I used to be not sure what to make of Reynatis for the primary few hours. It throws quite a lot of attention-grabbing mechanics at you however concurrently adopts a linear pacing and environmental construction that you’d anticipate to see within the PlayStation 2 period. After I reached the midway level, I grew to become invested in Reynatis and began actually having fun with my time with the sport. Nevertheless, it undoubtedly has flaws and a few notable graphical points on the Swap, which will probably be a dealbreaker for some gamers.
Kazushige Nojima, who has been concerned in Kingdom Hearts and the Last Fantasy franchise, is the situation author for Reynatis. And oh boy, it exhibits because the story right here is stellar. Whereas enjoying, I couldn’t assist however suppose that Reynatis will need to have gotten inspiration from the cancelled Last Fantasy Versus XIII sport (which Kazushige Nojima was the situation author for) as a result of there are some uncanny parallels right here, which we’ll get into later.
Reynatis is about in a world the place magic is outlawed, and its use is strictly prohibited. Wizards conceal their powers from the general public, and a night-time curfew is enforced to take care of regulation and order in Shibuya. There may be additionally an unlawful drug circulating known as rubrum, and anybody who consumes it’s going to finally flip right into a hideous monster.
In some bizarre methods, the plot seems like a weird amalgamation of Kingdom Hearts meets Tokyo Ghoul. That assertion is likely to be polarizing to some folks, however these two themes unusually work collectively. On the one hand, you will have overpowered warriors wielding magical weapons, venturing by means of portals to different dimensions. The opposite explores darkish supernatural themes, because the city metropolis is troubled by grotesque half-human creatures, with beliefs and philosophies always being challenged.
For the primary half of the sport, the story bounces forwards and backwards between two characters, Marin and Sari, who’ve contrasting ideological beliefs relating to how magic ought to be handled and carried out. The story-pacing is a bit inflexible, primarily as a result of it often adjustments between each protagonists. One time, I performed as one of many characters for lower than 25 minutes earlier than it jumped again into the opposite character’s perspective. I actually wished it stayed with one character longer. However as you would possibly anticipate, their paths finally intertwine, they usually be part of up as one large group, and that’s when the sport begins to flourish.
For wizards to hide their id, they enter a suppressed type, which, for some cause, means placing some hat or hood over their heads. If you’re on this type, residents of Shibuya will assume you’re a member of most people and can ignore you when you stroll round. Nevertheless, you may as well enter a liberated type, which exhibits your true magical prowess in full swing. If residents see you, you’ll begin trending on social media, and in the event you attain the primary spot, the M.E.A. officers will hunt you down except you go to a secure spot to decrease the eye drawn to you. Consider it just like the GTA needed system.
Not solely that, however the stress of trending on social media will put stress on you, giving buffs and debuffs if you’re in fight. To start with, this stress system would possibly seem to be a giant balancing act, and to an extent, it’s, however its goal is to offer gamers choices on how they wish to play. You may play it secure by retaining your stress low and having many defence perks, or you’ll be able to amp up the stress ranges to strengthen your assaults however be extra weak to offensive blows.
Reynatis, on floor worth, appears to harbor a typical hack-and-slash fight system, like Kingdom Hearts, but it surely adopts a novel mechanic that spices up the combating and revolves round always altering and adapting your playstyle. You may solely unleash assaults if you’re liberated, however being on this type will slowly deplete your MP. In distinction, in the event you’re in a suppressed state, MP will slowly replenish, however that is the one time you’ll be able to dodge assaults, which builds up your MP bar at a considerable price. Basically, the liberated state is offensive, whereas the suppressed state is defensive. It’s an thrilling system to play, however it’s going to take a number of hours earlier than you begin switching between states seamlessly.
On the finish of the skirmish, you might be ranked out of 5 stars, which can decide the variety of expertise factors you’ll get from that battle, which is predicated on numerous components like what number of occasions you modified characters, the quantity MP absorbed and performing sure strikes. This encourages you to alter the best way you’re combating always. It’s reasonably enjoyable to attempt to goal to get increased star scores, and the fight problem by no means will get too loopy that you simply really feel like these elements hinder you.
