FuRyu is known for taking small developers and linking them up with big names in the industry. The Caligula Effect saw Persona 1 and 2’s main writer Tadashi Satomi taking up the narrative reigns with Aquaria, The Alliance Alive had developer Cattle Call working with Suikoden’s director Yoshitaka Murayama (R.I.P.), and Crystar paired up Gemdrops with one of Key’s notable writers Naoki Hisaya. While their games are often pitched as larger-scale collaborations than they are, the result is usually flawed with a lot of heart. Often, it’s clear that a small development budget is the biggest restraint, while other times, it’s more apparent that the big name on the credits phoned it in. With Reynatis, the writing is handled by Kazushige Nojima—best known for Final Fantasy VII, VIII, X, and more—while the legendary Yoko Shimomura composed the music. So, is Reynatis another game with marquee names held up by flimsy scaffolding, or does it manage to break the FuRyu curse?
The world of Reynatis is centered around Shibuya, Japan. Years prior, a magical event awakened magic users—or Wizards—within the general populace. With rampant magic use at the forefront of crimes, a new police force was built known as the Magic Enforcement Agency. This new breed of cops wield their own magic powers, using them to counter criminals and rogue Wizards. Yet in the background, a group known simply as the Guild wants to break the chains of oppression and let the people freely use magic without fear of retaliation. Players take control of Sari and Marin, two souls on opposing sides of the law who each must navigate the crumbling society to prove their ideals.
Reynatis’ story excels in some areas while falling short in others. As with many FuRyu games, the social commentary is scathing, with one narrative centered around police corruption and an oppressed populace. When playing as Sari, the police force’s poster girl, a malice meter indicates the general hatred the public has for the police. Such distaste is wholly earned, given how the cops act around those they’re meant to serve and protect. Naturally, helping citizens with their woes eases their hatred. However, the same malice meter remains when playing as Marin, the rogue Wizard, and inadvertently equates the oppression by police with the fear of those different than oneself. It would’ve been nice to have a separate meter for people’s general distrust when being around Wizards, but it’s easier to consider it as shared malice.
Many moments in Reynatis’ story are intended to deal a heavy emotional blow, especially with the concept of a drug called Rubrum that gives one a sense of bliss, but repeat use has an increasingly higher chance of corrupting and turning a person into a blood-hungry monster. Early on, one of Sari’s mentors, who she considers a grandfather, becomes corrupt, pushing Rubrum in retaliation to getting passed for promotions due to having no magical ability. What could’ve been a heartfelt, dramatic side story is presented in just a few text boxes and a quick fetch quest. Another instance of strange pacing with a story that should’ve been heavy involves Sari’s newest partner having to put down his best friend who got addicted to Rubrum. To protect his family’s reputation and ensure they’d be blissfully unaware of his drug addiction and oncoming transformation, he requests death at the hands of the only person he trusts. Side stories like these are fantastic in concept and on paper, yet Reynatis’ execution leaves much to be desired.
Reynatis features two protagonists: a police officer with magic abilities known as Sari Nishijima, and a rogue Wizard with a lust for power, Marin Kirizumi. Rather than have the player choose one protagonist at the start, a la Scarlet Nexus, the game takes a route more akin to Yakuza 0 by swapping characters every two chapters. With two protagonists at play—each with their own party—one would think their playstyles might be notably different. Unfortunately, both characters feel largely similar with floaty controls that send the player across to the screen to battle with an invincible nemesis known as the camera. Each character roams Shibuya during the night, yet within alleys and tucked behind corners are small fog gates that lead to other worlds, or simply Another. These worlds, while drastically different from the streets of Shibuya, are quite small and difficult to navigate.
Reynatis features a fairly simple action RPG combat system where each character has a basic attack combo with two unique skills on the face buttons. Said skills can be swapped out for new ones learned along the way, yet signature skills are unique to each character. Once each protagonist gets their full party, swapping to other characters mid-combo or after getting knocked away allows players to mix up their strategy when encountering formidable foes. However, the most unique piece of Reynatis’ combat is the Suppression and Liberation system.
