Nobody expected TARSIER Studios to leave Bandai Namco after the success of their other two games. The monumental amounts of excitement produced from Little Nightmares and Little Nightmares 2 left massive shoes to fill for the new team that would be making Little Nightmares 3 after TARSIER took their leave from the company, and although LN3 wasn’t a terrible game by any means, gamers were disappointed. The game was shorter, the visuals felt like parodies of TARSIER’s uniquely horrific universe, and people couldn’t help but wonder What happened?
Well, while this was happening, TARSIER was working on their own independent game. The previews of this upcoming experience spread throughout the social media landscape like a cryptid peeking its head out from between the trees. Reasonably, it felt like a king returning to reclaim the throne of the horror genre-- And it surpassed all expectations following its recent release this year.
REANIMAL is a game with symbolism deeply embedded in wartime, religion, environmentalism, desperation, and trauma. This review/analysis will contain spoilers, so if you haven’t already seen it, I strongly recommend you watch a playthrough or buy the game yourself, especially if you enjoyed TARSIER’s other games. There will also be mentions of body horror, animal harm, and disturbing imagery.
With that out of the way, let’s get started.
With that out of the way, let’s get started.
00: Friends & Floods
We are introduced to the world of REANIMAL as a lonely child on a boat. The sea is coated in a thick sheet of fog, and we are guided along it by a bunch of red glowing buoys. Halfway through this traversal, we find the floating body of a dead girl, and we pull her onto our boat. This information may not be apparent to first-time players, but the boy and the girl are siblings. The question remains, though--- What Was She Doing Here?
She is alive when we pull her into our boat, despite her looking very much like a corpse. Just like in Little Nightmares, our child protagonists have their heads covered with various objects. I’d even argue this feels like a spiritual expansion of the world presented in TARSIER’s previous games with these recurring themes. Masks, Water, and a world so vastly nightmarish and huge it almost makes our efforts feel futile.
Throughout each “stage” or setting of the game, we continue collecting our friends and saving them from dangerous situations. Children are wearing a bucket, a bandage, and a hood. The boy wears an old sack, and the girl wears a rabbit mask.
A neat thing about this game is that there is the option to play Co-op, in case you want to share the fear with a real friend.
A neat thing about this game is that there is the option to play Co-op, in case you want to share the fear with a real friend.
Something extremely different from TARSIER’s previous games is the voice acting. I can’t put into words how shocked I was to hear the animals and protagonists alike share a few lines of dialogue. There’s even more cut content from the game that you can find on YouTube, but every bit of it feels phenomenal.
01: Sniffer & His Skins
The first “villains” or enemies we encounter, while on a search to retrieve the hooded friend, are the meticulously crafted Sniffer and lifeless humanoid skins that slither around and chase you while you fetch parts for puzzles. The immense tension the environment builds up plays well in its horror's favor. I can’t think of many games that gave me as much of a scare as the human skins suddenly throwing themselves off of shelves and crawling out from crevices in the floors. Even more so, Sniffer has a unique ability to crawl into hollowed-out carcasses while traveling around.
Sniffer is interesting because of the strangeness of his character. He not only possesses insect-like behaviors, but he also crawls around on all fours and seemingly collects the human skin suits that had been chasing us prior.
Sniffer is interesting because of the strangeness of his character. He not only possesses insect-like behaviors, but he also crawls around on all fours and seemingly collects the human skin suits that had been chasing us prior.
02: Little Rabbits, and The Maiden of The Orphanage
This section of the game takes place in what appears to be an orphanage. Honestly. The layout of this stage reminds me of Little Nightmares 2’s Schoolhouse with the half-headed children-- But the monster that dwells in REANIMAL’s orphanage is much more frightening than The Teacher. This creature design is what appears to be a giant ball of fur(?) with human arms sticking out of its sides, and a massive hole where a face should be. It spits out children made of a dust-like material that The Boy and The Girl have to fight to save their friend, and eventually, we have to fight the creature itself.
It’s very hard to make unique creature designs these days, but I think TARSIER nailed it pretty well with the many creatures they feature in the game. You can tell they wanted to experiment more with their style, and I appreciated the effort tremendously.
It’s very hard to make unique creature designs these days, but I think TARSIER nailed it pretty well with the many creatures they feature in the game. You can tell they wanted to experiment more with their style, and I appreciated the effort tremendously.
03: The Pelican & The Pig
Our next friend has been held hostage by an enormous pelican-like monster. We have to climb the lighthouse and run for our lives to rescue him. On the way to the lighthouse, we encountered some abnormally large and grotesque pigs. The biggest of the pigs tells us to leave, and we listen because we probably don’t want to know what happens if we don’t.
