Game Freak's ditching Pokémon to chase NieR vibes with a post-apocalyptic action RPG dropping this summer.
What Game Freak just showed off
What Game Freak just showed off
- The Pokémon studio is swinging for something wildly different here, and they're calling it a fresh challenge for the team
- Beast of Reincarnation got teased at the Summer Xbox Game Showcases with a reveal trailer that didn't show a ton of actual gameplay
- Today's Xbox Developer Direct gave everyone a way better look at what this thing actually is, and people are feeling pretty good about it
- Earth's basically toast by the year 4026, and Japan got wrecked by The Blight, which is this parasitic plant situation that killed off most humans
- Humanity bailed on their bodies and uploaded themselves into Golems, these mechanical constructs that have since fallen apart over time
- You play as Emma, who's a Sealer that everyone's scared of because she can track down Malefacts (these plant-animal hybrids) and absorb their corruption straight into herself
- Her hair is literally a living vine because of this curse, and that design choice bleeds into how she moves around and fights
- She's got Koo with her, a dog companion, and their relationship is central to everything
- The world still has warmth and trust mixed in with all the loneliness and decay
- Game Freak's blending of fast action with strategic menu commands in a way that looks similar to Final Fantasy VII Remake's system
- Emma and Koo each have separate skill trees that you unlock as you progress
- Their bond levels up as you play, which opens more abilities, and what one does affects what the other can pull off
- When you build enough energy during fights, you can pop open a menu that slows time and fire off Koo's special attacks
- Parrying is huge here because nailing the timing lets you stack buffs through Spirit Stones, which rewards players who can execute clean defensive plays
- This game's atmosphere is giving serious NieR energy with the haunting soundtrack and the whole nature-reclaims-everything aesthetic
- The Golems wandering around as broken shells of uploaded human consciousness add to that melancholic sci-fi feel
- Verdant environments contrast with the apocalyptic backdrop as Emma and Koo push through their journey
- The goal is to take down the Beast of Reincarnation itself, which seems to be the big bad driving the plot
- Beast of Reincarnation launches this summer on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S everywhere at once
- Game Freak's clearly putting serious effort into making Emma's story land, and based on what they've shown, this one's worth watching
