The Pokémon Studio Tries Something New

“I have never seen such critical consensus of mediocrity, maybe in my entire career covering video games,” Griffin McElroy says about Beast of Reincarnation, the new triple-A action RPG from Game Freak — the studio best known for Pokémon, but also for the beloved Pocket Card Jockey and Drill Dozer. The game is a fast-paced, lightly soulslike action RPG in the vein of Nier Automata or Stellar Blade, but the hosts of The Besties found it doing a ton of things okay rather than a few things well. The episode uses this disappointment as a springboard to explore what makes a game click, touching on pacing, difficulty, upgrade systems, and the strange state of mobile and handheld gaming.

The Curious Case of Beast of Reincarnation

Ron Funches, an honorary Bestie, summarizes the game succinctly: “If you want to play a game that you go, ‘Huh, I actually have better versions of this sitting on my computer right now,’ this is the game for you.” Set in a post-apocalyptic fantasy world where plants have mutated everything, you play as a cursed person with vine-hair that functions as a grappling hook, accompanied by a wolf companion. The story involves blighted deer-monsters, robots that are sometimes friendly, and a shower mechanic where you wash blood off your wolf while remaining fully clothed — a subversion the hosts found genuinely delightful.