Reanimal is a brilliantly creepy but incredibly short experience. Wait for a sale.
The critical and financial success of the Little Nightmares series, Swedish developer Tarsier Studios now delivers a fascinating, story-to-life Reanimal, with fans expecting this brand-new game to match or at least come close to matching their greatest creations.
A few months prior, they had released a demo. After playing, I became very optimistic that this game would be a great experience when the full version of the horror, cinematic platformer arrived. Which it most certainly did. Reanimal is one creepily obscure experience.
However, there are a few quirks that I believe have let this game down a little. I will explain what those are in a few moments, but firstly, let’s go over the story. Reanimal tells the story of a brother and sister who work together to find and rescue their three missing friends, escape their very difficult, gruelling island, and uncover a secret that has haunted the siblings.
Now, when you read that to yourself, you would immediately surmise that it does not seem like the kind of story to keep you locked in. However, it was the complete opposite. I liked the story, and it kept me sucked in for the most part. I like that you rarely hear the voices and that the majority of the speech is in subtitles, which gives Reanimal an overall mysterious presence and the characters’ inconspicuous personas.
Moreover, Reanimal’s very dark atmosphere sets the chilling, spooky tone, and the rainy, damp weather was the icing on the cake, adding more misery to the game’s world. There are so many dark areas that I would somewhat abuse the light source mechanic so that I know what I am going.
I could literally go on forever on how well the worlds were designed.
The game started with the brother and sister travelling in a boat to the first island, where one of your friends is located. This boat helped me navigate through several locations throughout the game. Moreover, I can use this boat during combat and obstacles. I had collected an unlimited supply of harpoons that helped me against creatures, explosives, and more. Without confusion, this boat can only be used for linear travel.
To survive, players must complete a series of arduous tests, including challenging puzzles and stealth, to avoid the creepy yet deadly creatures. And occasionally, I would engage in combat against these creatures, primarily with the use of a crowbar that I obtained. This crowbar is also used to pry open plank-locked doors.
I went through several variations of creature-avoiding chase scenes that certainly got my heart racing, and I often took longer than I should have exploring different locations in the world. I was highly impressed by the dark, dreary designs of the terrains and how true to life they were presented, which complemented the art direction and attention to detail.
To be honest with you, I feel this game looks much more grotesquely designed than the Little Nightmares games. Because Reanimal is centred on two characters, you can play with a friend in two-player online or local mode, or, like me, play as a single player with the AI taking on the role of my companion.
Reanimal was supposed to give you a friend pass when you pre-ordered the game.
However, I did not get one. I was hoping to play with a friend at that time, but I went solo and had to rely on the AI to get through the story. Despite technically playing on my own, I still had an enjoyable time. The game’s camera is one of its best-selling points, as it’s set at a dynamic range that keeps both siblings in frame, and, seeing as the purpose was to “maximise claustrophobia and tension”, it makes sense.
There were certainly some creepy and goosebump moments, especially when in stealth mode and trying to evade the creatures. I would get quite nervous before making a move to the next area of a location, but that was as far as it went with Reanimal. In terms of the game being scary, maybe it is just me, and I do not scare that easily, but the supposed jump scares here and there did not achieve their intended purpose – well, in my case anyway.
I enjoyed Reanimal, but with all the praise I have for it, I cannot shake off this one problem. My wallet has given me the sad face because it watched me overspend on a game with an incredibly short story. I am not joking: I finished the entire Reanimal main story in three and a half hours. You wake up early in the morning, start the campaign, and you will be done way before you get to have your lunch.
This is somewhat similar to the length of the Little Nightmares games, especially last year’s third game. However, I still wanted Tarsier Studios to bring more to the table so I could enjoy at least a couple more hours, as I was so deep into the story that I wanted to experience more of it. In fact, I believe they could have given us more to the main story.
More chase scenes, more combat, and a better explanation of the ending, since it didn’t really explain anything. The very second the end credits showed, I literally mouthed, “Wait, is that it?” Despite being lower than the usual retail price, £34.99 is still quite steep for the base game. To put that into perspective, I spent £11-12 an hour on a story that, overall, left me with more questions than answers.
To add more salt to the wound, the season pass costs an extra £25.
I did not get it because it was ridiculous. That is not to say that paying the said price for the base game is not ridiculous. I wanted more content, and a mere three to four hours is nowhere near enough.
Reanimal has a great, dark story that is very engaging and immersive. This game is essentially what Little Nightmares III should have been. A story that was much darker, creepier, thrilling, unsettling, and above all else, an exciting experience. A far more detailed and refined visuals, and the puzzles are brilliantly done as the game did not necessarily have to rely too much on them for an immersive experience.
Also, although the map is linear, it is much larger, and I enjoyed navigating through the island’s different worlds. That being said, I must reiterate that I am not too happy with the game’s length. I am very disappointed that the game is so short, and I still believe they could have done more.
I might sound like a broken record, but Reanimal is great, so why not add more to it? Especially, for how much the game and the season pass cost. I would consider waiting until the price drops a bit so you get your money’s worth.
