REANIMAL Review

We are in a horror renaissance right now, and when the words “dark” and “unsettling” are brought up, one series comes to mind – Little Nightmares. A series that never puts its foot on the brakes when it comes to environmental storytelling and producing those twisted moments that leave you stunned. Tarsier Studios of Little Nightmares I & II fame further develop their sinister storytelling with REANIMAL, a game that paints a grotesque picture you want to sit and depict.

Little Nightmares has become one of my favourite videogame series. The third instalment, Little Nightmares III, the first game in the series not developed by Tarsier Studios, felt the absence of the atmosphere and tension that Tarsier are best known for creating. Tarsier pushes boundaries when it comes to grotesque horror, and in REANIMAL, those boundaries are definitely pushed further than ever before.

REANIMAL follows a brother and sister as they try to rescue their friends and escape an island filled with mutated creatures that would fuel your nightmares. The game sits between 4 and 6 hours in length and offers a solo or co-op experience online or locally. This review will focus primarily on the co-op aspect, as that is definitely the intended way to play this game.

The gameplay is strikingly similar to what Tarsier have experimented with in the Little Nightmares series, but it feels elevated. The diorama-like set pieces are traded in for a more spacious set of environments to explore, each differing from the last while still retaining a sense of cohesion across the story. The main Tarsier staples are still present – navigating dark areas with a miniscule light source, solving puzzles, sneaking past monsters that have an appetite for children, and, of course, there many collectibles on the way, too.

It feels familiar, but elevated. Interacting with objects feels less fidgety than Tarsier’s previous titles, with a dedicated interact button rather than relying on a grabbing mechanic to push and pull things. The world you are exploring takes place across a massive island, with many different types of driveable vehicles used to take you from one chapter to the next. The two protagonists themselves don’t offer any differing gameplay, but their stories do play out differently.

REANIMAL’s art direction complements the eerie tension it sets out to accomplish. While I can’t share all the screenshots I took during my playthrough due to spoilers, the ones I can share throughout this review show that a dark and twisted world can also be beautiful. The camera often pans out very far when you are in outside spaces, highlighting just how small you are in this strange world. I do wish the camera panned in a little more for some key cutscenes, as there are some really jaw-dropping scenes with the protagonists that occur that I wanted a closer look at.

Audio plays a massive factor in the buildup of tension in horror games, and REANIMAL does it very well. Early on in the game, you are being chased by a man in an Ice-cream truck and while on the run, you can hear the ice-cream truck’s eerie jingle off in the distance. There are more spine-tingling moments like this in the game, and they are delightfully chilling.

There are A LOT of collectibles to collect in REANIMAL, including masks which your characters can wear, posters which can be viewed as concept art in the main menu, hidden statues and other secrets. It is unlikely you will obtain them all on your first playthrough, but that’s okay, because you will want to play again as soon as you roll the credits.

I played online co-op and did have frequent connection issues that would cause us to disconnect and start from the last checkpoint. It was frustrating at times and did break the tension buildup, but hopefully there will be updates pushed out to remedy this issue affecting some players.

REANIMAL is one of the best horror games of this generation. The game is extremely unpredictable, constantly throwing unsightly scenes at you, often making you question what is unfolding before your eyes. This is Tarsier Studios at their best.