The beauty of PC Game Pass is that I get to give a game a try before going all-in on a title. I did just that over the weekend with little expectation for Beast of Reincarnation, and what I experienced during the first few hours felt rough, to say the least. Some thoughts.
Pokémon Devs not doing Pokémon
The unusual pull for me was that Beast of Reincarnation comes from Game Freak, the developers behind Pokemon, and that put a certain amount of weight on the game. That was probably the only thing I knew about Beast and its initial trailers.
I was definitely intrigued, but not blown away when it was revealed. As much as recent Pokemon games have found continued financial success, I never considered Game Freak one of the best studios from Japan. They’re the Pokemon developers.
Beast of Reincarnation is reinforcing my thoughts on the studio, as the initial hours took a lot out of me to stay invested.
It boils down to the introduction to the world and the many systems that make it what it is as a video game. I get bits of Dark Souls, an open-world scale, time-slowing mechanics that let you cast skills safely in real time like Final Fantasy VII Remake, and an atmosphere and cast of characters that remind me of NieR: Automata and Stellar Blade.
being inspired and using certain video game design concepts are valid, but I struggled to pinpoint its identity. All I was getting were constant reminders of previous games before it.
That bothered me because identity is an important element for me when it comes to playing video games. It felt like Beast of Reincarnation was Game Freak’s opportunity to experiment with all these cool game design concepts, but they’ve decided to do it all at once.
I’ll Continue Playing, but Initial Story Isn’t Helping
Another unusual pain point is the pacing of the game’s story.
It starts with a big set piece where enemies (despite their scale) can be easily taken out with a couple of swings, before ending the encounter with a cliffhanger. Then it goes back months before that initial encounter.
That’s fine. Many games have done this. But I was never left wondering what was going on, or how important that moment was that the game needed to go back a few months for added context. I actually forgot about it.
A few hours later, you’re slowly introduced to protagonist Emma’s goal and how she met her now companion wolf Koo, through flashbacks, followed by more flashbacks covering the core cast that accompany Emma in her journey to defeat the Beast of Reincarnation. It felt like the story’s pacing was jumbled unnecessarily for the sake of keeping the player eager to continue, but that didn’t happen for me.
Emma’s stone-faced demeanor didn’t help either, although it makes more sense as you move forward with the story.
If the game were more upfront with each character’s background and motivations, it would have been an easier story to consume. There’s no attachment made before these flashbacks, so going back doesn’t feel like a bonus. It feels like forced exposition.
I still have plans to go through the game, but those initial chapters didn’t do it any favors.
So far, the game works and I do have some fun with it, but it still feels shaky now that i’m 10 hours in. The boss fights feel awkward, which I’ll share more about throughout the week.
Right now, Beast of Reincarnation isn’t an easy recommendation at full price.
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About the Author – Carlos Hernandez
Carlos Hernandez is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Too Much Gaming, where he writes about video games, reviews, and industry news. A lifelong gamer, he would do anything to experience Final Fantasy Tactics for the first time again and has a love/hate relationship with games that require hunting for new gear to improve your character.