Reynatis Review – A Fun Final Fantasy Inspired Game With Some Flaws

I consider myself a JRPG connoisseur of sorts. I love Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, and Xenoblade Chronicles, among many other series, and I can appreciate even the ugliest of games if they have heart (I’m looking at you, original Final Fantasy 7). So learning this Reynatis has an absolutely powerful developer team behind it, my interest was naturally piqued.

The script is by Kazushige Nojima, who you may know as the writer of Final Fantasy 7, 8, 10, and 10-2, as well as the Kingdom Hearts series. It features music by Yoko Shimomura, the talent behind the melodies of Kingdom Hearts who also worked on Xenoblade Chronicles. There’s also the passionate producer, Takumi, who raved about the game during our interview with Reynatis. Given that, it’s bound to be an impressive game, right?

Okay, maybe I set my expectations a little too high, but that doesn’t mean the game isn’t enjoyable. Let’s start at the beginning, shall we? Reynatis follows two protagonists, Marin Kirizumi, a sorcerer who seeks to free himself from oppression by becoming the strongest, and Sari Nishijima, a law officer who wants an orderly world where there are rules surrounding the use of magic. The game alternates between these two characters in separate chapters, allowing you to see their stories unfold separately before they meet and their paths intertwine.

As the story of these two unique wizards unfolds, you learn more about each character’s motivations and encounter twists and turns around every corner of Shibuya, Tokyo. It can be a little cheesy at times, but the best JRPGs usually are, so I’ll leave the rest for you to discover if you decide Reynatis is the game for you.

The gameplay is intriguing. It’s interesting to see things play out from different perspectives and with two characters with such opposing motivations. When playing as Kirizumi, you have to be much more careful than Nishijima, as he is an illegal sorcerer who, if caught on the street without repressing his magic, risks being captured by the police after the general public posts his use of sorcerers on social media.

This is a unique aspect of the game that makes exploring the city a bit more tense. Do you want to avoid a street fight to escape the law, or do you want to pick up some extra XP but risk getting caught by the police? I usually choose to rush headlong into battle after securing an easy route to a safe location that lowers your wanted level and lets you continue as you were.

Playing as Kirizumi, you’ll also be able to enter mysterious misty portals that lead to forests and other natural areas. These are very different from the city the game takes place in, and usually house difficult bosses to face.

On the other side of the coin is Nishijima, a very strict woman. As an agent of the law, she can freely use her witch powers in the city without fear. You spend most of the early chapters with Nishijima eliminating those addicted to a deadly magical object called Rubrum and making sure that illegal sorcerers don’t cause trouble.

As you explore the two protagonists, you’re thrown into a lot of battles, so combat is a pretty big part of the game. Unfortunately, I didn’t get along with it at all. Combat is mostly focused on a slightly unintuitive dodge system that restores your MP, and attacks that use way more MP than I think is necessary. This means you can get a few attacks in before you’re forced to bother trying to regain MP so you can start dealing damage again.

To highlight how unintuitive the combat seems, after my first playthrough I stopped for a day or two, and when I came back I found the combat so confusing that I had to venture deep into various menus to replay the tutorial. I’ve never had to do this in a game before and found it quite off-putting.

There’s also an incredibly infuriating issue with the camera angles during tight-space fights, where she’ll quickly fly over you, not focusing on anything, so your only option is to wildly mash buttons or try to dodge back to the center of the area. Despite this, I often got four-star ratings in the fights, so it doesn’t really seem to matter much how bad you feel in the game.

Then there are the graphics. Despite the gorgeous concept art, Reynatis looks like a PS3 game. What I find particularly jarring is that all the women look eerily similar, with uncanny valley looks and big lips. It’s a shame, because the character introductions on the official website are incredible and make me wish the game could live up to those heights.

However, despite the slightly odd character appearance, we’re presented with an incredibly convincing version of Shibuya, Tokyo, with gorgeous neon lights, bustling streets, and even one of my favorite ramen restaurants making an appearance. If the characters had just a little more polish, I’d say the game has a good atmosphere and looks great, but with such a disparity between the two, it’s a bit disappointing.

The only downside to exploring the beautiful Shibuya is the horrendous frame rate when running around town. When moving between areas, the stuttering on Nintendo Switch is immense. Surprisingly, I didn’t notice it too much during quick fights, but the city lights and cars speeding by seemed to be more than my OLED could handle. This might not be as big of an issue on PS5, so I recommend trying the demo on that console if you can before making a purchase decision. I should also point out that I did experience the game crashing once when entering a boss battle.

Okay, I think I’ve been pretty harsh so far, but Reynatis isn’t all that bad. Despite some slightly wonky aspects, there’s some good stuff too. I like that you can talk to most people walking around Shibuya and also engage in text conversations with your party, which allows you to learn more about the world and get closer to your team.

Then there’s the gorgeous soundtrack that follows you throughout the game. That classic Shimomura vibe is present with tense, pressure-filled moments as well as soothing interludes. You’re sure to be humming the tunes for days after you’re done playing.

I enjoyed my time with Reynatis, but unfortunately, it didn’t excite me like some other JRPGs I’ve played. If you want to try it out, I recommend playing the demo on PS5 first to see if the gameplay suits you and to check out how the frame rate behaves on a next-gen console.

If you’re interested in trying out similar titles, check out our guides filled with the best Final Fantasy games and the best Switch RPGs.