Reanimal Review – Just As Dark And Disturbing As Horror Should Be

Tarsier Studios has built up quite a name for itself with the Little Nightmares series. Those games play on just how scary adults can seem to children and kick it up to eleven. With Reanimal, the developer has changed direction somewhat, but it’s allowed them to do so much more with horror.

In Reanimal, you play as a brother and sister who have returned to the island they once called home to rescue their friends. The terrifying monsters and situations they face are right out of your childhood nightmares. This definitely isn’t a game for the faint of heart, and the perfect horror romp for fans looking for something to surprise you when you least expect it.

Key Details

• Release Date: February 13, 2026
• Developer: Tarsier Studios
• Price: $39.99
• Platforms: Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC
• Review Code Provided: Yes, for PS5

Small Characters, Big World

As you progress through Reanimal‘s story, you’re repeatedly reminded of just how small your characters are in this colossal world. Yes, they’re children, but the scale of the world is so utterly massive that it accentuates that feeling all children have about how big and scary life can be.

Every environment adds to this. From the opening woods through the massive city scapes, drowned in decay, dust, and ancient history. These tell the game’s story just as much as the characters do, and Tarsier Studios has done a truly phenomenal job of making them a core part of the experience.

However, it’s the characters who really steal the show here. Both the protagonists and the enemies you face while rescuing their friends give subtle hints as to the true nature of the events behind the game. I’m not going to spoil those because they’re very open to interpretation, but anyone who pays attention to where they are and what’s going on will find a very haunting tale.

The Scariest Horror I’ve Played In Years

When I say I haven’t played a horror game this scary in about a decade, I really mean it. The horror isn’t in your face, and it doesn’t try to stress you out to the point of frustration. Instead, the scares feel viscerally real to the point that I’m still uneasy about a few scenes, and that’s so very rare for a horror game.

There’s no one element that makes Reanimal such a beast of horror. It’s a culmination of the incredibly well-designed enemies and the set pieces through which you experience them. Take the initial monster you’ll face, Sniffer. It’s a grotesquely large humanoid that sniffs you out, but it’s so far from human. The best way I can describe it is as some sort of fleshy child-eating terror crammed into a suit made from human skin.

Sniffer hits every level of uncanny that scary monsters need to. Every time you encounter it, be it when it’s offering ice creams to your friends, or dragging them into a cinema, ironing more skin suits, or riding an oversized tricycle, it’s always overwhelmingly horrific. I jumped out of my skin every time this thing came on screen, but never once did it feel like a repetitive or cheap scare.

Other monsters, such as the sheep-like cover monster, seem to almost crawl out of the screen as they chase you through their levels, and that’s by design. You see, every environment is built to support its monster with tight corridors perfectly framed for them and more abundant, smaller enemies walking their halls. This ensures that you’re always on edge, even if the big bad is far out of sight or, as far as you presume, dead.

Keeping It Fresh

Upon finishing Reanimal, I wanted to dive right back in to find all the masks scattered around the world, light every shrine, and free all the lost souls. It’s got enough going on to justify a couple of playthroughs, and the scares are so fantastic that you want to re-experience them as if they’re your favourite horror movie.

However, I can’t help but feel as though a little bit more could have been done in some areas to push the game even further. Masks, for example, could have some sort of small impact on gameplay to add variety and keep things interesting. Even the collectibles could count towards a hidden reward that has an impact on gameplay.

I also feel that despite the huge variation in themes and mechanics across every level, many are still far too similar towards the end. This is kind of par for the course, given the World War 2 themes, and Tarsier Studios has certainly gone above and beyond to keep the mechanics fresh.

Still, it’s hard to point to exactly where this freshness could have come from, given that the game has you exploring some extremely decrepit locations and performing tasks so gross that Jack Baker would struggle to hold down his eyeball stew.

Unfortunately, it boils down to the puzzles for me. They’re interesting enough to keep you engaged and moving forward, but they’re very easy and little more than an inconvenience to the main attraction: the encounters with the monsters.

Strangely, I think this is a case of Tarsier Studios being a victim of its own success. It’s created such compelling monsters that it’s made it impossible to craft decent enough puzzles and interactions to make the rest of the game live up to the moments in which you’re hunted by them.

Never-Ending Unease

There’s one element that I think lets a lot of horror games down: unease. That sense you get when you hear a story, and it suddenly takes a turn that makes you feel sick in the pit of your stomach. The sight of something not quite right to the point that it’s beyond sinister.

For me, Reanimal absolutely nails that feeling and leans into it from start to finish. Everything is amazing, but also not quite right. It’s the story of seeing something strange on a hike with your friend, or hearing about an experience in the Backrooms where something comes out of nowhere to chase the storyteller.

This is true horror, and it’s hard to get right. Luckily, Tarsier Studios has nailed it, and I can’t wait to see where it goes from here.

Final Score: 9/5/10

Reanimal is the best horror game of 2026 to date, and I really do think every other release is going to struggle to compete, even Resident Evil Requiem. I can’t imagine any other game matching its atmosphere and the level to which it makes me sick to my stomach with fear at the sight of a lumpy, human-shaped creature that almost certainly wants to cut me open and wear my skin.

**Bonus Action was provided with a PS5 copy of Reanimal for the purpose of this review**

About the Author

Jamie Moorcroft Sharp

Editor

Jamie adores the indie games that you don’t hear about until you’re on a video essay binge at 3AM and suddenly the sound of them changes your life. He’s played games all his life and loves looking at the intricate details that make them magical and different. If there’s a wierd list, embarrassing feature, or something else far too out there on Bonus Action, there’s a good chance he wrote it. But that’s not all! He’s also an absolute fiend who never knows when to stop when he puts on his dirty robes and takes on his D&D persona as a Mud Warlock who acts on that tiny voice in your head when it wonders what would happen if you did something really dumb right now. He’s easy to beat in a TGC, though, just keep an eye out for his crazy card combos.

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