Reynatis's combat feels like nothing else in the genre

We only had a very brief chance to take a look at Reynatis at NIS America's booth during Anime Expo, yet the game is already leaving a strong first impression - thanks to a fascinating combat system, which feels unlike anything else I've played - even if we've got a lot left to see, when the game will launch later this year.

Reynatis' gameplay revolves around the player character's two main states; Suppressed and Liberated. You can only attack while in Liberated state, but this comes with a caveat - a character's MP will drain the longer they stay Liberated, and special attacks drain the MP faster. Pressing the left bumper, you can switch between Liberated and Suppressed state. While you'll be unable to attack while Suppressed, you gain access to the ability to dodge enemy attacks to regain MP. 

When attacked while in Suppressed state, you're prompted to hold down the dodge button to fill up a symbol, and then release it to deal extra damage, regain MP, and switch to Liberated immediately. While it's not entirely necessary to do so, players can manually force themselves into Suppressed state before an enemy attacks to take advantage of the counter; it's not especially challenging to pull off this parry maneuver, though it still feels satisfying without negatively impacting the battle's tempo.

While I say the combat is simple; it's worth considering that the demo takes place during a very early place in the game, and while in the full release players will be able to switch between up to 3 different playable characters at will, we only ever had the chance to switch between two - and for only one battle, to make matters even more difficult to judge. That being said, even during the early stages the game's combat felt engaging - and since different characters have their own MP pools, I could imagine switching between them at will, depending on their available MP.

Visually, the game is looking pretty good. We played it on PlayStation 5, which was certainly smoother than the Nintendo Switch version running nearby - though it looked quite impressive for the handheld. We were told that the Switch version would run at 30 FPS, while the PlayStation 5 release targets 60 FPS with an increase in fidelity.

As for everything else; we'll have to wait and see. The LACC Entertainment Hall was far too loud to have any commentary for the soundtrack at this time, and the length and focus of the demo meant it would be difficult to have anything to say about the game's story, too. We didn't get a chance to take a look at any of the game's The World Ends With You collaboration, either. Yet, if your concern with the game was for its combat - I can say it's off to a promising start. We'll have to see what the full game brings to the table when it launches on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and PC on September 27.