I find the pigs fascinating, despite them not having much screentime in the actual game. I do remember there being a promo statue of the big pig given out to creators, which gave me the impression that he would have a bigger role in the game.
Still, I don’t think all meaning was lost despite some aspects feeling underdeveloped. The game is still phenomenal and meaningful with what it chooses and chooses not to tell us.
I find the pigs fascinating, despite them not having much screentime in the actual game. I do remember there being a promo statue of the big pig given out to creators, which gave me the impression that he would have a bigger role in the game.
Still, I don’t think all meaning was lost despite some aspects feeling underdeveloped. The game is still phenomenal and meaningful with what it chooses and chooses not to tell us.
04: The Whale & The Horse(?)
The fever-dream-like adventure gets significantly more horrific when we encounter the skinless horse and the whale. We fetch the whale’s eye from the skinless horse-- (AKA “The Brook Horse”) after shooting it down with a massive cannon we find stationed on a tiny island. The Brook Horse gives chase, and we realize that the creature hadn’t actually died when we shot it.
But, like most things, the solution was found through the use of explosives.
This is probably a good time to bring up the present aspect of wartime weapons, just casually lying around as we traverse this world. There are sea mines all over the flooded areas we explore, and that massive cannon had to be used for something at some point, right?
But who are we fighting? Why is the world flooded in blackened water? What turned all the animals into monsters?
But, like most things, the solution was found through the use of explosives.
This is probably a good time to bring up the present aspect of wartime weapons, just casually lying around as we traverse this world. There are sea mines all over the flooded areas we explore, and that massive cannon had to be used for something at some point, right?
But who are we fighting? Why is the world flooded in blackened water? What turned all the animals into monsters?
And, why does our sister keep TWEAKING???
Every so often, The Girl will curl over in pain, plagued with a vision of a lamb at the bottom of a well. It grows, moves, and eventually climbs out of the well…
Just for her to cough it up in a lump of blood during the final stage of the game.
Yes, a lot happens. Just stick with me.
Every so often, The Girl will curl over in pain, plagued with a vision of a lamb at the bottom of a well. It grows, moves, and eventually climbs out of the well…
Just for her to cough it up in a lump of blood during the final stage of the game.
Yes, a lot happens. Just stick with me.
05: The Lamb & The War
Finally, we see the cruel heart of this world. As we are being pursued by the rapidly growing lamb creature, our friends are picked off one-by-one. We run through the trenches, avoid sharpshooters, and encounter paths laced with corpses and barbed wire.
The lamb begins growing to such astonishing heights that it towers over buildings and shows its human arms and legs. We have to sneak past it on multiple occasions until we reach the endgame and attempt to kill it with a tank we hijack after killing the soldier piloting it.
Despite our efforts, the lamb devours The Boy, and finally The Girl.
The lamb begins growing to such astonishing heights that it towers over buildings and shows its human arms and legs. We have to sneak past it on multiple occasions until we reach the endgame and attempt to kill it with a tank we hijack after killing the soldier piloting it.
Despite our efforts, the lamb devours The Boy, and finally The Girl.
06: Sacrifice
The most prevalent symbolism in the game comes to us in the final scene, when we sort of flash back to the events that happened before the strange situation we found ourselves in. During this cutscene, we learn that The Girl was murdered and sacrificed to some kind of rabbit-like deity by her brother and their friends. The friends we went on a journey to save were the ones who slaughtered us, and theoretically caused the end of the world. Many internet users have speculated that the ritual was the beginning of the strange flood, the animals, and the reason why the world is seemingly at war. And as usual, TARSIER does not hold our hands in figuring out the story of our protagonists.
I honestly like to compare this universe to Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke, a film in which large animals serve as gods and can become demons through the curse of hatred. Although REANIMAL couldn’t possibly be more different than Miyazaki's classic film, it’s an interesting way to perceive the strange animals of the game’s world. We’ve already established that the children worship the rabbit, but what about the other massive animalistic entities we encounter? They can speak, and intend to have many more lines in the game when you peek into the cut voice lines for the Whale and Pig.
I honestly like to compare this universe to Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke, a film in which large animals serve as gods and can become demons through the curse of hatred. Although REANIMAL couldn’t possibly be more different than Miyazaki's classic film, it’s an interesting way to perceive the strange animals of the game’s world. We’ve already established that the children worship the rabbit, but what about the other massive animalistic entities we encounter? They can speak, and intend to have many more lines in the game when you peek into the cut voice lines for the Whale and Pig.
I think the best part about TARSIER’s works is that they leave you lots of food for thought. If you want a game that you can really chew on for a while and come up with your own story interpretations based on little clues the studio gives you, REANIMAL is definitely for you. It’s one of the most visually impressive and well-thought-out horror experiences I’ve played in a while.
