Reanimal Reviews

Reanimal is both beautiful and horrifying, carving out a unique identity. The blend of co-op mechanics and atmospheric storytelling mixed with nightmarish creature design creates an experience you won't soon forget. Despite playing solo, I enjoyed my time with Reanimal but felt I would've appreciated the gameplay much more with someone I know to help me navigate the island. Ultimately, Tarsier's penchant for telling bone-chilling horror stories is why they continue to make a lasting impression.

REANIMAL stands as both a confident continuation of Tarsier Studios’ haunting design philosophy and a cautious step into new territory. While its ambitious scope occasionally exposes cracks through rushed narrative beats and safe puzzle design, its oppressive atmosphere, striking visuals, and linked-up co-op gameplay carry the experience from beginning to end. For some, it may not reach the same tightly crafted heights as Little Nightmares, but it successfully captures that same uneasy magic that made those games special. It isn’t perfect, much like all things in this vast expanse of the medium or the horror genre, but it’s a bold and unsettling co-op journey that shows Tarsier’s signature style is still very much alive.

Let’s address the elephant in the room first: Tarsier Studios created two exceptional Little Nightmares games, but not the third instalment in the series, which was handed to Supermassive Games. Reanimal is, quite clearly, Tarsier’s vision for Little Nightmares 3 and a darker breed of horror.

Tarsier Studios are back. It’s been five years since the release of Little Nightmares 2, and we’ve seen the developer move on from the franchise they created. Its spirit however – that unique combination of creeping dread, unrivalled atmosphere and jaw-dropping, gut-wrenching moments is alive and well, but it has matured into something fans of this style of game are going to adore. I’ll do my best to keep this spoiler free, and try to only really discuss and hint at things you’ve al...

Reanimal feels like a deliberate evolution rather than a spiritual sequel. It abandons the safety net of stylized grotesque horror and embraces something harsher and more intimate. The result is a game that feels confident in its darkness and uninterested in softening its edges for accessibility. I'm not sure Reanimal fully surpasses Little Nightmares 2 as an overall experience, but it certainly matches it in every meaningful way.

Reanimal exploits our love of theories and in doing so creates a game that’s bloated and narratively confusing. While it’s undeniably pretty and the boss designs are cool, two-player co-op is fiddly and unforgiving, detracting from any real tension the game tries to build.

Reanimal is Tarsier Studios doing exactly what it does best: tense, physiological horror with a (un)healthy dose of gore and body-horror.

Reanimal is Tarsier Studios at its darkest and most uncompromising. What begins as a familiar, eerie setup quickly spirals into something far more unsettling, blending tense exploration, co-op-driven puzzle solving, and memorable chase and boss encounters that steadily escalate in intensity. While the experience is short and occasionally frustrating when played solo due to AI partner issues, its atmosphere, pacing, and willingness to push players out of their comfort zone leave a lasting impression. This is not a continuation of Little Nightmares, but a bolder, more disturbing evolution that proves Tarsier is fully unleashed.

Tarsier returns to horror with a rich, meaningful evolution of its familiar Little Nightmares formula. And while it could benefit from being a little more radical, it remains utterly compelling; bleak, nasty, and full of menace..

It feels like we've been waiting for it for a long time, but Little Nightmares dev Tarsier Studios has finally delivered its next game. Unsurprisingly, Reanimal feels very much like Little Nightmares in all but name. While it doesn't have the strongest narrative, stellar visuals, an eerie atmosphere and excellent environmental puzzles all more than make up for it.

Reanimal is a short thrill ride, packed with stylish albeit somewhat repetitive set pieces, and truly nightmarish imagery. Despite its obvious connective tissue to Tarsier's previous franchise, it does enough to never feel derivative, and instead comes off as more of an evolution.

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Reanimal takes its cues from primal childhood trauma and the deep-seated fears that most people carry through life. It adds layers of familiar-feeling puzzles and terrifying monsters to a game that looks a lot like a Little Nightmares sibling. With the ability to play the game with another terrified human, Reanimal is all the more scary and memorable.

Reanimal is an adventure game: you press forward, avoid untimely deaths, collect keys, and work with your partner to escape. But Reanimal is also a punctual game about the cost of war, and the children, always innocent, whose lives will forever be marred by the actions of adults – endlessly greedy, cruel, and disgusting. Developer Tarsier Studios has crafted its best gameplay yet, with cinematic cinematography, macabre puzzles, and a dynamic use of mechanical and engaging verbs. Its co-op d...

The first two Little Nightmares games were something special. They were a unique concept that built on the ideas Limbo established for creating memorable horror experiences. Little Nightmares II took that to the extreme and perfected it- an instant classic and truly special experience, combining thrilling gameplay with a compelling story that deepened the world in interesting ways.

REANIMAL, while not perfect, does an excellent job of building on what Tarsier does best—portraying childhood fears as their most intense expressions.

Reanimal doesn't meaningfully develop Tarsier's approach to gameplay in the Little Nightmares games, but it's a grim sight to behold, and a worthwhile horror adventure.

REANIMAL is a beautiful horror journey that uses subtlety to its advantage. The lack of dialogue and cutscenes is traded for worldbuilding, while the gameplay highlights more thrilling chases rather than action-packed combat. Both are used to great effect, even in spite of some major issues with exploration and a few glitches here and there. If you're a fan of the horror genre, Little Nightmares, or have a friend to play with, though, REANIMAL is a must-buy.

Tarsier's Reanimal is a fun and creepy adventure to spend alone or with a friend for a few hours, the co-op experience doesn't add much but you'll be able to bounce ideas of the deeper story as you're escaping from hellish birds

Reanimal understands horror on a visual and emotional level, but isn’t able to support it with the amount of friction in the game. When it works, it’s great; when it doesn’t, the cracks are impossible to ignore.

Reanimal is exactly what you might expect from the original Little Nightmares team, and yet, wondrous in its own right. Like venturing down the rabbit hole of unrelenting terror, it's an experience that will stay with you long after the credits roll.