A good soulslike hits like no other game. From Hollow Knight to Lies of P, the combination of demanding combat and a haunting-yet-gorgeous game world is a winning formula.
But sometimes a game can struggle to find the balance, leaving me masochistically forging on while not quite having fun, like 2025's Hollow Knight Silksong. Lucky for me, then, that Beast of Reincarnation has taken another approach to deliver an action-RPG that challenges without feeling cruel.
(Game) Freak off a leash
Beast of Reincarnation review: "The Pokemon dev knocks it out the park"
As a fan of Pokémon since playing Yellow as a child, I've lamented Game Freak's decline in recent years. Sure it still sells plenty of games, but as someone who hasn't bought Legends: Z-A or Pokopia due to being disappointed by Shield and Violet, I've long-believed the developer could impress again by adding more RPG depth, straying from its usual story beats, and escaping the confines of Nintendo hardware. Beast of Reincarnation delivers precisely that.
Playing on PS5, the lush foliage within Beast of Reincarnation is a far cry from the limited pixels of Pokémon Legends: Arceus - the last Game Freak title I really enjoyed. Large vine-entangled animals suffering from Blight roam the environment, serving up a realistic aesthetic paired with a sprinkling of fantasy, almost as if to demonstrate an alternate reality where the Nintendo's series embraced higher-fidelity graphics. This thought is quickly dashed when I plunge my sword clean into the back of a deer-like creature with lurid red eyes, before clashing with robots in the area.
These mechanical, humanoid enemies feel the most soulslike of all the foes within Beast of Reincarnation. They amble towards you with the grace of Dark Souls' skeletons, similarly pathetic when one-on-one, but a hazard in a pack. Some of them are larger and more capable in a fight, but patience will see you triumph, be it by parrying and dodging as required, or relying on a ranged weapon.
The biggest skill checks are the game's bosses. Often presented as enormous monsters infected by Blight - a corrupting growth that's infecting the world - these encounters can feel borderline Monster Hunter at times, given the immense scale of your opponents and the fact you've got your trusty dog sidekick fighting by your side. Similarly, you can draw parallels to Elden Ring's Elden Beast, or Dark Souls 3's Midra, with the arenas being large, relatively simple spaces designed purely to accommodate the boss housed within, although Beast of Reincarnation's fights feel more engaging and satisfying than the two FromSoftware critters.
Nothing to lose
Beast of Reincarnation bucks the trend by letting you keep your wallet's inventory intact
The soulslikes comparisons are plentiful in Beast of Reincarnation, from its enemy types to the bonfire-esque rest points that let you upgrade your character and refill your healing items. But the key distinction is how little you lose when a fight goes against you.
From progenitor Demon's Souls to spiritual cousin Lies of P, soulslikes usually equate losing a battle with losing your currency, be it souls, ergo or whatever the game uses as a volatile currency. It's an accepted feature of the format to lose more than the encounter offers, but Beast of Reincarnation bucks the trend by letting you keep your wallet's inventory intact. Instead, you wake up with your canine companion at the last checkpoint you activated.
This change is huge for Beast of Reincarnation, as it allows the player to continuously explore and fight without any meaningful downside. No more worry of recovering your souls – just excitement of knowing you can charge right back into the fray.
Naturally you won't want to keep losing fights - at least I don't, unless it's the best boss in Silksong - but if the only drawback to trying is to try again, as you were, then the fear is gone. All that remains is a game to be played, and that's precisely what I come to Game Freak for in the first place.
As for what prompted this defiant stand against the soulslike structure, I honestly can't say. Maybe the developer learned from all the players who resent their dropped money after losing Pokémon battles? Or maybe it simply felt off in the world of Beast of Reincarnation? All I know is this: I don't want to turn Beast of Reincarnation off when I lose.
Check out these games like Elden Ring for a soulslike slaughterfest in another fantasy realm.
