Do not adjust your screen. This is indeed from the PS5.
You ever watch one of those movies? The ones where it’s obvious that the producers ran out of money halfway through filming, so they had to struggle to finish the project on a shoe-string budget? They hope against all hope that most people won’t notice.
“We’ll fix it in post,” they cry.
That was the feeling I got from Reynatis after having finished it. I wanted to like it, but there was so much that felt not only unfinished, but also poorly planned. It had engaging world-building and a satisfying combat system, but a couple of bright spots cannot cover up for the obvious hiccups that this game has.
What Is It?
Everything in this game is in permanent twilight.
The world of Reynatis is essentially ours, but with one key difference: magic is real. Not only is it real, it is very dangerous. Those who are able to wield it (called ‘wizards’ and ‘witches’) can cause quite a bit of damage and can amass an enormous amount of power for themselves. For this reason, in many places, magic is strictly regulated.
In Reynatis, there are three types of people who can wield magic: Legacies (aka ‘Purebloods’), the ‘Damned’, and ‘Replicas’. The player takes the role(s) of the latter: individuals who experienced a near-death experience and came back with magical powers. In the city of Shibuya (where most of the game takes place), magic users are essentially divided into two primary factions: the government-sponsored Magical Enforcement Agency (M.E.A.), a police force that attempts to either recruit magic users into their ranks (or harshly represses them). The other is The Guild, a wizard terrorist group that claims to fight for the rights of magic users (they are largely run by Harry Potter-looking Legacies). Those who do not align with either faction are called ‘Strays’.
You play as a both the MEA officer Sari Nijishima, and the Stray magic user Marin Kirizumi. The former has a personal vendetta against the dealers of a highly addictive drug called Rubrum (it’s effects allow temporary magical powers, but abusers eventually mutate into the previous mentioned Damned). The latter only wants to get stronger and fulfill his father’s goal of reaching Dominus (a figure who supposedly is the source of all magic). But of course, all of this spirals into conspiracies within conspiracies involving powerful wizards and the order they wish to impose upon the world.
Why Should I Care?
If nothing else, the combat is visually stunning.
If you’re into old-school PS2-style action gameplay, you might actually like this one. In spite of all the issues I had with this title (and believe me, we’ll get there), the one thing I did find satisfying was the combat.
In fact, if you’re a fan of Kingdom Hearts (like me), you’ll find quite a bit that’s heavily similar (though with some major differences). You have the standard attack, of course. You also have several different skills that you can equip (akin to magic attacks) that can be anything from projectiles to environmental attacks, and a major super attack that can only be unleashed once you’ve managed to string together enough hits.
Where Reynatis differs, however, is its ‘Liberation’ system: because magic is technically illegal, wizards that are not government sanctioned have to take measures to hide their abilities. When combat begins, a slowly draining magic meter keeps track of how long you can continue to use your magic attacks before needing to recharge. When recharging, the ‘magic circle’ feature comes into play: if an enemy attacks with a melee attack, a red magic circle appears that must be charged up. If the player charges up the circle (involving holding down a button) and then lets go of the button at the right time, then the player will successfully drain magic from their enemy. Do this enough, and the magic meter will be completely filled, resulting in a temporary time-slowing effect that will allow you to get several free hits in.
Finally, unlike Kingdom Hearts, you are not restricted to playing one character. Both protagonists have their own personal parties, and each party member have certain specialties: some party members are bruisers who move slow but whose attacks pack an armor breaking punch, while others are faster or focus on projectile attacks. Enemy types eventually become so varied that every single member will find extensive use, from flying jellyfish monsters to armored titans.
As I mentioned previously, most of the game takes place in and around Shibuya (or at least this universe’s version of Shibuya). Common Shibuya sights such as the 109 department store, the statue of Hachiko (though a crow instead of a dog), and the Scramble Crossing are all here. There’s also an alternate realm called Another that the player will occasionally encounter through various gates, but it largely consists of vast forests and the occasional ruin. The one major exception here is that the city is run by The Guild, which again has a very ‘Wizarding World’ vibe to its design and architecture.
What Makes It Worth My Time and Money?
Somehow, this game even makes Shibuya look dull and lifeless.
Like I said: I really wanted to like this game. I really did.
