Reynatis

REYNATIS is an excellent magical adventure set in the mean streets of Shibuya. With great use of its simple yet awesome gameplay mechanics, it’s definitely worth your time, but be prepared to deal with less-than-stellar design choices.

Once in a while, a game releases that's hard to pin down and REYNATIS is one unconventional action RPG that can be quite enjoyable.

Fantasy meets reality in Shibuya, Tokyo, where magic is something to be feared. In this action RPG, a young wizard seeks freedom through strength, and an officer seeks to control magic and restore order. When their paths cross, a darkness that will transform the world descends.

REYNATIS is a great action RPG that interprets the themes of a "fantasy based in reality" in an intriguing setting: Shibuya with a bustling underground of wizards. From the perspective of protagonists Marin and Sari, players may unleash their magic with unique Wizart abilities and explore another world that runs in parallel with their own. Despite some of the game's limitations and flawed execution in various areas, it delivers a compelling story without overstaying its welcome.

Reynatis is close to a master at one trade, with its unique and refreshing combat system. But there’s too many other pieces that drag the overall presentation down, especially with its outdated graphics, poor Switch performance, awkward camera angles, and high price tag. However, even through all its minor to glaring flaws, and believe me there are many, it's an adventure I find myself looking fondly back on the things it does well.

REYNATIS has an interesting story, beautiful world, and enjoyable combat, but is held back by its characters and overall presentation. But it is great on the Steam Deck!

While it's a solid and enjoyable game in its own right, Reynatis suffers from being unable to visually stand out. Animations in combat and cutscenes are sometimes stiff and robotic or even overtuned to the point where they look outright silly for what they're trying to accomplish. What the game does well at times is the combat itself; switching between stances on multiple characters to deal damage and regenerate Mana to go back to dealing damage is unique in action games. It's the execution and lack of change in how that combat evolves during your journey in the game that holds it back. What w...

This one's for the shorter games with worse graphics crowd.

Reynatis is obviously made by a small team with a lot of passion for the world and concept, but the game’s disparate ideas simply don’t come together into a truly cohesive package. There’s greatness hidden in Reynatis and even bits that I truly loved, like the text conversations, but it all comes with some caveats. I don’t regret the time I spent with Reynatis, and think there could be the spark of something truly interesting if it gets a sequel. But for now, it feels a bit like RPG junk food, satisfying in some ways, but leaving you wanting more.

Reynatis takes inspiration from Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy, but results in a messy & forgettable experience.

While I cannot call Reynatis my favourite game of 2024, it’s an enjoyable experience with some small issues that shouldn’t keep you from considering playing it. I was never turned completely off by a lack of progress, and the game is lenient enough so that just because you haven’t mastered the mechanics or encounter something annoying, there’s no reasonable way around it. It did crash quite a few times, but I never lost too much progress as it does autosave frequently. Even more prescient is FuRyu and Natsume Atari’s decision to actually make this game, and what’s next for them, considering th...

Action RPG Reynatis provides some interesting narrative and gameplay ideas. Unfortunately, its execution of those ideas does not make for a magical product.