Summary
- In a sea of strong RPG releases, Reynatis stands out in unexpected ways.
- Reynatis draws heavy inspiration from Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy 15, & The World Ends With You.
- Other games like Astral Chain & Persona 5 offer similar vibes to Reynatis.
Whatever your opinion of Reynatis, it is undeniably a game that exists, and one that is attempting to achieve a very specific version of Japan. Reynatis isn't afraid to wear its inspirations on its sleeve either, letting you trace the origin of each of its ideas easily.
RelatedReynatis Review - Sometimes It Is Better To Dream Of What Could Have Been
In a year filled with strong RPG releases, Reynatis stands out in the worst way possible.
Posts 1But maybe Reynatis isn't enough for you. Those inspirations are strong, maybe a bit stronger than the game's own identity. Reynatis plays off many different ideas, and just one game might not be enough to sate your appetite. Well here's a whole host of games for you to try out if Reynatis caught your fancy.
10 Kingdom Hearts 3
CloseKingdom Hearts 3
Action Adventure 8.0/10 Released January 25, 2019 Developer(s) Square Enix Platform(s) Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One Powered by Expand CollapseFrom the second Reynatis was revealed, it had been compared to Kingdom Hearts. This wasn't an unfair comparison considering, at least aesthetically, Reynatis did not deny the role Kingdom Hearts played in its existence. With such a strong love for Kingdom Hearts, why not play the actual series instead?
Featuring the very same composer in Yoko Shimomura, you start to get a feel for where certain parts of Reynatis' combat came from once you play Kingdom Hearts. From the way you zip around the battlefield to the aerial combat, Kingdom Hearts is a game that birthed many of the ideas Reynatis uses, and has a much longer time to develop them.
Plus, Kingdom Hearts 3 even has a Shibuya world of its own featuring a boss fight against someone who seems like the entire basis for Marin.
9 Final Fantasy 15
CloseFinal Fantasy 15
Action RPG Released November 9, 2016 Developer(s) Square Enix Platform(s) PS4, Xbox One, PC, Stadia Powered by Expand CollapseAnother Square Enix game with Yoko Shimomura as the composer, and another of Reynatis' key inspirations. Final Fantasy 15 may at first glance seem like a game that bears very little relation to Reynatis, though dig a little deeper and the layers will practically unravel themselves.
RelatedWhat Was Final Fantasy: Versus 13?
We dive deep into the development of Final Fantasy: Versus 13 and what this project ended up being. Even Kingdom Hearts 4 might be related.
PostsFF15 began as Versus 13, the clear foundation for Reynatis. FF15 diverged from this idea after a while, though much of the ideas remain such as the city of Insomnia. Plus, Final Fantasy 15 has much stronger party mechanics than those featured in Reynatis, which is a nice change of pace.
8 The World Ends With You
CloseThe World Ends With You
Action RPG Released July 27, 2007 Developer(s) Square Enix Platform(s) Nintendo DS, Switch, Android, iOS Powered by Expand CollapseWhile Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy Versus 13 make up the bulk of what people have recognised as the key inspirations behind Reynatis, perhaps the most major of those games that inspired it is The World Ends With You. Such a strong influence did TWEWY have on Reynatis that it even got a collaboration in-game.
TWEWY and its sequel also take in Shibuya and put a very large emphasis on contemporary culture and fashion, threads of which Reynatis also pulls on. TWEWY features a much more stylised version of Shibuya which is a welcome change from the rain-drenched rendition of Reynatis.
7 Astral Chain
CloseAstral Chain
Action Adventure Released August 30, 2019 Developer(s) Platinum Games Platform(s) Switch Powered by Expand CollapseWith the key Square Enix inspirations out of the way, let's jump to some games that bear other similarities to Reynatis that you might enjoy. The first of these is Astral Chain, the PlatinumGames developed Switch exclusive. Sari's police side of the story was paltry compared to Marin, and Astral Chain will give you the opposite perspective.
Pulling even more heavily on an anime aesthetic mixed with some traditional Cyberpunk sleekness and neon, Astral Chain takes place on an artifical landmass known as the Ark, with you playing as one twin monitoring the Shibuya-inspired city as a deeper mystery bubbles beneath the surface.
6 Ghostwire Tokyo
CloseGhostwire: Tokyo
Action Adventure Released March 25, 2022 Developer(s) Tango Gameworks Platform(s) PS5, PC, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S Powered by Expand CollapseTango Gameworks, recently deceased and now reborn, are best-known as the creators of horror games, though Hi-Fi Rush proved that they could pivot in any direction they wanted. Ghostwire Tokyo was another attempt to shift from pure psychological horror, putting a greater focus on action and folklore mixed with the contemporary world.
