A revelation so surprising came out of the Game Freak team, who are, of course, primarily developers for the Pokémon series: their new game is definitely not another cuddly little “monster collector.” Indeed. Its name is Beast of Reincarnation, and it is an action RPG laid out over a post-apocalyptic Japan. As much as you read. The same team that gave us images of Pikachu and Charizard will now get down and dirty in an atmosphere of dark, gritty, and intense. The coders, obviously, are going nuts.
So what is the game really? Not much has been revealed as of now. What we do know: Beast of Reincarnation is an action RPG that leans heavily on combat and is paired with a world in… uh… destruction. So maybe something less like Pokémon Legends: Arceus and more like Nier Automata? It’s due in 2026, which means we’ll be waiting for quite a long time, but the hype is pretty much through the roof right now.
The public’s response online has been akin to being on a rollercoaster: at one moment it is extremes of excitement and confusion, the next are waves of memes. A segment of players is happy Game Freak is finally branching out from Pokémon creativity. “Can’t imagine how long they’ve wanted to work on a game that wasn’t limited to Nintendo hardware,” one such tweet read. The others? They’re about as unhappy with the studio as you could get. “Why can’t they put this much effort into the Pokémon games???” Here’s a good point.
There have been some memes. “Pokémon Legends ZA looking awesome,” said one, to which another replied: “From catching ‘em all to surviving the end of the world.” And Good Lord, who drunk-talked each other into calling it “The Ghosts of Hiroshima”? But hey, that kind of dark humor has hit the internet like a flood.
But for me, the real question is-this: what does this mean for Pokémon? Game Freak has been under fire for many an year for technical issues with the franchise (cough Scarlet and Violet cough), and now they are embarking on something very, very different. A few fans fear it will divert their attention away from the main series, while others are simply excited to see the studio branching out. One went, “Good for them.” That’s an opinion I hold too.
Unsurprisingly, this has all been brought into the scope of controversy in which Nintendo plays a role. “I blame Nintendo for Pokémon being held back,” another player commented, and it has gone around at least a couple of times already. Whether or not it’s true, Beast of Reincarnation is definitely not your usual Nintendo-style program. And this is what has people talking.
So what’s next? Well, we still have two years until this bad boy drops, and you can bet the internet won’t let us forget about it. Leak-reveal season is on, with speculations and, of course, tons of memes lined up next. But in the meantime? Game Freak has gone ahead and told us that they are more than just Pokémon. And whether you love them or not, that counts for something.
One thing’s for sure, though: Come, the year 2026!
