Game Freak's action RPG Beast of Reincarnation has launched across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox, bringing realistic visuals, a post-apocalyptic setting, and intense real-time combat from the traditionally stylized Pokémon developer. Early critic and player reception, however, is heavily divided.
Metacritic Scores and Critic Breakdown
On Metacritic, Beast of Reincarnation holds an average critic score of 72 on PC and 73 on PS5, while the Xbox version lacks enough logged reviews to calculate an average. Individual outlet scores show a sharp split in opinion.
Vice awarded the game a 9.5/10, describing the combat as innovative and fun, and calling the mix of real-time and turn-based action a "perfect blend." GamesRadar+ assigned a 9/10 score, highlighting firm, fair combat, deep build customization, and a thoughtful story.
Conversely, VGC and Eurogamer both awarded the game 6/10. VGC criticized the unoriginal setting and story alongside a lack of enemy variety, while Eurogamer stated that its gameplay mechanics riff on Sekiro and Monster Hunter with mixed execution.
Early Steam Player Reception
Early Steam user reviews reflect the polarized critic scores, resulting in a Mixed rating where 52% of more than 700 English user reviews are positive.
Positive user feedback points to slick movement mechanics—such as horizontal and vertical hair extension mechanics—while drawing favorable comparisons to Sekiro, NieR: Automata, and Princess Mononoke. Negative user reviews argue that the game looks more ambitious than it actually plays, describing flat and repetitive combat with inconsistent guarding and parrying mechanics.
Game Freak noted ahead of release that the action RPG departs from the studio's decades of stylized Pokémon titles, acknowledging that photorealism was chosen as the best fit for the project.