Reanimal

Genre: Puzzle-Platformer / 3D Platformer / Horror

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local / Online), GameShare Support

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Review:

Reanimal, released in 2026 on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2, is a game developed by Tarsier Studios, the developers behind Little Nightmares II, and that is very apparent here, as Reanimal could easily be described as an unofficial or spiritual sequel to the Little Nightmares series. Once again, you’re guiding a pair of children in a dark, dangerous environment stalked by murderous giants and other monsters, solving environmental puzzles while using stealth to get past dangerous enemies, or at times outrunning them when stealth is no longer an option.

There are some relatively unique elements to set Reanimal apart, such as boat navigation, keys you need to find to get past locked doors, and themes that include not only genuinely creepy inhuman monsters, but the terrors of human war as well. However, at its heart this still very much feels like a Little Nightmares game.

The presentation here is good, with some really nice creepy atmosphere with some impressively large 3D environments and some nice-looking lighting effects and fog. It’s stylistically excellent, but not anything that I think absolutely requires the added horsepower of the Nintendo Switch 2 – drop the framerates and resolution and I could see this game largely running fine on the original Nintendo Switch. This is joined by some nice sound effects to make the environments you trod through and the monsters stalking you seem appropriately foreboding and dangerous.

When it comes to complaints, I have a few. Players can opt to have a second player join them as the second character (with multiple options for this, including GameShare), but in single-player they are AI-controlled, and their behavior can be erratic and at times uncooperative. Thankfully, they can’t give away your position or make you lose a run by getting caught by enemies in a way that make you feel you only lost due to the dumb AI.

Speaking of deaths, the loading times to reset you to the last checkpoint after a death are unusually long, and really drag down the game’s pacing. This is especially frustrating due to the game often having poor signposting, making it unclear where you’re meant to be going. Make a wrong choice as you struggle to figure out what the game wants you to do, and you’ll be stuck waiting for the game to reload the checkpoint again.

Despite these issues, I still think Reanimal is an enjoyable and wonderfully atmospheric experience, and a must-play for players who enjoyed the Little Nightmares games, or other similar games like Limbo and Inside. And while I don’t think this is quite on par with those true classics, it’s still a solid take on this style of game that’s well worth playing.

tl;dr – Reanimal is a game that combines Puzzle-Platformer, 3D Platformer, and Horror elements with a bit of Stealth in a game where you control a pair of children trying to survive in a dark and dangerous world filled with monsters. There are strong similarities to the Little Nightmares series here, and this game is a good take on that formula, though not without some flaws of its own, like long load times and occasionally poor signposting. Still, despite these flaws, fans of this style of game will find this well worth trying out.

Grade: B-

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