Beast of Reincarnation Could Be Game Freak’s Biggest Breakout Yet

I t isn’t easy to forget how Black Myth: Wukong took the world by surprise despite a long wait for its release, and the studio showing it off quite a bit in the run up to its launch. Stunning visuals, outstanding boss and level designs, and a combat system that came with some serious depth were all factors that worked in its favor, and its makers reaped the rewards of global recognition. With Beast of Reincarnation now just under two weeks away, we’re beginning to think that it’s a title that could get Game Freak the same sort of positive attention although its history of Pokemon titles makes it a noticeable presence in modern gaming already. But aside from sharing Asian-inspired worlds and a strong grounding in combat and action, we feel that Beast of Reincarnation and Wukong take their studios on different journeys, but a similar destination that showcases how a single ambitious action RPG can shift the perceptions around what a studio is capable of quite quickly, and with significant results. Allow us to explain. Fame’s Fickle-Minded Focus First up for consideration is the fact that Game Freak is kind of competing against itself here. It’s got global fame and recognition already, but as “the Pokemon studio”, and a fair bit of the problems that come with that reputation. A few of the recent games have been called out for technical issues, and accused of quality flaws on the visual and production fronts. It has worked on other games in the past, but none of them have made enough of an impact to make it shake off a reputation for great Pokemon games, and the weight of expectations that could come with it. Indeed, those very expectations could work against it as it tries to break out into a new genre. Beast of Reincarnation is an opportunity, then, for the studio to show a wider audience what it can do beyond the stuff it’s already known for. It’s trying to be known for something else now, and that’s helped along by the world that it has developed for Emma and Koo to enact their adventure in. Its take on a dystopian future version of Japan brings a grim, darker vibe to the experience that looks nothing like the vibrant, charming worlds of a Pokemon game. This Japanese setting brings a more mature tone, tackles deeper themes, brings environments in varying states of ruin, with large creatures serving as welcome doses of cinematic action. It all seems so deliberate, an effort not just to create a new world from scratch, but to fashion a new kind of fame in the process. This one would draw the eye of any action fan even if it were made by any other studio, and the fact that Game Freak has managed to differentiate it from its past work so well even before it has been released is impressive. It kind of reminds us of what happened with Black Myth Wukong , which had us very excited to dive into everything it was offering well before it hit the shelves. Similar Stages, Different Actors The comparison between the two games goes beyond their Eastern influences and the visual splendor with which they bring those visions to life. Of course, the genre’s standards such as large creatures to fight, unusual enemies born out of dire circumstances, and hostile, fantastical environments to house them all in are a given. But where Wukong took us to the past, Beast goes into a future that’s quite different from a search for one’s destiny. It’s a desperate effort to ensure the survival of what looks like the last dregs of humanity in the wake of the Bloom’s spread, and felling the titular beast is sure to come with complications along the way. The Bloom is more than just a plot device, though. It’s a lingering thread between the gameplay and setting, bringing the enemies and bosses you’re going to face to life. That’s unlike Wukong where the character always felt just out of reach, and more of an excuse to put you in contact with the rest of the game’s cast until that explosive showdown at the very end of the game. However, a potential similarity is in the way both games have bosses and enemies that are perfectly tuned to encourage mechanical mastery while allowing players a lot of freedom in their combat expression. Of course, the new abilities you stand to gain upon defeating said foes are also a factor that could tie the two together, but then you remember that in Beast of Reincarnation , you’re fighting for two. That’s an immediate switch in combat identity, and we’ve got to say even the early footage showcase a loop that’s quite different from anything we’ve seen even as it seems to bring the best of Sekiro to the table. Emma and Koo’s blend of real-time parry-based katana melee and Koo’s mystical abilities are already showing synergies that we can’t wait to exploit. The narrative grounding of their bond could reach even the highs of the protagonist’s search for their destiny, rooting the entire experience with mechanical and emotional depth that could then underline both the story, and your investment in it. Of course, that cooperation between Emma and Koo, a manifestation of the very enemy she’s sworn to take down, needs to feel absolutely essential to the whole thing. That’s a big bet to place, and Game Freak must remember that it has more to prove. High Stakes, High Rewards Game Science brought Black Myth to the world as an unknown studio with a lot of ambitions and none of the preconceived expectations that a more reputed name like Game Freak would carry. But Beast of Reincarnation is going to face every bit of scrutiny that a studio that has decades of history and the guts to go out of its comfort zone in a relatively turbulent industry is bound to get. We’ve got many questions that we must wait for answers to, such as whether the visuals are going to be as technically polished, while performance remains consistent. We’re wondering if the action combat can be satisfying if you begin to make a habit of slowing it down to recover your composure in difficult moments, making Koo a shortcut to complacency. We’re concerned about the mature tone being maintained across the story, and the narrative justifying its presence beyond setting very high stakes for Emma and her allies. We worry that the familiarity of Pokemon might creep into RPG systems that are designed to support a different kind of gameplay loop. Beast of Reincarnation doesn’t get the luxury of being a surprisingly good offering from its amkers. It needs to compete against some well-established peers in a space where punishment isn’t just doled out to the ones playing the games that occupy it. It’s also something that’s generously offered to experiences that don’t live up to expectations. Of course, being a day-one presence on Game Pass is definitely going to work in its favor, encouraging curious players to try it out and perhaps be wooed by the new direction that Game Freak aims to head in. It’s a great opportunity for the game to get conversations going, dialogue that is sure to reach players on other platforms as a community grows around the experience if enough players are invested in it. Success to a project like this one goes beyond sales, as its ambitions are to establish a viable new franchise for Game Freak, while improving its technical reputation. It needs to demonstrate that the studio can create mature action RPGs, expanding its audience beyond Pokemon fans and encouraging the pursuit of more original projects in the coming years. Black Myth Wukong might have shown the world what Game Science was capable of, but Beast of Reincarnation is an opportunity for Game Freak to show off skills that no one expected from it. Or perhaps they simply forgot they existed, or never thought they were on the table in the first place. Whatever the case may be, it doesn’t have to replace Pokemon or be the next Wukong. But it does have to extend Game Freak’s identity beyond a single franchise, and that’s a challenge that might be the hardest one Emma faces as she ventures deeper into the Bloom. She seems more than capable of handling things though, as long as she’s got a lot of us to help her past her worst enemies. It’s going to be an interesting trek through Japan, and an equally interesting time seeing how the game’s performance unfolds into real-world results for its makers. However, whether Emma’s going to be enough to make a reputational impact for the studio that developed her remains to be seen. Koo certainly helps things along, but the pair do have an uphill battle to fight once their adventure begins. And we couldn’t be more excited to go along on this one. Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.