Game Freak's Big AAA Action RPG Step Beyond Pokémon Has Mixed Results

Game Freak's first major AAA action RPG outside Pokémon has solid and addictive combat, but Beast of Reincarnation seems to struggle to establish an identity beyond its inspirations.

For nearly three decades, Game Freak has been almost synonymous with Pokémon, making Beast of Reincarnation one of the studio's boldest creative departures to date. Rather than another turn-based monster-collecting adventure, the developer's latest project is a full-fledged AAA action RPG set in a haunting post-apocalyptic Japan, complete with challenging melee combat, cinematic boss encounters, and a mysterious sci-fi fantasy narrative.

We got the chance to check out the game a bit early thanks to the publisher sending us a PS5 code last week and now reviews are starting to come in. Currently, it's sitting at a 73 Metacritic average as of the time of this writing, along with a "Mixed" rating via Steam user reviews after the first 1,400 submissions.

I only played the first couple of hours, but my feelings seem echoed across most of the review sentiments I've seen. Generally, Beast of Reincarnation's responsive combat, melancholic atmosphere, premise, and memorable creature designs are all quite good. It's the kind of game world that feels discting. But once you dig below the surface, it starts to feel derivative.

Whether compared to Dark Souls, Sekiro, Monster Hunter, NieR: Automata, or Death Stranding, the game feels extremely familiar. While Game Freak successfully executes many established action RPG conventions, it struggles to introduce enough original ideas to establish a distinct identity of its own.

You'll spend time parrying attacks, resting at campfires, collecting glowing bits and doodads around levels, and pushing through levels that could benefit from better and more interesting storytelling.

One of the first points of friction is an odd design decision in that it defaults to Japanese voiceover with English subtitles, and the only way to change it is to go all the way out of the game back to the main menu. You can't swap audio tracks at all during a game.

Combat, in particular, appears to be the feature earning the most consistent praise in reviews and impressions. The deliberate melee encounters are reminiscent of genre standouts like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, although Beast of Reincarnation adopts a more approachable difficulty curve. Rather than relentlessly punishing players, the game focuses on fluid movement, satisfying parries, and cinematic encounters that reward timing without demanding perfection.

The story has drawn some mixed reactions, especially in its delivery and narrative quality. There's an intriguing premise here layered across a mysterious world, but it seems to take too long to answer its biggest questions. It's hard to feel invested in the opening hours, which could put off a lot of players (myself included).

Notably, one area that hasn't generated major criticism is technical performance. At a time when many large-scale Unreal Engine 5 action games launch amid discussions about stuttering, shader compilation, or inconsistent frame rates, Beast of Reincarnation has largely avoided becoming a technical talking point. These are things that Epic is acutely aware of and is presumably working on for future updates.

Instead, conversation has remained focused on the game's design decisions and how successfully Game Freak has translated its decades of development experience into an entirely different genre. For its first new IP in many, many years, the studio is off to an admirable start.

The studio has demonstrated that it can build polished action combat, atmospheric worlds, and memorable creature encounters. The remaining challenge for subsequent games will be creating an original identity that feels as distinctive as Pokémon itself.