But the problems with this game are numerous, so much so that the actually good parts are completely bogged down by the bad. Not only are the graphics stiff and primitive, but the actual gameplay is extremely repetitive.
Let’s start with the graphics: the character models, although well designed, do not emote. At all. No smiles, no frowns, nothing. They barely even blink. Even when a character is giving a heart-breaking monologue where the VA is obviously putting effort into their performances, there is still no emotion. It’s so uncanny that they almost look like bunraku puppets (and that’s an insult to bunraku puppets because even they emote more than these models!).
That’s bad enough, but it’s even further hampered by incredibly repetitive gameplay. Outside of the main quest, there are several side quests that can be attempted for extra money and leveling up… but they almost without fail involve the same order of events: go to location, talk to person, go to another location, beat up enemies, report back. That’s it. On occasion you’ll encounter side quests that involve object searches, but those are either painfully obvious to solve or infuriatingly difficult (all depending on whether or not the game deems it necessary to actually point them out). Even the main quest isn’t safe from this kind of mundanity: more than once I found myself having to go to a certain location to move the plot forward, only then needing to then turn around and then go to yet another location (which sometimes was the one I had just left) to actually start the next objective.
Perhaps the single most egregious graphical issue I encountered in this game has to do with a crossover mission involving yet another Urban Fantasy franchise based in Shibuya (Neo: The World Ends With You). That one involved meeting the two main protagonists of that title, original character models and all…and lemme tell you, they stick out like sore thumbs (even by this game’s standards).
Honestly, so much of this game reminds me of B-tier games from the PS2 era, both graphically and gameplay-wise. The only problem is that we’re no longer in that generation, and games have drastically evolved since then. In fact, I doubt this would have been well received even back then, as there were already other games (again, Kingdom Hearts) that did it drastically better.
Sadly, not even quality world-building and a solid soundtrack can save this one. It tries to tell a semi-serious story about what a world of wizards and witches would actually look like, except the world is shows is as wooden as its frequent excursions into the woods.
You ever watch one of those movies? The ones where it’s obvious that the producers ran out of money halfway through filming, so they had to struggle to finish the project on a shoe-string budget? They hope against all hope…
Do not adjust your screen. This is indeed from the PS5.
You ever watch one of those movies? The ones where it’s obvious that the producers ran out of money halfway through filming, so they had to struggle to finish the project on a shoe-string budget? They hope against all hope that most people won’t notice.
“We’ll fix it in post,” they cry.
That was the feeling I got from Reynatis after having finished it. I wanted to like it, but there was so much that felt not only unfinished, but also poorly planned. It had engaging world-building and a satisfying combat system, but a couple of bright spots cannot cover up for the obvious hiccups that this game has.
What Is It?
Everything in this game is in permanent twilight.
The world of Reynatis is essentially ours, but with one key difference: magic is real. Not only is it real, it is very dangerous. Those who are able to wield it (called ‘wizards’ and ‘witches’) can cause quite a bit of damage and can amass an enormous amount of power for themselves. For this reason, in many places, magic is strictly regulated.
In Reynatis, there are three types of people who can wield magic: Legacies (aka ‘Purebloods’), the ‘Damned’, and ‘Replicas’. The player takes the role(s) of the latter: individuals who experienced a near-death experience and came back with magical powers. In the city of Shibuya (where most of the game takes place), magic users are essentially divided into two primary factions: the government-sponsored Magical Enforcement Agency (M.E.A.), a police force that attempts to either recruit magic users into their ranks (or harshly represses them). The other is The Guild, a wizard terrorist group that claims to fight for the rights of magic users (they are largely run by Harry Potter-looking Legacies). Those who do not align with either faction are called ‘Strays’.
You play as a both the MEA officer Sari Nijishima, and the Stray magic user Marin Kirizumi. The former has a personal vendetta against the dealers of a highly addictive drug called Rubrum (it’s effects allow temporary magical powers, but abusers eventually mutate into the previous mentioned Damned). The latter only wants to get stronger and fulfill his father’s goal of reaching Dominus (a figure who supposedly is the source of all magic). But of course, all of this spirals into conspiracies within conspiracies involving powerful wizards and the order they wish to impose upon the world.
