Game Freak steps away from Pokémon with a grim Soulslike — and it's not what you expect

Game Freak, the studio best known for the Pokémon series, has released a major action/RPG titled Beast of Reincarnation. Set in a post-apocalyptic Japan, the game features sword combat, parrying mechanics, and challenging bosses. This is the studio's first project of such scale and genre, and notably, it was published not by Nintendo but by Fictions, a company with no ties to Pokémon.

Beast of Reincarnation originated from an internal incubator called Gear Project, where Game Freak employees develop ideas outside the Pokémon franchise. Work on the project, initially known as Project Bloom, began around 2020. The team was led by Kota Furushima, who had previously only worked on Pokémon games and was responsible for the combat system, user interface, and sound design.

Game Freak openly admitted that it could not achieve AAA quality on its own. As a result, development followed a hybrid model: a small internal team set the direction, while the bulk of the work was outsourced to external partner studios. The choice of publisher — Fictions, rather than Nintendo — was a deliberate move to distance the game from the studio's usual territory.

As soon as the first materials appeared, the game was quickly labeled a "Soulslike from the creators of Pokémon." The post-apocalyptic Japanese setting, sword combat, parrying, and demanding bosses all fit the Soulslike mold. The marketing campaign played into these expectations, but the label attracted attention without revealing what the game truly is.

The story of Beast of Reincarnation takes place in Japan, where players control the heroine Emma and her companion Ku. The full review is available in the original source.