REANIMAL – the darkest game you will play this year

For rarely any video game can I say that it is – beautiful. This is one of those. After the global success with the Little Nightmares franchise, the developers decided to leave that franchise and focus on a much darker project called REANIMAL. We played the PlayStation 5 version, the code for which was provided to us by the publisher. The release date was February 13, 2026, and the price on the PlayStation Store is 40 euros.

DEVELOPER: Tarsier Studios (original creators of the hit series Little Nightmares)

PUBLISHER: THQ Nordic

PLATFORMS: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, Nintendo Switch 2

ENGINE: Unreal Engine 5

DURATION: 3-4 hours, 6 hours for 100% completion

PLOT

The protagonists of this game are a duo consisting of a brother and sister. We do not know their names, and we meet them in a boat sailing through a dark ocean. Their mission is to find 3 lost friends. The way we lost them is mysterious, and we do not find out what happened. The setting is war-torn islands, filled with mysterious giant monsters and eerie corpses and dolls that haunt us. We never learn anything about the protagonists or the war that occurred in the world we wander through. This adds to the mystery and dark atmosphere that is present from the beginning all the way to the very end of this video game.

GAMEPLAY

The game features a co-op mode, (similar to 'It Takes Two' but without complicated puzzles and excessive skill required for the controller), where one controller plays as the brother and the other as the sister. There is no split-screen; the game is played on one large screen and if we stray too far from each other for an extended period – we die. Many times, coordination and cooperation are needed, but the main focus of co-op gameplay is running together from dark giants that chase us, as well as climbing and exploring the dark environment. When we play single player, we control the brother – there is no option to control the sister if we are using one controller. Unlike Little Nightmares, REANIMAL uses a 3D camera perspective, which helps create a cinematic feel. The controls are simple, and there is no progression system or resource gathering. The game is linear, and the world is of a semi-open type. You can wander, but everything leads us along a predetermined path of the game. Although controlling the boat can sometimes be clumsy, managing the little characters never skips or glitches. A lot is resolved in stealth mode, where we must quietly pass by monsters, hiding behind cabinets and similar obstacles. The gameplay also includes a lot of balancing on narrow passages, jumping over narrow planks, and unlocking doors (keys are always easy to find – no puzzle is too difficult). Despite the game being easy, you will die many times due to failed monster-avoidance tactics. However, even when we die, we almost always manage to solve the problem on the second attempt. When we die, there is always a long sequence where the brother and sister wake up embraced at the last checkpoint. The game also features light combat - we deal with enemies either by fleeing or by hitting them with a harpoon and a crowbar, and in one case, we kill a huge seahorse with a tank projectile. Of course, as is often the case in atmospheric horror video games, the atmosphere is complemented by top-notch music and audio effects.

VISUAL STYLE

This is a video game where a paragraph dedicated to the visual style should be included. The game is, in one word – beautiful. The graphics are top-notch. The main actors of the visual style are distorted monsters and a war-torn world (collapsed buildings, sunken ships, and so on). We control small figures, which the camera sometimes zooms in on and sometimes the scene expands, allowing us to view it from a bird's eye perspective. The action scenes where we flee from gigantic monsters are excellently crafted. The atmosphere can be described as post-apocalyptic. The mood and environment are sometimes a bit too dark. The wide-angle shots are particularly well-designed, for example, the run through a vast flower meadow or fleeing through a huge lighthouse from a giant insectoid monster. It is worth mentioning the contrast between the enormous monsters and the tiny little figures we control – this adds to the cinematic feel of the game even more. After completing REANIMAL, the impression remains that this could have been a top-notch feature film instead of a video game. 

CONCLUSION

Despite its short duration, this game will be a hit. Tarsier Studio has returned to its roots, leaving Little Nightmares to other developers. The result is impressive – REANIMAL is a horror that Little Nightmares never managed to be. Although the basic formula is the same, this is not a sequel, but an evolution – especially with the introduction of 3D spatial cinematography. For fans of atmospheric horror, this will be essential 'reading'. Whether the game offers too little for its 40 euros depends on the individual player. The world of REANIMAL is visually stunning. Personally – this is the first video game I will recommend to you, regardless of the high price for 5-8 hours of gameplay.

POSITIVE ASPECTS: top-notch sound; cinematography; smoothness; graphics; atmosphere

NEGATIVE ASPECTS: shortness; high price considering the duration; unfinished story

RATING: 4/5