Beast of Reincarnation Review Summary

Blurry visuals and no ultrawide support hurt, but fun parry combat with Sekiro and Nier vibes, a great story, and strong atmosphere shine, despite repetitive enemies.

Combat is fun: Players consistently find the combat system to be fun, responsive, and engaging, with many highlighting its stylish and creative elements.

Game is solid: The game is widely considered a good overall package, with solid gameplay, good playability, and an appropriate level of difficulty.

Sekiro and Nier vibes: Players frequently compare the gameplay to Sekiro, NieR: Automata, and Stellar Blade, indicating a strong influence from these titles.

Story is great: The story is broadly praised for being interesting, intriguing, and enjoyable, with some noting strong character development.

Good music and atmosphere: The music and atmosphere are commended for creating an immersive experience, with the background music especially noted as excellent.

Blurry low-quality graphics: Many players report that the graphics are blurry and low-quality even at maximum settings, with poor textures and an outdated appearance reminiscent of older games.

No ultrawide monitor support: A significant number of users complain about the lack of ultrawide or widescreen monitor support, resulting in black bars or no fullscreen display.

Repetitive enemies and combat: Reviews highlight repetitive enemy types and combat, with bosses lacking variety and moves, making gameplay monotonous.

Missing or broken features: Features like ray tracing and frame generation are missing or non-functional, and forced film grain cannot be disabled, worsening visual quality.

Overpriced for quality: Many users consider the game overpriced for its quality, recommending against purchase even on sale.

Influences from key titles: The combat and gameplay are commonly described as a mix of Sekiro, Stellar Blade, and Nier Automata, with some also comparing it to Souls-likes. Despite the Souls-like comparisons, the game is noted as not being a true Souls-like due to mechanics like no death penalty.

Parry-focused combat system: Parrying is a core combat mechanic, with a generous parry window and a posture gauge system, though it does not allow consecutive parries like Sekiro, instead emulating Stellar Blade.

Dog companion mechanics: The dog companion named Koo or Ku is a combat companion with its own skills, can cast magic with time slow, reveal hidden items, and be petted. Its effectiveness depends on parrying, and it features pseudo-turn-based commands.

Skill tree progression: The game features a skill tree for characters Emma and Koo, using experience and currency for upgrades, along with a stat point system.

Action combat variety: The game is an action-focused experience with swordplay, hack and slash elements, and real-time combat that includes stealth and parrying.

High FPS on good hardware: Multiple configurations from mid-range to high-end, with and without ray tracing and upscaling, achieve high and stable frame rates, indicating strong overall performance.

FPS drops and instability: Users experience inconsistent frame rates, with fluctuations, drops in specific areas, during combat, and on certain GPU models like the RTX 3060 and 30/50 series.

No crashes or stutters: Several reports highlight the game running without crashes, stutters, freezes, or FPS drops, suggesting a stable technical experience for many users.

Poor optimization complaints: A number of reviews negatively assess the game's optimization, citing poor rendering, general poor performance, and issues present since launch.

DLSS implementation issues: DLSS implementation is criticized as terrible, buggy (resetting to FSR), and failing to improve FPS, with poor implementation alongside FSR.

Wait for discount and patches: A large number of reviewers advise against buying the game at full price, recommending waiting for a significant discount and major patches before purchasing.

Good for specific fanbases: The game is positively compared to Sekiro, Stellar Blade, and NieR; fans of these titles and action RPGs with parry-heavy combat are likely to enjoy it.

Some highly recommend game: A smaller but vocal group recommends the game outright, praising its quality and value, with some calling it a personal game of the year candidate.

Not recommended by many: Many players explicitly state the game is not recommended, with some refunding their purchase and expressing regret, suggesting deep dissatisfaction.

Not for everyone but try it: Some reviews acknowledge the game isn't for everyone but encourage players to give it a fair try before judging.

Community fair range: $40.00 - $50.00.

Game completion: 40.0h.

Story completion: 20.0h.

The game has a short 10-minute tutorial, after which exploration begins, but many players report early friction from technical issues and repetitive combat. Enjoyment often improves once players master the parry timing, reach the first campsite, or unlock new weapons later.

Reported time to anchor: 10m.

Friction: crashes and technical issues; blurry visuals; boring tutorial; overwhelming ability dump; repetitive early combat; poor performance.

Unlock drivers: tutorial completion; parry timing mastery; unlocking bow after a few hours; reaching first campsite; exploration freedom.

Soulslike Combat Enthusiast: Aggressive, parry-heavy combat utilizing skill trees and combos. Motivation: Mastering the parry-based combat and overcoming challenges. Stance: buy.

Patient Bargain Hunter: They are not actively playing yet; they wait for a polished experience at a lower price. Motivation: Getting value for money and a polished experience. Stance: deep sale.

Supportive Game Freak Fan: Exploratory and story-driven, with a focus on the dog companion and emotional narrative. Motivation: Supporting Game Freak's evolution and enjoying the novelty of a non-Pokémon title. Stance: buy.

Most cohorts report mixed performance, but high-end VRAM configurations (16GB+ VRAM) predominantly experience poor performance and visual quality, earning a negative outcome for those groups.

Windows 12-15GB VRAM / 16-31GB RAM: mixed. User reports are split: some enjoy stable high framerates with ray tracing, while others face stuttering, CPU locks, and resolution issues.

Windows 8-11GB VRAM: mixed. Many users report smooth performance at 1440p or 2K with DLSS, but a notable minority encounter CPU spikes and poor optimization.

Windows 16GB+ VRAM / 32GB+ RAM: negative. High-end hardware users frequently complain about blurry visuals, resolution caps to 1080p, and poor optimization even on 5090-tier GPUs.

Steam Deck: The game suffers from severe Steam Deck compatibility issues: poor performance (20fps average), failure to launch for some users, and unreadably small UI text. Graphics and controller settings reset on every restart, adding friction. While a few users report playable experiences, the overall feedback indicates a broken experience on Steam Deck, compounded by its official unsupported status.

Linux and Proton: The game is largely compatible with Linux/Proton, with positive reports on Steam Deck and other Linux systems. Some users experience performance issues on Steam Deck OLED, and one user reported a minor Proton problem at launch that appears resolved. Overall, Linux compatibility is good with minor tweaks needed for certain hardware.

New IP from Game Freak: Game Freak, the developer known for Pokémon, created this as their first original 3A title outside the Pokémon franchise since 2019.

Comparisons to Nier and Stellar Blade: Multiple reviewers compare the game to Nier Automata and Stellar Blade, with some seeing it as a high-quality blend and others as a lower-quality imitation.

Mixed voice acting options: Voice acting options are inconsistent: some reviewers note only Japanese audio with English subtitles, while others report English voice-over is selectable in the main menu. Japanese voice acting is often recommended.

Early refunds after short playtime: Several players refunded the game after very short playtimes, often under 2 hours, indicating early dissatisfaction.

Compared to Sekiro: The game is frequently compared to Sekiro and WuKong, though some note it is easier than Sekiro.