 |
| A towering creature sweeps over a ruined coastal town in REANIMAL’s key art. |
You wake up in Reanimal on a small boat, cutting through dark water toward a shoreline that barely looks alive. There are no prompts spelling anything out, just vague shapes, broken silhouettes in the distance, and the simple job of steering forward. It is a quiet opening, but it sets the tone fast: you’re heading back to a home that has already slipped away.
Once you reach land and pull your sister from the water, everything starts to move. The island is shattered into separate chunks, your friends are missing, and every path forward means picking through streets, docks, and buildings that froze mid-disaster. You’re guiding two kids who never feel ready for what they are walking into, and that sense of returning to a place you should know, only to find it cracked apart, gives the whole journey a constant edge.
Reanimal follows that thread across a short horror adventure that mixes careful exploration, sudden chases, and a steady focus on cooperation. You can play side by side with someone else or run the whole story on your own with an AI partner, but either way you are always thinking about both siblings at once. If you came to this after Little Nightmares, this is a tighter, more direct trip that trades single-lane hallways for 3D spaces, boat routes between islands, and a stronger focus on keeping two characters together in the middle of all that wreckage.
Reanimal Details
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, Nintendo Switch 2
Reviewed on: Nintendo Switch 2
Developer: Tarsier Studios
Publisher: THQ Nordic
Genre: Survival Horror Adventure
Game Modes: Single-player, Multiplayer
Chasing Missing Friends Through Broken Islands
Reanimal centres on a brother and sister who return to an island home that has been torn apart. That quiet boat ride at the start turns into a hunt across separate islands, each one holding a piece of what happened and a clue about the friends who never made it back. You’re not following a quest log so much as a trail of small details, moving from harbour ruins to broken houses and forgotten work sites while you try to catch up.
Most of the story comes from what you see as you move. Streets look like everyone walked away in the middle of daily routines. Tables are still set, toys sit where kids left them, and tools lie out beside half-finished jobs. You also unlock gallery entries and small optional scenes that fill in more pieces, but the main thread still runs through the places you pass through and the way they’ve been changed.
Dialogue stays short and purposeful. The siblings talk just enough to react to danger, point something out, or steady each other after close calls. Short cutscenes usually bookend a major stretch, nudging the story forward without dragging you away from control for long stretches. Over time, the pattern becomes clear: each island focuses on a different part of the community, and by the time you reach the last areas, you’ve seen how the disaster pulled everything apart while the pair tries to hold onto each other.
 |
| Four children cross dark, foggy water in Reanimal’s opening boat scene. |
Staying In Control While You Climb, Sneak, And Steer
Moment to moment, Reanimal is about guiding two kids through 3D spaces that never quite feel safe. On foot, you climb, jump, crawl through gaps, and slide under obstacles while trying not to draw attention. Boat trips link the islands together, turning stretches of open water into playable routes where you steer around wreckage and strange shapes moving just under the surface. It keeps swapping between close, claustrophobic interiors and wider outdoor routes, so you’re never just walking in a straight line for long.
The whole journey is built around cooperation. Puzzles and obstacles usually need both siblings to act in some way, whether that means giving each other a boost, holding a crank in place, or triggering switches at roughly the same time. Playing alone, you give simple commands and let the AI handle the other half. That partner sticks close, climbs when you climb, and rarely gets stuck on scenery, so you’re thinking about what both kids need to do without constantly fighting for basic movement. With a second person beside you, every climb or chase turns into quick conversations about who distracts, who hides, and who runs for the next safe spot.
Exploration folds into that structure cleanly. Each island works like a contained chunk with a clear start and end point, but paths twist around enough that you still have reasons to poke into side rooms or offshoot corridors. Some spaces hide collectibles or gallery unlocks, while others quietly hold the items you actually need to progress. There are no waypoints pointing you straight to the exit. Instead, you watch for railings, ladders, hanging objects, or narrow gaps that suggest a route. Checkpoints are generous, so a missed jump or a failed sprint away from an enemy sends you back a short distance rather than wiping long stretches of progress. I reached the credits in around six to eight hours, and that length suits the structure well. There is enough time to learn how the boat segments, stealth, and chase sequences work together without dragging the story out longer than it can support.
 |
| Stealth sections in Reanimal have you crawling between cover in foggy train yards while creatures search nearby. |
Islands, Shadows, And Creatures You Don’t Want To Meet Up Close
Reanimal has that slightly sick, storybook look that Tarsier is known for, only stretched across full islands instead of narrow corridors. Streets and shorelines come across as washed out and worn down, with debris piled in corners and houses that look like everyone stepped out mid-errand. Each island shows a different flavour of ruin, from flooded walkways and broken piers to barns that sag inward and cramped interiors lined with clutter. Even when you know where you’re going, the world keeps pulling your eyes toward background details that hint at what this place used to be.
