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Tarsier Studios is back

Tarsier Studios is a Swedish based studio that made hit games Little Nightmares and Little Nightmares 2. I have played them through many times and I was obsessed about the games’ lore. It was deep and meaningful without any talking or subtitles. The main characters were silent and the only thing that told the story was the environment and enemies. Reanimal is Tarsier Studios’ newest entry and it follows the same kind of principle as the Little Nightmares games.

I played Reanimal through on PS5 Pro.

Plot

In this horror adventure game, you play as a brother and sister duo who go through hell to rescue their missing three friends. The characters don’t seem to have any names that make it even more mysterious; who are these children anyway? Why they are in this hellish world where adults seem to be the enemies? All these mysteries and questions that kept the chills up all the playthrough, not to mention the questions: do they manage to save their friends?

As in previous games from Tarsier Studios’ games (Little Nightmares 1 and 2) everything is surrounded with mystery and gloominess. Most of the answers being left for the player’s own imagination to be solved.

Gameplay, controls, audio and visuals

Reanimal is a co-op, survival horror, stealth and a cinematic platformer with light puzzle elements embedded with the environment. It can be played fully alone or with a friend. I played this through alone. The gameplay is going onwards on rather straight-forward way, sneaking past enemies, doing puzzles to progress. There are some intense scenes that player must deal with, but not to spoil anyone I’m not gonna mention them here. Also mentioning that there are lots of combat and boss battles, so the game isn’t a walking sim.

Controlling the characters felt good and natural. I did get stuck on the environment a few times, which was little bit frustrating. The AI of the companion was OK; I did die many times, though, because of the companion doing something wrong. It also raised the frustration level, for sure.

All the audio in Reanimal was amazingly done. The somber music, detailed sound effects to little whispers the characters made was all good. I truly recommend to play this with headphones on.

Visually Reanimal looked gloomy, disgusting and sad. Just the way I like it. Everything was rather colourless and bleak, with disturbing enemies and all the empty human skins hanging everywhere to the weird mutations of various animals… Reanimal is full of body horror; human and animal. Graphical options were also available. Players can choose between Quality and Performance Mode.

Verdict

Reanimal is an amazing game. It has simple, yet effective, gameplay. Great character and enemy designs that will creep you out. From sneaking to dire situations and not to mention the story that was told beautifully and very mysteriously. What brings it little bit down was the, sometimes, stupid AI. If you did enjoy Little Nightmares 1 and 2, you will love Reanimal. I played it through in about 4 hours. Might sound short, but it is a good length for a game like this, to keep the suspense element on for casual players, and not to wear it out—even though I personally would’ve liked to see more of the weird world. Thankfully, there are some DLCs coming this year.

I do recommend Reanimal to anyone who likes horror games.

Reanimal is available on PS5 (reviewed on PS5 Pro), Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X|S and Windows.

SCORE:

4/5

“Reanimal is full of body horror; human and animal.”

RELEASE DATE: February 13, 2026
GENRE: Horror
DEVELOPER: Tarsier Studios
PUBLISHER: THQ Nordic
PLATFORMS: PS5 (reviewed on PS5 Pro)
Nintendo switch 2
Xbox Series X|S
Windows

 

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