Little Nightmare studio's Reanimal is a spooky co-op adventure game inspired by Wind Waker and Silent Hill 2

The Little Nightmares DNA is running strong in Tarsier Studios’ new game, so much so that when I watched a trailer at an online preview event last week, I assumed it was a new installment in the horror cinematic-platformer series until the name Reanimal appeared on screen — immediately followed by a voice-over snippet of dialogue.

Not just the horror scene, but also the Grimm-fairytale menace, adult-created monsters distorted through the traumatic lens of a child’s imagination. A long-limbed man in a worn suit chases children down a street on a bicycle. A skinny, bowler-hatted pursuer slithers down a long table like a spider. It’s familiar enough territory, at least at first glance. But when Tarsier has a job with ghosts wound up in his subconscious, those vivid, recurring nightmares are just as powerful.


Still, Reanimal has a few new tricks up its sleeve that make it a distinct change, even if it's a direct sequel to Tarsier's previous work. For starters, it's two-player co-op, local or online, but you'll still be able to play solo.

“The easy solution would have been to do split-screen… but we never wanted people to feel alone. We wanted to force players to play together,” says story director David Mervik, who wrote for both Little Nightmares games. Mervik cites Hazelight's It Takes Two as an inspiration, but says Tarsier aimed for a more minimalist approach with Reanimal.

Mervik describes the aim as offering “that cathartic experience of experiencing something scary together.” Also new is a managed, shared camera, unlike the fixed, side-on viewpoint of Little Nightmares. The aim here is for more edited, managed scenes, even when exploring optional locations.

The question that set Reanimal in a new direction, Mervik says, was: “What if we could combine a slightly more narrow sense of adventure than The Windwaker with the intense claustrophobic fear you felt in Silent Hill 2?”

“For us, [adventure] “The word is out,” he continues. “We want that feeling of excitement, but we also want that feeling of absolute terror. But if that's all you feel, you start to feel nothing at all.” So you'll be able to travel by boat, explore smaller areas off the main road, and maybe help your team of orphans discover what's going on in this world.

But the most striking aspect of Reanimal's Little Nightmares is its newfound interest in big barnyard bastards. Puffed-up, giant farm animals crash through collapsing walls like they're hungry for tamacco, and a multi-armed sheep, never skip leg day climbs between two buildings. A giant boar perches on its hind legs, slowly turning toward the camera and our heroes as it escapes from a rotting wooden shack. Another monster, escaping classification, runs through the trailer with limbs emerging from a large cocoon.

In Reanimal, two orphans walk along the beach towards a boat.

Image credit: Tarsier Studios

Mervik says the look of the characters and monsters “revolves around the shared history of these kids.” Ah, there's that Silent Hill inspiration again. The story focuses on five orphans, but you'll play as one of two: a bored, bunny-masked girl, or a boy who's probably tried to find a bunny mask and failed, so he's got a sack over his head. Tarsier doesn't say much about what these kids do, but it'll be your job to find out.

When Mervik talks about the tones and themes of Reanimal, he uses words that evoke a formless peace and vitality. A comforting smell made disgusting, like someone urinating in your bread machine when you’re not looking. Corruption. Distortion. Pollution. Violence. “The world itself? The word I would use most would be violence. What is this world—why is it the way it is? What does it reflect? Violence. Oh, this is a beautiful pine forest. How can we destroy it? There are very industrial environments, and there should be a beautiful water forest…”

And Mervik digresses a bit to talk about the new camera's ability to render scenes in new ways and give the player a sense of loneliness. As someone who's trying to cover the game, I find this sudden change a bit jarring. But as someone who loves both Little Nightmares games, Mervik's excitement is infectious. Despite the digression, it feels like a deeply focused and deliberate project.

Tarsier has never been shy about paring down the design work, to the point where you might criticize the Little Nightmares games as being a bit short for their asking price. Short, but never truncated. Perfectly formed and wonderfully disturbing. Reanimal seems to be trying to continue that tradition. I'll be counting down the days, even if I don't think counting sheep will work for me anymore.


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