In Suppression mode, the character’s weapon is sheathed and their magic is suppressed. Unsheathing the blade or pressing attack will activate Liberation mode, allowing the player to attack freely. The reasoning for the two modes is mostly thematic, yet when Liberated, the character drains their magic points gradually while also spending said MP on skills. Conversely, when Suppressed, MP regenerates, but the player cannot attack. The most interesting wrinkle of these two systems is the inclusion of a counter system accessible only in Suppression mode. With the character’s magic appearing weakened, one can bait out attacks and counter them with stylish precision to drain MP, often resulting in a full gauge and a flurry of attacks to counter.
The two modes ensure that battles in Reynatis can be fun and flashy, with spectacular moves to juggle enemies and send them flying. The timing for countering in Suppression mode can be difficult, especially after chaining dodges together while narrowly avoiding projectiles. Although the combat can be rewarding when pulling off counters and bursts, it also feels floaty and introduces more issues as the game progresses. When battles unfold in small alleyways, the camera struggles to keep up with faster characters zipping about the battlefield.
At times, Reynatis looks like an early generation PlayStation 4 game, while at others it looks like a remastered PlayStation 2 game. The forest fog gates of Another are primarily corridors with circular battle arenas that feel right at home on the PS2, while the rocky desert land feels befitting of the hardware the game was developed for. Shibuya, while pretty thanks to all the dazzling lights and streetlamp glow, appears incredibly flat. The city is also divided into well over a dozen small maps, ensuring load times split up the action. The character models are serviceable yet pale in comparison to the gorgeous 2D character art that is dripping with personality and charm. However, where the game shows its ugliest face is with the running animations. Each character runs with the same stiff back and lacks a distinguishing kinetic silhouette, ensuring the characters could easily be mistaken for coming from a PlayStation Portable game.
On the audio side, while the name Yoko Shimomura should carry notable weight, the soundtrack doesn’t feel memorable in the slightest. Many of the tracks have the same feeling, with a mixture of guitar, drum, and violin all going simultaneously to drown one another out in a mess that should otherwise be beautiful. Of course, the soundtrack does have its moments where epic scores are allowed time to breathe, and that is where Yoko Shimomura’s talent shines through. However, with the lower mixing, it’s easy for the music to simply get lost in the background of the frantic action rife with burst arts, combat barks, and magic explosions rocking the battlefield. On the other hand, the characters voices are a delight to listen to—most notably the police commander with his incredibly hammy and heavy-handed yakuza boss demeanor focused on drawn-out words with long grunts and sharp breaths.
Most FuRyu games have a caveat people must take before diving in. Almost every title they produce is rife with jank, yet in many cases, that is part of the charm. The Caligula Effect 2 and Crymachina are some of FuRyu’s finest works, yet they are littered with budgetary issues and technical prowess that feel like they came from 2008. Reynatis has its charms but falls short of the aforementioned games while fitting more in line with FuRyu’s other works, Crystar and Monark. The floaty, janky combat is less charming this time around, the commentary feels scathing, but the emotional impact is toothless, and the soundtrack is largely forgettable despite the big name stapled to it. Reynatis looks, plays, sounds, and feels like an HD Remaster of a Vita game that doesn’t exist.
I went into Reynatis with many expectations formed by the previously mentioned Crymachina and The Caligula Effect 2. I expected a jankfest that would narratively punch skyward, seeking to shatter the heavens with razor-sharp words like its predecessors. Instead, the result was middling, and I feel this is due to the dual protagonists having to split the story—and thus split the focus. Reynatis has a bit of an identity crisis, and rather than it feeling like clean cuts on where one ends and the other begins, it’s all blended up into a mess that is both fun and taxing to play, both narratively intriguing and vapid, and both exciting and mundane. My one consolation is that if The Caligula Effect 2 and Crymachina are anything to go off of, a sequel to Reynatis could be one of my favorite games of the year. With that hope in mind, I eagerly look forward to the next strange FuRyu collaboration.