The studio behind Pokémon struggles to find its voice in Beast of Reincarnation

EntertainmentCloseEntertainmentPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All EntertainmentGamingCloseGamingPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All GamingGames ReviewCloseGames ReviewPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All Games ReviewThe studio behind Pokémon struggles to find its voice in Beast of ReincarnationGame Freak’s new action game is full of ideas you’ve seen and played before.by Andrew WebsterCloseAndrew WebsterSenior entertainment editorPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Andrew WebsterAug 4, 2026, 12:00 AM UTCLinkShareGift Image: FictionsAndrew WebsterCloseAndrew WebsterPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Andrew Webster is an entertainment editor covering streaming, virtual worlds, and every single Pokémon video game. Andrew joined The Verge in 2012, writing over 4,000 stories.You have to imagine that the team at Game Freak is bursting with ideas. The studio puts out new mainline Pokémon adventures with a machinelike precision. But every so often it launches a curious experiment, whether it’s an action title about a militarized elephant or turning horse races into a card game, showing that it’s capable of more than the latest generation of pocket monsters. That’s part of what makes the idea of Beast of Reincarnation so enticing. Here is an established studio breaking free of the franchise it has become known for to make its take on a blockbuster action game. Unfortunately new ideas are in short supply in Beast, and aside from its slick action, there’s little that hasn’t been done before.Beast of Reincarnation takes place exactly 2,000 years in the future in a postapocalyptic vision of Japan that blends sci-fi and magic. Humans still exist, though many of them transferred their consciousness to robotic golems in order to survive the calamity that ruined the world. The real problem is that a mysterious blight has infected the landscape, turning wildlife into vicious, mutated monsters. Even worse: This seems to portend the return of the titular beast, a powerful creature that, as its name implies, appears to be immortal. You play as a wandering mercenary-type named Emma who has the ability to absorb the powers of fallen mutants, and soon she’s tasked with traversing the world to power up so that she can take down the beast for good.It’s not a bad setup for an action game, as it gives you a reason to keep moving forward. Emma is constantly on the hunt for the next big creature that she can use to get stronger before taking on her final task. Beast of Reincarnation isn’t an open-world game, but instead is divided into a series of big locations that you travel between as the story progresses.Image: FictionsThe standout feature of the game is its action. Emma is a speedy samurai type, wielding a blade and various bows. At first, Beast seems like Dark Souls or Elden Ring, a game built around dodging and parrying, with little room for error. But as you unlock new powers, it proves to be something a little different. Emma’s signature ability is that vines and plants can grow out of her hair. This sounds weird, but it’s also incredibly useful; she can build bridges to traverse big gaps, or use her hair like a grappling hook to reach locations up high. She also has an adorable and gigantic magical dog companion who follows her everywhere and provides a hand with combat and tedious chores like collecting loot.Emma’s powers are especially helpful in battle. Slowly she gains abilities that let her zip around the battlefield, using her hair to quickly gain ground on an enemy, deliver an attack from above, or team up with her powerful pup for a devastating blow. Her hair can even improve your stea