Reanimal is short but striking horror adventure that refines Tarsier’s signature formula, delivering eerie set pieces, inventive mechanics and unforgettable creature design
After spending years with the unsettling worlds of Tarsier Studios, I thought I knew what to expect. Small child, massive oppressive environments, strange monsters lurking in the background, and a story that feels more like a fever dream than a neatly wrapped narrative. Reanimal absolutely follows in those footsteps, but it also tweaks the formula in subtle ways that make it feel like an evolution rather than a repeat.
I enjoyed Reanimal a lot. It feels like Tarsier refining something they already mastered with the Little Nightmares games. The DNA is obvious, but this time around the perspective feels slightly different. You are not a tiny human in a world built for giants. You are a small kid, or sometimes kids, in a world that feels exaggerated but not absurdly scaled. The environments are still towering, still overwhelming, but they feel grounded in a grim version of reality instead of pure nightmare logic.
A War-Torn Fairytale
The story seems to revolve around children surviving in a war-torn setting. Bombed out towns, abandoned vehicles, broken homes, and long empty coastlines create a sense of quiet devastation. It is drab, grey, depressing, and yet visually striking. The lighting does a lot of heavy lifting here. Soft beams cut through smoke and dust, reflections shimmer on wet pavement, and distant fires glow faintly in the background. Even when the color palette is muted, the world looks incredible.
That said, I would be lying if I claimed I fully understood what the story is trying to say. There are clear themes about innocence caught in conflict, about fear, about survival. But Reanimal does not spell things out. It hints, it suggests, it leaves room for interpretation. And then the ending happens, and instead of clarity you get even more questions. It is strange, unsettling, and deliberately ambiguous.
At some point I stopped trying to decode every symbol and just let the experience wash over me. With age you learn that not every story needs a tidy explanation. Sometimes it is about the emotions it stirs rather than the answers it gives. And Reanimal stirs a lot.
The Creatures You Never Forget
If there is one thing Tarsier excels at, it is creature design. The enemies in Reanimal are bizarre in ways that feel both creative and deeply uncomfortable.
You encounter what looks like flayed human skin slithering across the ground like a snake. There is a lanky, impossibly thin man who moves like a contortionist mixed with a serpent, bending and twisting in ways that make your skin crawl. A grotesque bird stalks you through ruined spaces. A spider-like abomination crawls with jerky, unpredictable movements. And then there is a giant demonic sheep-like creature that feels pulled straight from some forgotten pagan horror.
They are animals, but not really. They feel like warped reflections of humanity, distorted by trauma or madness. Even when you understand the patterns of how they move, they remain unsettling.
There are also smaller, almost darkly humorous moments. You get to bash seagulls with a crowbar, which feels oddly cathartic in such a bleak world. At one point you are running from what can only be described as kamikaze soldiers, sprinting desperately as chaos unfolds around you. The scenarios keep shifting, and just when you think you have adjusted to the tone, the game throws something new at you.
Exploration and Movement
Reanimal is not just about running from monsters in narrow corridors. You travel quite a bit, and the variety helps keep the pacing fresh.
You explore on foot through ruined towns and industrial areas. You drive a van through dangerous stretches, navigating tense sequences that feel cinematic but still interactive. You even pilot a boat along the shores, taking in desolate coastal landscapes that feel hauntingly beautiful.
Movement feels great. Your character responds quickly, jumps feel precise, and climbing or shimmying across ledges has that satisfying weight that Tarsier games are known for. The camera does a solid job of framing action in a way that enhances tension without becoming frustrating.
Puzzles are mostly simple lock and key setups, environmental interactions, or timing based sequences. You push objects, pull levers, activate machinery, and figure out how to open the path forward. They are not brain melting challenges, but they do enough to break up the tension and give you a sense of agency.
What I really appreciated are the unique one off mechanics sprinkled throughout. Reanimal introduces ideas, lets you play with them for a short while, then moves on. Nothing overstays its welcome. It makes the experience feel curated, like a carefully designed journey rather than a stretched out checklist of mechanics.
Solo and Co-Op
One of the biggest additions here is the option for co-op. You can play with a friend and run through this nightmare together, which changes the dynamic significantly. Solving puzzles side by side, coordinating movements, and sharing those sudden panic moments when a creature appears can be a lot of fun.
If you play solo, the AI companion does a fantastic job. They stick close, assist in puzzles, and rarely get in your way. It never felt like I was babysitting a broken system. Instead, it felt like I genuinely had someone with me, which enhances the emotional side of the story.
That said, I cannot ignore the fact that this game screams for a friend pass feature. Being able to invite a friend to play for free would have made recommending this game incredibly easy. As it stands, both players need a copy, and for a relatively short experience that makes the value proposition a bit harder to justify.
Presentation and Atmosphere
On PS5, Reanimal runs smoothly and looks fantastic. The lighting is the star of the show. Shadows stretch unnaturally across walls, fog rolls through empty streets, and flickering lights create constant unease. Even when the world is mostly grey, it never feels flat.
Sound design is equally strong. Creaking wood, distant explosions, subtle breathing, and unsettling creature noises build tension in a way that does not rely on cheap jump scares. Music is used sparingly, which makes the moments it does swell feel powerful.
The game constantly makes you feel small in a world that does not care about you. That sense of vulnerability is the core of the experience. You are not a hero. You are not armed to the teeth. Most of the time, your best option is to run, hide, and hope.
The Length and The Price
Here is the part that makes recommending Reanimal complicated. The game is short. I was not rushing, I explored, I took my time, and I still finished it in under four hours.
Those four hours are packed with memorable moments. There is very little filler. But once it ends, that is it. There is no major replay hook beyond maybe revisiting it in co-op or hunting for a few missed secrets.
For the asking price, that is tough. If it were slightly cheaper, or if it included a friend pass, I would be shouting from the rooftops that you need to play this immediately. As it stands, it becomes a question of how much you value a tightly crafted horror experience over raw hours of content.
Reanimal feels like Tarsier perfecting a style they clearly understand inside and out. It delivers unforgettable creature designs, haunting environments, solid puzzles, and a tone that lingers long after you put the controller down.
I did not fully understand its story, especially that ending, which left me more confused than satisfied. But I also realized that I did not need to understand every detail to appreciate what it made me feel. It is eerie, depressing, occasionally shocking, and often beautiful in a broken way.
Yes, it is short. Yes, the price makes it a slightly harder sell. But it is also a fantastic game that horror fans, especially those who loved Tarsier’s previous work, should not miss. Reanimal may not give you all the answers, but it will give you moments you will not forget anytime soon. Thanks for reading!
The game was reviewed on a PS5 via a promo copy provided by PR. Reanimal is available PS5, PC, Switch and Xbox Series X/S.
