Game Freak, the studio behind Pokemon, released its new action RPG Beast of Reincarnation on PS5, Xbox Series X and PC on August 4, alongside a gameplay trailer detailing the game’s combat system.

The trailer focuses on combat, a colossal boss fight and the game’s skill tree, according to Siliconera. It shows protagonist Emma fighting alongside her companion beast Koo, blending real-time sword attacks and parries with command-based abilities for Koo.

Players can fill a stun gauge to temporarily disable enemies, while successfully parrying incoming attacks avoids damage and builds an FP gauge that lets Koo join in with team attacks and a special move called a Bloom Art.

The game’s director has said the studio’s priority is delivering a quality gameplay experience rather than chasing graphical fidelity, according to TechRadar, though the title still represents a visual step up for Game Freak compared with its Pokemon games.

Early reviews have been mixed but broadly positive. Beast of Reincarnation holds a score of 76 on OpenCritic across 45 critics and 73 on Metacritic, with individual scores ranging from as high as 9.4 out of 10 down to a pair of 5 out of 10 marks. Critics have praised the game’s fast-paced, dual-character parry combat linking Emma and Koo, while story pacing, enemy variety and PC performance issues have divided reviewers.

Beast of Reincarnation is described as a one-person, one-dog action RPG blending real-time and turn-based combat, and it marks Game Freak’s most prominent release outside the Pokemon franchise. The PlayStation 5 version has been reported as the most stable at launch, according to early player and critic reports.

Japanese gaming outlet Famitsu awarded the game 35 out of 40 points in its review, while Vice described it as a blend of NieR and Princess Mononoke in tone and atmosphere. Reviewers have generally agreed the title shows Game Freak stretching creatively well beyond its long-running Pokemon work, even as opinions remain split on its story pacing and enemy variety.