Beast of Reincarnation Surprised Me | Hands-On Preview

I played nearly two hours of Beast of Reincarnation, Game Freak’s ambitious new action RPG, and came away feeling like I had only scratched the surface.Beast of Reincarnation combines fast, demanding real-time combat with a more traditional command-based RPG system. You control Emma directly while issuing abilities to her canine companion, Koo, allowing you to attack, apply buffs, weaken enemies and change the pace of battle without completely stopping the action.In this hands-on preview, I break down the combat, progression, world, story setup and what surprised me most about Game Freak’s major departure from Pokémon.Beast of Reincarnation launches August 4, 2026, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. It will also be available through Xbox Game Pass on day one and supports Xbox Play Anywhere.Thanks to Fictions and Game Freak for inviting me to preview the game.