Japanese developers Game Freak are the masterminds behind most mainline Pokémon titles. Despite racking up millions of sales across nine eras and multiple spin-offs (including Pokopia and Legends) regular trainers have long complained about the franchise’s underwhelming graphics, which have always existed at least two generations behind the current standard.
You’d think the acclaimed studio would want to right those wrongs with Beast Of Reincarnation, their first non-Pokémon console game in seven years, but dodgy visuals are just the beginning of a long list of fun-killing issues.
READ MORE: The best games of 2026… so far!
We’re told early on that the end of the world is actually all mankind’s fault with people wanting to rid themselves of their pesky emotions. The prologue doesn’t go into much detail beyond saying this decision has caused their souls to slowly decay ever since. Think that’s complicated? Wait until you get to the flashbacks within flashbacks that add even more layers of needlessly knotted lore and backstory to this predictable sci-fi tale.
Emma’s not alone in her perilous journey. While she’s the one actually hacking her way through overgrown expanses and smashing up repetitive robotic foes with sword or bow, her sick surrogate sister Kagura and gruff mentor Brad are waiting in the safety of their lumbering Cleanse Walker, a truck with legs that’s been lifted straight from Star Wars. Occasionally, a force ghost known as Violet will pop up to give Emma some encouragement but the whole motley crew are as bland and emotionless as each other and the 35 hour-long storyline (bloated by a lot of boring cutscenes) drags interminably.
The different levels are mostly overgrown forests and ruined villages filled with the same handful of vicious woodland dwellers. Final bosses are typically larger versions of those twisted creatures and you’ll have to battle each one at least twice. There’s an intricate skill tree to help you customise your fighting style as you progress through the ruined land but apart from a series of arcade-style finishing moves and increases to weapon damage and HP, there’s no real evolution to Emma’s combat abilities. To really drive home the repetitive nature of the game, one song scores each of the 13 missions and it’s simply played on a loop until you’ve finished. It’s dull after the first ten hours. It’s mind-numbing after 30.
Pulling from Game Freak’s decades-long history as masters of monster battling, Emma is also joined by a magical dire wolf known as Koo. Just like a Pokémon, they have a series of attacks that can be unleashed on whatever snarling brute is standing in your way but they mostly just do their own thing. At least you can sometimes pet the good boy.
‘Beast Of Reincarnation’. CREDIT: Game Freak
Throughout Beast Of Reincarnation, it’s easy to see what the game’s creators were going for – a mix of The Legend Of Zelda, The Last Of Us, Monster Hunter and Stellar Blade – but the end result is an awkward, uninspired experience.
It’s made worse when you look at the brilliant games released this year that have done it so much better. If you want a great story about empathy, technology and human connection, play Memories In Orbit. A game that nails teamwork in combat, check out Pragmata. There’s Resident Evil: Requiem for thrilling ghoul- slaying while Crimson Desert provides an immersive genre-hopping fantasy land to get lost in. If you want something you’ll forget as soon as you put your controller down though, Beast Of Reincarnation is the game for you.
‘Beast Of Reincarnation’ is out now on PlayStation 5, PC and Xbox Series X/S
VERDICT
Beast Of Reincarnation is a weak action role-playing game from the same team that keeps churning out Pokémon games. Dull characters, janky graphics and dodgy dubbed voice acting makes the game’s twisting tale about community, perseverance and tech-anxiety tough to engage with, while repetitive combat, samey environments and uninspired sound design turns saving the world into a real chore.
PROS
Koo is adorable
With such a twisted backstory, there are plenty of mysteries to be solved
Did we mention that Koo is adorable?
CONS
The storyline is somehow both needlessly complicated and easy to second-guess
It’s tough to care about so many emotionless characters
A surprising chunk of the six hours of cutscenes are about food
The post ‘Beast Of Reincarnation’ review: the most forgettable game of 2026 appeared first on NME.