Why Should I Care?
If nothing else, the combat is visually stunning.
If you’re into old-school PS2-style action gameplay, you might actually like this one. In spite of all the issues I had with this title (and believe me, we’ll get there), the one thing I did find satisfying was the combat.
In fact, if you’re a fan of Kingdom Hearts (like me), you’ll find quite a bit that’s heavily similar (though with some major differences). You have the standard attack, of course. You also have several different skills that you can equip (akin to magic attacks) that can be anything from projectiles to environmental attacks, and a major super attack that can only be unleashed once you’ve managed to string together enough hits.
Where Reynatis differs, however, is its ‘Liberation’ system: because magic is technically illegal, wizards that are not government sanctioned have to take measures to hide their abilities. When combat begins, a slowly draining magic meter keeps track of how long you can continue to use your magic attacks before needing to recharge. When recharging, the ‘magic circle’ feature comes into play: if an enemy attacks with a melee attack, a red magic circle appears that must be charged up. If the player charges up the circle (involving holding down a button) and then lets go of the button at the right time, then the player will successfully drain magic from their enemy. Do this enough, and the magic meter will be completely filled, resulting in a temporary time-slowing effect that will allow you to get several free hits in.
Finally, unlike Kingdom Hearts, you are not restricted to playing one character. Both protagonists have their own personal parties, and each party member have certain specialties: some party members are bruisers who move slow but whose attacks pack an armor breaking punch, while others are faster or focus on projectile attacks. Enemy types eventually become so varied that every single member will find extensive use, from flying jellyfish monsters to armored titans.
As I mentioned previously, most of the game takes place in and around Shibuya (or at least this universe’s version of Shibuya). Common Shibuya sights such as the 109 department store, the statue of Hachiko (though a crow instead of a dog), and the Scramble Crossing are all here. There’s also an alternate realm called Another that the player will occasionally encounter through various gates, but it largely consists of vast forests and the occasional ruin. The one major exception here is that the city is run by The Guild, which again has a very ‘Wizarding World’ vibe to its design and architecture.
What Makes It Worth My Time and Money?
Somehow, this game even makes Shibuya look dull and lifeless.
Like I said: I really wanted to like this game. I really did.
But the problems with this game are numerous, so much so that the actually good parts are completely bogged down by the bad. Not only are the graphics stiff and primitive, but the actual gameplay is extremely repetitive.
Let’s start with the graphics: the character models, although well designed, do not emote. At all. No smiles, no frowns, nothing. They barely even blink. Even when a character is giving a heart-breaking monologue where the VA is obviously putting effort into their performances, there is still no emotion. It’s so uncanny that they almost look like bunraku puppets (and that’s an insult to bunraku puppets because even they emote more than these models!).
That’s bad enough, but it’s even further hampered by incredibly repetitive gameplay. Outside of the main quest, there are several side quests that can be attempted for extra money and leveling up… but they almost without fail involve the same order of events: go to location, talk to person, go to another location, beat up enemies, report back. That’s it. On occasion you’ll encounter side quests that involve object searches, but those are either painfully obvious to solve or infuriatingly difficult (all depending on whether or not the game deems it necessary to actually point them out). Even the main quest isn’t safe from this kind of mundanity: more than once I found myself having to go to a certain location to move the plot forward, only then needing to then turn around and then go to yet another location (which sometimes was the one I had just left) to actually start the next objective.
Perhaps the single most egregious graphical issue I encountered in this game has to do with a crossover mission involving yet another Urban Fantasy franchise based in Shibuya (Neo: The World Ends With You). That one involved meeting the two main protagonists of that title, original character models and all…and lemme tell you, they stick out like sore thumbs (even by this game’s standards).
Honestly, so much of this game reminds me of B-tier games from the PS2 era, both graphically and gameplay-wise. The only problem is that we’re no longer in that generation, and games have drastically evolved since then. In fact, I doubt this would have been well received even back then, as there were already other games (again, Kingdom Hearts) that did it drastically better.
Sadly, not even quality world-building and a solid soundtrack can save this one. It tries to tell a semi-serious story about what a world of wizards and witches would actually look like, except the world is shows is as wooden as its frequent excursions into the woods.
by Brandon Perkins
