The Beast of Reincarnation review embargo lifted this morning, and the verdicts are in. Game Freak โ the studio behind Pokemon for the last three decades โ just shipped their most ambitious non-Pokemon project ever. It's a parry-heavy action RPG set in a post-apocalyptic Japan 2,000 years in the future, starring an emotionless swordswoman named Emma and her very good boy, Koo.
I've spent the morning reading every major review. The consensus is more interesting than a simple number โ critics agree on what works brilliantly and what doesn't, but they disagree sharply on whether the flaws matter. Let me break it down. If you need the full pre-launch picture first, our Everything We Know guide covers release details, editions, and system requirements.
The Scores at a Glance
| Publication | Score | Verdict | |-------------|:-----:|---------| | GamesRadar+ | โ โ โ โ โ | "Let Game Freak henceforth be known as the Beast of Reincarnation studio" | | PC Gamer | 73/100 | "Fun, admirable, gorgeous and flawed" | | Wccftech | 8/10 | "A really solid action game that mostly succeeds" | | Insider Gaming | 7/10 | "A brilliant game with capable chops, but far from perfect" | | IGN | Preview | "Game Freak seems to have successfully switched from catching 'em all to violently dispatching 'em all" |
That's an aggregate somewhere in the 7.5โ8/10 range โ solid, confident, but not a masterpiece. What's fascinating is where the critics agree and where they split.
What Everyone Loves
The Combat Feels Genuinely Great
Every single review, from the most positive to the most critical, praises the combat. The parry system is the star. Emma's katana has exactly one attack button โ the depth comes from timing. You parry enemy attacks to build a resource gauge, then spend it on special abilities. PC Gamer described it as "a parry dance" and noted the timing window sits between Sekiro's brutality and Stellar Blade's accessibility โ generous enough that you won't rage-quit, tight enough that mastery feels earned.
I found GamesRadar's description particularly compelling: they called boss fights "a rhythm game where you learn to parry to the tune of each enemy's unique attack pattern." Tap-tap-taptaptapโtapโtap. Then you unleash. If you've played Sekiro, you know exactly what that feels like.
Koo Is More Than a Gimmick
The dog companion could have been a throwaway โ a cute set piece that auto-attacks in the background. Instead, Koo is a tactical layer. Tapping a button slows time to a crawl, letting you choose from up to six Bloom Arts: fireballs, root snares that break enemy shields, HP-restoring attacks. What I love about this design is how Koo's abilities and Emma's parries feed each other โ you need to nail parries to earn the "fluorescence points" that fuel Koo's skills, and landing Koo's skills heals Emma. It's a tight feedback loop that makes you engage with both systems.
IGN's preview called this the "satisfyingly tactical twist" that elevates the game above a standard action RPG.
The Atmosphere Is Unusually Quiet
This surprised me. I expected bombast โ a Pokemon studio doing a AAA action game, surely they'd go full spectacle. Instead, critics describe Beast of Reincarnation as "meditative," "elegiac," almost mournful. PC Gamer's review put it perfectly: "If Stellar Blade is psytrance with the bass jacked right up, Beast of Reincarnation is psytrance with the percussion removed entirely."
The ruined Japan setting โ collapsed shrines, rusted Golem wrecks, toxic spore-dusted valleys rendered in UE5 โ isn't just set dressing. It's the emotional backbone of the game. Wccftech noted that the level design, while linear, rewards vertical exploration with Emma's vine-like hair abilities, letting you climb ruins and drop-assassinate enemies from above.
Where Critics Split
Emma's Emotionless Performance
This is the most divisive element in the game, and I think it's the most interesting. Emma was deliberately written as someone whose Blight affliction has stripped her of emotion. Her voice acting โ in both English and Japanese โ is flat, mechanical, almost bored. Every critic noticed this. But they disagree completely on whether it works.
GamesRadar called it "compelling" and noted that her aloofness has a specific narrative reason that's slowly revealed. Wccftech said Emma "is a surprisingly compelling main character" whose lack of emotion is "compounded by the rest of the cast." PC Gamer described the effect as "an elegiac doom" that pervades the entire experience.
But Insider Gaming and the Eurogamer-affiliated review were less forgiving, calling the flat delivery "not amazing viewing" and noting the story takes "20 hours before I started understanding the roles of some core characters." The Chinese-language review on 163.com put it bluntly: "ๅฆๆไฝ ๆๅพ ็ๆฏใๅฐผๅฐใ้ฃ็งๅ ๆปกๆ ๆๅผ ๅ็ไธป่งๅก้ ,้ฃEmmaๆๆไผ่ฎฉไฝ ๅคฑๆ" โ if you expect Nier-level emotional range, Emma will disappoint you.
My take after reading everything: this is a creative risk that works for some and falls flat for others. If you connect with the game's mournful atmosphere, Emma's blankness becomes a feature. If you don't, it's a long 30 hours.
The Nier Comparisons Are a Double-Edged Sword
Beast of Reincarnation borrows heavily from Yoko Taro's playbook: post-apocalyptic Japan, androids/golems questioning their existence, a companion who's more than they seem, a soundtrack that mixes melancholy ballads with combat intensity. Wccftech explicitly called out the similarities to both Nier Replicant and Automata.
The problem, as several reviewers noted, is that Beast of Reincarnation doesn't quite reach Nier's heights. The emotional payoff arrives late in a final-act exposition dump. Side characters are introduced and abandoned. The thematic ambition is there, but the execution feels like a first draft from a studio that's spent three decades making games where the story is an afterthought.
The Technical Picture: Mixed
On capable hardware, Beast of Reincarnation runs well. The Fifth Skill tested on an RTX 4080 Super at 4K and got 75โ90 FPS with DLSS Quality. At 1440p, it consistently stayed above 90 FPS.
But there are pain points:
- No ultrawide support in 2026. This is genuinely baffling for a UE5 PC release.
- Steam Deck is rough. SteamDeckHQ reported it's "borderline playable" even on Low with FSR 1 โ expect 30 FPS with drops.
- Camera issues in boss fights. Multiple reviews mention getting swallowed by large Nushi models, unable to see Emma during attacks. There's no FOV slider.
- Subtitle size is absurdly small with no option to enlarge โ a genuine accessibility fail.
The Verdict: Should You Buy Beast of Reincarnation?
Here's where I land after synthesizing all of these reviews.
Buy it at $60 if:
- You loved Sekiro's parry dance and want more of that rhythm
- A quiet, atmospheric post-apocalyptic Japan sounds like your jam
- You don't mind a protagonist who takes 20 hours to show emotion
- You're on a decent PC or PS5 (not Steam Deck)
Wait for a patch or sale if:
- Camera issues in boss fights would drive you insane
- You need strong character writing to stay invested
- You're primarily on Steam Deck or a lower-end rig
- The $60 price tag feels steep for a ~30-hour linear experience
Skip it if:
- You're burned out on parry-centric action games (the "parryslop" fatigue is real)
- You need open-world freedom โ this is linear with exploration pockets
I'll be honest: I'm surprised by how much I want to play this after reading the reviews. I went in expecting a competent but soulless Pokemon-studio pivot, and what I found in the critical consensus is a game with a genuine artistic identity โ flawed, uneven, but unmistakably its own thing. Game Freak didn't just make "Pokemon but dark." They made something that stands alone.
That's rare. Even at 73 on PC Gamer, it's worth your attention. If you're playing today, our launch day guide has the exact unlock times, edition breakdown, and first-hour priority list.
