It's been a long while since we last heard of Beast of Reincarnation, the upcoming action RPG by Game Freak of Pokémon-fame, but it's back in the media spotlight with a brand-new trailer.
Unlike the January Xbox Games Showcase trailer, which was a general overview of the game's systems, setting, and characters, this trailer is all about the Beast of Reincarnation's combat system, which combines real-time swordplay with command menu-based tactics.
In this game, you play as the cursed warrior Emma and her lighted dog Koo as they strive to save the world while fighting ravenous beasts and berserk machines.
For the most part, combat is a hack-and-slash where you slice, dodge, and parry your way through hordes of enemies and giant bosses. As you deal damage to enemies, you can build their stun gauge to leave them open for devastating finishers and generate a resource for yourself called FP.
Once you've gathered enough FP, you can slow down time and command Koo to unleash special Bloom Art attacks that will leave enemies debilitated with status effects that will leave them wide open for killing blows.
This mixture of real-time combat and command menuing with Koo will be essential in taking down the game's bosses, which are gigantic monstrosities that will no doubt kill you in no time if you don't time your sword parry deflections or Koo's FP skills correctly.
If you manage to master the combat system, though, the bosses will fall quickly before you and bestow upon you new Bloom Arts for Koo and skill points for you to spend on a skill tree that will let you unlock new skills for Emma in battle.
Windows Central's take
When I first saw this game, I was shocked and pleasantly surprised that Game Freak was capable of making a game that was such a radical departure from their usual Pokémon titles.
With every new trailer that comes out, my interest in Beast of Reincarnation is increasing more and more, to the point where I just want to get my hands on it to see how it feels in hand because the combat looks really fun, especially the parts where we turn into a half-plant, half-human samurai during some attacks.
Hopefully, this game will encourage Game Freak to branch into more unique IP if it's successful because, when it's off Nintendo's leash, this studio's creativity can truly live up to its name of making 'freaky' games, and I'm all for it.
Beast of Reincarnation is set to launch on August 4, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Windows and Steam. It will also be available on Xbox Game Pass (Day One), PC Game Pass, and Xbox Cloud Gaming, with Xbox Play Anywhere support.
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