Now, the individuals who by no means bought over the cancellation of Last Fantasy Versus XIII will discover that the fight system in Reynatis seems to have quite a lot of similarities. The primary putting one is the principle character. Marin’s ultimate menace assault is an animation of swords floating within the sky earlier than all of them fly in the direction of the enemy, much like Noctis within the Last Fantasy Versus XIII trailer. There was additionally a giant emphasis on dodging incoming assaults again within the trailer, which is current in Reynatis. The ambiance of the fights feels very alike, and I discover it arduous to consider that Reynatis didn’t get some inspiration from Last Fantasy Versus XIII.
Though this isn’t the one sport which has clearly impressed Reynatis, as if you attain simply over midway by means of the sport, you’ll come throughout a cross-over-event with The World Ends with You, the place you’ll stumble upon Rindo and Shoka in an alternate Shibuya. With out giving an excessive amount of away, this aspect mission diversion is tremendous pleasant, and any fan of the franchise will get giddy from seeing this inclusion. It even has a boss battle featured in NEO: The World Ends with You.
The environmental construction in Reynatis is value highlighting. Let’s begin with the positives. Shibuya is phenomenal and completely captures the nightlife of the hustling city streets of Japan. However the best way the streets are designed is small and extremely cramped. At first, I believed this might need been intentional in capturing Shibuya’s real-life temper. Nevertheless, at particular factors within the sport, you journey to totally different dimensions, which act as dungeons, however their paths are even narrower, and to make issues worse, the environmental backdrops are mediocre at finest. All these flaws create an expertise that mimics what you’d discover in a PlayStation 2 RPG, which some are sure to adore and others will detest. For probably the most half, I preferred many of those elements, however I want the areas you transported to had extra life to them.
The aesthetics are one other facet that is likely to be hit and miss for folks. The whole angle and ambiance embodies an edgy persona from begin to end. That is to match the gritty and sombre tone of the plot, which it succeeds at. A number of the outfits are extremely detailed and actually give off futuristic city road vibes. However the characters would look unpolished in cutscenes and in-game. I additionally noticed what I consider could also be a mannequin situation with the character known as Moa. Her hair would shake throughout cutscenes, which might be a bit off-putting.
I’ve been enjoying Reynatis on the Swap, so I can’t touch upon different techniques, however there are a number of points. Firstly, the sport crashed on me a number of occasions, which was annoying, however fortunately, there may be an auto-save system, so I by no means misplaced an excessive amount of progress. The primary situation was the digicam angle, which in among the cramped environments is simply pure unhealthy. If I have been enjoying in handheld mode on the Swap, this may be even worse, and typically I wouldn’t even be capable to see the character performing their transfer, so I at all times stayed enjoying on the dock. To its advantage, the loading occasions have been wonderful and sooner than I anticipated on the Swap.
Reynatis is the pineapple on pizza of RPG’s this yr. Some will love that Reynatis tries to implement numerous ideas whereas trying to maintain the magic that made among the basic titles on the PlayStation 2 so famend. Others will really feel this kind of RPG is an enormous step backwards for the style. Personally, I preferred Reynatis, however the efficiency points held again the expertise for me.
Reynatis will come to the PS4, PS5, Swap, and PC in North America and Europe on September 27, 2024, after which in Australia on October 4, 2024.
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Reynatis
Fantasy meets actuality in Shibuya, Tokyo, the place magic is one thing to be feared. On this motion RPG, a younger wizard seeks freedom by means of energy, and an officer seeks to regulate magic and restore order. When their paths cross, a darkness that can remodel the world descends.
Reynatis implements quite a lot of attention-grabbing mechanics, however efficiency points maintain it again from reaching the higher echelons of the style.
Meals for Thought
- Reynatis retains the spirt of the PlayStation 2 JRPG alive.
- It seems like an unapologetic little slice of what Last Fantasy Versus XIII may have been.
- This sport is for Kingdom Hearts followers.
