Beast of Reincarnation review roundup: Pokémon team's Soulslike can't escape its inspirations

Game Freak, the developer of the Pokémon franchise, has released a new action-adventure game called Beast of Reincarnation. According to critics, the game is set in a post-apocalyptic Japan in the year 4026, where a parasitic entity known as the Blight has taken over. The game follows the story of a young woman named Emma, who has been stricken by the Blight and lacks emotion, but has inherited some gnarly Blight powers.

The game's combat has been praised by some critics, with TechRadar describing it as having an "excellent feel of ebb and flow". PC Gamer notes that the game is "parry-happy" and requires speed and dexterity. However, not all critics are impressed, with Mashable stating that the game's story pacing is confusing and the cast of characters is dull. Polygon simply states that the game is "fine".

The game has been compared to other titles such as Stellar Blade, Sekiro, Final Fantasy, and Nier. According to Mashable, Beast of Reincarnation attempts to emulate the themes of existentialism, artificial intelligence, sentience, and humanity found in Nier: Automata, but fails to understand what made Yoko Taro's masterpiece so compelling. The game was released on August 4, 2026, for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, and costs $60.

Brief written by urgent.news from Polygon, The Verge, TechRadar, PC Gamer, Mashable — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.