4:20 RelatedGhostwire: Tokyo - 9 Beginners Tips
If you're about to make your first steps in the game, you're in luck: we have gathered some useful tips for beginners.
PostsLike Reynatis, Ghostwire takes place around Shibuya and its surroundings. It goes for an even more detailed recreation of the city than Reynatis as a single seamless world, letting you marvel in the scale and diversity of Shibuya. Plus the monster designs pull from actual Japanese culture, giving you much more inspired designs.
5 Persona 5
ClosePersona 5
RPG Dungeon Crawler Adventure 10.0/10 Released September 15, 2016 Developer(s) Atlus Platform(s) PS3, PS4 Powered by Expand CollapseThere really are quite a few Japanese games et in Shibuya, huh? Though it's only fair for a game to be set in one of the national cities in the country of which your games takes place. Joining Reynatis in that category is Persona 5, though just as much time will be spent in Shibuya as the palaces of corrupted individuals.
In many ways, this is the same structure as Reynatis itself. When you're not running across the length of Shibuya, you're exploring the Dominus and Boundary Forests of Another. Persona 5 is a decidedly longer game than Reynatis by quite a stretch, though its palaces are a sight more varied than Reynatis' forests.
4 Other Furyu Games
CloseWhile Reynatis came to light due to its similarities to Kingdom Hearts and Versus 13, Furyu has developed plenty of games in the past, all following an identical development structure to Reynatis. That is to say that the team developing each game has come from some renowned team and is developing a brand new game in a similar vein.
Monark pulled heavily from the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei games, featuring ex-Atlus talent. There's the Caligula Effect, which also featured writers and composers from early Persona games. Oh, and Trinity Trigger, featuring renowned composer Hiroki Kikuta. And Reynatis has Yoko Shimomura and Kazushige Nojima. It's Furyu's modus operandi.
3 Bayonetta
CloseBayonetta 3
Action Adventure Released October 28, 2022 Developer(s) Platinum Games Platform(s) Switch Powered by Expand CollapseWhile it doesn't quite manifest in-game in the same way it was shown in trailers, Reynatis got many comparisons to Devil May Cry and Bayonetta for the character-action flashiness of its combat. It is actually decidedly more simple than it seems, though parts of the systems are still there.
RelatedProtagonists With The Strangest Super Powers
These video game protagonists have the oddest abilities.
PostsOne major aspect of Reynatis is standing still so that time will slow as you are about to be attacked. This Burst Liberation is very inspired by Bayonetta's Witch Time, rewarding perfect dodges with slowed time. Bayonetta also has a much more involved combat, if you liked the taste of it that Reynatis offered.
2 Max Payne
CloseMax Payne
Third-Person Shooter 6.0/10 Released July 23, 2001 Developer(s) Remedy Entertainment Platform(s) PC, PS2, Xbox (Original), Nintendo Game Boy Advance, Android, iOS Powered by Expand CollapseNow this one might seem a little bit out of nowhere, but give us a moment to sell you on it. Reynatis offers up a very specific vibe in combat of watching bullets as they dart towards you only for you to slow time and dodge them at the last moment. Does that maybe sound familiar? Max Payne loves slowing down time for some well-placed bullets.
It might be a stretch, but if you enjoyed the sensation of dodging bullets in Reynatis, then you might find just as much joy being on the other end of the barrel, firing off those bullets as the whole world slows down around it. It's a thrill alright.
1 Dragon Ball
CloseDragon Ball Z: Kakarot (dupe)
Fighting Action Adventure Released January 16, 2020 Developer(s) CyberConnect2 Platform(s) Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows Powered by Expand CollapsePowerscaling is one of the most popular forms of fan comparisons when it comes to determining just how strong a character really is. Lots of 'my big brother could beat up your big brother' energy. And Dragon Ball is like the holy grail of powerscaling because it's built into the series itself. So how does it relate to Reynatis at all?
Well, Marin wants to become the strongest. That is quite simply his only goal in the entire game. To be the strongest wizard alive just because. It's almost admirable how single-minded he is when an Illuminati-esque organisation is trying to take over the world. So if Marin's journey to the top appealed to you, definitely check out the many Dragon Ball games. Those boys just don't stop getting stronger.
Reynatis
Action RPG Released September 27, 2024 ESRB t Developer(s) FURYU, Natsume Atari Publisher(s) NIS America Engine Unity Platform(s) PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch, PC Powered by Expand Collapse
