, middle, and end, right? It kind of conjures up images of a road movie sort of thing, so it’s not open-world in the purest sense. The game is comprised of different stages, but these stages I would not describe as linear either. There’s quite a lot of room for exploration, a lot of radiation between the different environments and things of that nature.
When is Beast of Reincarnation coming out?
Beast of Reincarnation is coming to PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S on August 3. If you’re an Xbox Game Pass subscriber, you’ll be able to play it through the service on day one.