The monsters push things into full nightmare territory without going so far that they stop being readable during play. Skin-like figures move in clumps, squeeze through gaps, and spill into rooms in ways that make you want to keep your distance. Larger creatures come with clear shapes and outlines, so you can tell roughly where they’ll move and what parts of their bodies are dangerous. Camera work helps a lot here. It pulls back to show a whole street, or pushes closer when you’re weaving between obstacles, and it generally keeps both kids and nearby threats in view so you can make quick choices without guessing what’s off-screen.
Lighting and sound do just as much work as the art. Most areas sit in heavy shadow, so you end up swinging the lantern or lighter across walls and floors to catch glimpses of railings, ladders, or doors you can use. Pools of light in the distance often hint at the next safe spot or a point of interest, while the rest of the scene stays murky enough to keep you cautious. The soundtrack uses long, slow tracks that hang over whole stretches, then sharpens up when you need to run or hide. Environmental audio sells the mood further, from distant clanks and creaks to the slosh of water under the boat. On Nintendo Switch 2, the game ran smoothly for most of the story, with movement staying responsive even in busy chases. I only noticed minor stutters here and there in some heavier scenes, and those passed quickly without throwing off timing.
 |
| Neon-lit streets and thick fog give Reanimal’s ruined town areas a striking, horrific look. |
Reanimal Turns A Short Horror Trip Into A Story About Staying Together
Reanimal is a tighter, more grounded take on the kind of horror trip that Little Nightmares kicked off. Instead of drifting through single-lane hallways, you are steering between islands, picking through ruined streets, and threading through dark interiors while always thinking about two kids at once. The bond between the siblings never really drops to the background. Every climb, every boost, and every scramble away from danger reminds you that neither one gets through this place alone.
That focus works well across the whole run. The story gives you just enough structure to understand why you are chasing these missing friends and how each island fits into the wider collapse, then lets the art and level layouts carry most of the rest. The mix of boat routes, stealth, puzzles, and sprint-for-your-life moments stays readable and fair, with clear checkpoints and a length that feels well judged for a short horror game.
If you like slower, more deliberate horror where you watch the environment closely instead of following markers, Reanimal fits that pocket nicely. It builds on the earlier Little Nightmares games by opening up the spaces you move through and tying every step to a partnership that actually matters in play. Whether you go through it with a friend or rely on the AI partner, it’s an easy one to recommend if you want a compact, unsettling adventure built around staying together in a place that clearly fell apart long before you arrived.
Reanimal Review Summary
Liked
- Co-op structure that always keeps both siblings involved, whether you play online, locally, or on your own with the AI partner
- Island-by-island structure that turns each area into its own small story, with boat routes tying everything together
- 3D layouts that reward careful exploration, with light sources helping you pick out ladders, gaps, and safe paths
- Environmental storytelling that sells the disaster through houses, streets, and work sites frozen mid-routine
- Creepy visual style and clear camera work that keep enemies readable even in darker scenes
Didn’t Like
- A few chase and stealth sections slide into trial and error when the intended route is hard to spot at speed
- Occasional small stutters on Nintendo Switch 2 during heavier scenes, even though timing usually stays intact
- Once you reach the ending, the short, direct structure doesn’t leave many reasons to come back right away
Overall Assessment of Reanimal
Gameplay: ⭐⭐⭐⭐½☆ (4.5 / 5)
Presentation: ⭐⭐⭐⭐½☆ (4.5 / 5)
Performance: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ (4.0 / 5)
Story / Narrative: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ (4.0 / 5)
Fun Factor: ⭐⭐⭐⭐½☆ (4.5 / 5)
Overall Value: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ (4.0 / 5)
Comments
Post a Comment
Comments are moderated. Please stay respectful and on topic.