Reynatis Preview - Shibuya Showdown

Reynatis is an action RPG set in Japan, mostly around Shibuya, which is faithfully recreated to stunning detail. Even knowing this, I did a double-take when I found out Burger King was in this game.

Burger King being in Reynatis is completely inconsequential to the plot or gameplay, but I can't get over cool that is. The main thing here is, there's a lot of Shibuya to see in Reynatis, and that's what impressed me most with an otherwise adequate action title.

Developed by Furyu Corporation and published by NIS America, Reynatis is coming out later this month, and we had a chance to play it at PAX West 2024. While the aesthetic of Shibuya and Reynatis' characters are appealing to look at, gameplay didn't quite hit the mark.

Wizards, Shibuya, Oh My! Reynatis' World is Intriguing

In a world where magic is controlled by an oppressive government, being a wizard is dangerous, especially if you're not a part of the regime. Sorcery and modern times collide in Reynatis, not unlike, say, Jujutsu Kaisen.

Something about magic colliding with a high tech, bustling city is super fun as a concept, and Reynatis nails that. Developer Furyu Corporation worked with hundreds of real-life shops in Shibuya in order to create the most authentic feeling city possible.

This creates an immersive environment through which the story takes place. How the city plays a role in Reynatis is still up in the air, but to put so much effort into creating iconic buildings like Shibuya 109 and, well, Burger King, I'm sure players such as myself will greatly appreciate that attention to detail.

And while graphically, it's not the most advanced game I've seen, it has a very appealing aesthetic that balances realistic with anime. It's a lot like Astral Chain, a game with stunning colors and oozing with style, but is limited by the Switch's hardware.

Reynatis' Combat Conundrum

And like Astral Chain, this is a flashy, game with tons of action thrown into the mix. As a user of Wizarts, you can shift into Liberated mode -- this outfits you with magical weapons and some wicked new attire. Combat takes place in these rifts found across Shibuya -- which seem like some sort of alternate dimension -- and also in the streets themselves.

Rifts comprise linear fights against monsters, and battles are fren, though pretty derivative, amounting to mostly button mashing with a few special abilities thrown into the mix. Reynatis is fun in Liberated mode, if anything because you feel like a powerful badass. It's when you expend all that magical energy, things slow down a bit

Using up your magic in Liberated mode shifts players back into their normal, everyday clothes -- this is called Suppressed mode. You can't attack while Suppressed and have to dodge attacks with a certain precision to restore energy.

Suppressed mode in Reynatis feels a bit like whiplash -- you have this super fast, flashy combat that suddenly shifts into something much slower. Having this handicap hindered my enjoyment overall, and since it's such a pivotal part of the gameplay, I'm not sure if much will change.

There will be multiple party members with various abilities in Reynatis, so I'm hoping things feel a bit better once players get a full party. The demo didn't give a super clear look at how this works, but I was able to play characters with various weapons, from guns to swords.

I'm a bit lukewarm on Reynatis. Sure, the world is beautiful, but the combat didn't satisfy me as much as I'd hoped. The lore, with magic being controlled and illegal street sorcerers evading the law, holds a lot of promise. Hey, if anything, at least Reynatis has Burger King.

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Reynatis was previewed during PAX West 2024.