Reanimal review: A beautiful and twisted experience

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A star rating of 4 out of 5.

While fending off a strange, masked man near a moving ice cream truck with a crowbar – and quickly diving inside – as people in bizarre costumes rushed towards me, I suddenly realized I was completely lost as to what was happening in this place called Reanimal, and surprisingly, I didn’t mind the confusion.

Horror games offer a huge range of experiences, from chilling stories to genuinely frightening moments. Tarsier Studios’ games definitely fit within this broad definition of horror.

The movie does have a few jump scares, which you’d expect from a horror film, but its real strength lies in building a sense of unease, slow-burning dread, and subtle confusion.

With their new game, Tarsier Studios has drawn on all their skills, shifting away from the style of Little Nightmares. The result is a strikingly unsettling and beautiful world, reminiscent of a living, breathing painting by Hieronymus Bosch.

The monsters seem like a warped version of reality—similar to an AI-generated image that initially looks convincing, but upon closer examination, contains no recognizable objects.

As far as we know, the team at Tarsier Studios created Reanimal without using artificial intelligence, which is great to hear.

Okay, so I just started playing Reanimal, and it’s seriously strange but really cool! You can play solo or with a friend, and the story is about this girl and boy who are trying to rescue their friends. The world around them is falling apart, and monsters have grabbed everyone, so it’s a pretty wild adventure trying to set things right.

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Ugh, looks like Google’s reCAPTCHA is blocking me from seeing this. The game is telling me I need to sign out of Contentpass first to get it working. Seriously? Okay, fine, let’s try that…

If you’re familiar with Little Nightmares, you’ll quickly understand how to play Reanimal, as the two games are very similar in many ways. Reanimal does things a little differently, though, by changing how you interact with the game’s environment.

The game feels like a sandbox, letting you freely explore large areas and even travel by boat in some chapters. You can also collect and equip different masks to customize your character’s appearance, with options ranging from quirky fish heads to simple, funny items – there’s a mask for every player’s style.

What’s really neat is the ability to defend yourself with simple combat. It’s not just pressing buttons when the game tells you to – you can actually use tools like a wrench or crowbar to hit smaller enemies, or even pesky seagulls!

If you don’t like seagulls already, this game won’t make you a fan. You’ll also be able to use harpoons to destroy landmines and decaying bodies that are scavenging for food.

As you progress through Reanimal, the battles become more challenging and epic, especially as the story nears its end. This increasing scale applies to everything in the game, not just combat.

The game’s stunning art and expansive world become incredibly immersive, dwarfing the characters as the haunting music pulls you through desolate environments – from forgotten orphanages to crumbling towns and war-ravaged lands.

One of the coolest things about Reanimal is how much it’s built around playing with a friend. You can play it by yourself, though! The game has an AI that steps in as the other character, letting me ask for help with stuff like holding down a switch or pulling a lever at the same time. It’s like having a built-in teammate!

While the game generally works well, we occasionally ran into issues with the character ‘Girl’ not following commands, even after repeated requests. We also experienced some glitches, like one on a ladder. The biggest problem happened after jumping down a cliff – Girl didn’t follow, and we were stuck, unable to progress or go back to help her.

We often found that simply reloading from the last save point solved our problems, but it also made it clear that this game is best enjoyed with a friend.

The game isn’t just better technically; the puzzles are also designed in a way that makes them more enjoyable. Instead of being frustrating roadblocks, they feel like fun challenges you can tackle with friends. A particularly clever puzzle where you have to work together while tied together really stands out.

I’ve barely scratched the surface of everything Reanimal made me think and feel, which I think is exactly what Tarsier Studios intended. It’s a game that’s really stayed with me, and I plan to play it again and again. It offers a lot to ponder, but deliberately avoids offering easy answers—and that’s something I truly appreciate.

Reanimal is a captivating and unsettling horror game that fans of the genre are sure to love, whether they play it solo or with a friend.

Authors

Ben Rayner

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2026-02-11 21:05