REVIEW – Little Nightmares III is out, sure – but it wasn’t made by Tarsier Studios. Instead, they built Reanimal, and it’s flat-out better than LN3. There’s even a real argument that it can stand taller than the first two games. It’s dark, atmospheric, and quietly addictive – the kind of creepy ride that won’t let go once it gets its hooks in.

Plenty has shifted compared to Little Nightmares, but the core feeling is intact: you’re uneasy, you’re curious, and you keep walking forward even when every instinct says you shouldn’t.

A Siblings’ Descent Into Hell

Two siblings arrive on an island by boat, and the story reveals itself as you play – properly clicking into place closer to the finale. The world is terrifying, but one notable change is that the kids actually speak at times. That’s a surprise from Tarsier, a studio that’s traditionally been strongest when it lets environments do the talking.

You learn what happened before you got here, and the goal is simple enough: they’re searching for their friends while warped creatures hunt them down. The game occasionally lets the tension breathe so the sibling bond can take center stage. The sister comes off as more vulnerable, yet her help becomes essential in solo play. In co-op, it turns into real teamwork – and some sequences feel genuinely different when another human is in the loop.

The story is twisted in the best way, and we’re not spoiling it. This is the kind of game you need to absorb, stick with, and let unfold. Tarsier has clearly learned how to keep momentum without leaving players completely in the dark: you get exactly the amount of story you need in the moment, no more. Exploration is rewarded too – image galleries and background crumbs add context and help you make sense of what you’re seeing.

And yes, exploration matters because the levels aren’t strictly linear. You’ll often backtrack to earlier areas once you’ve picked up the right item. Larger hub-like spaces feature locked doors that gradually open as you collect the tools you need. Importantly, it rarely feels like you’re wandering blindly: environmental cues are placed so cleverly you barely notice them, yet they still nudge you toward the next move (sometimes through a character briefly appearing and disappearing).

The one annoying snag: in solo play, your partner can occasionally vanish, forcing a reload to the previous checkpoint. It’s not constant, but when it happens, it’s exactly as irritating as it sounds. Also, in a sentence that feels weird to write but fits anyway, Reanimal leans into a lightly metroidvania-style structure: items open new areas and can even help you survive certain encounters. Completionists also get collectible masks to chase, for anyone who wants to turn the whole island inside out.

Fighting Isn’t Always the Answer

Picking a fight usually isn’t the play. You run. You scramble. You slip past. And unlike Alien: Isolation, you can mess up once without the game instantly slamming the door in your face. The enemies are genuinely frightening, and that’s one of Reanimal’s strongest cards: their designs are disturbingly good, which gives every encounter real weight.

It’s not just fleeing, either. There are plenty of puzzles, stealth makes its appearance, and later on cooperation becomes genuinely important: the sister handles certain mechanisms while the brother takes care of the rest. In solo, the game doesn’t immediately spell out what to do – which is smart because it forces you to think. Sometimes, though, that turns into pure frustration when you’re standing there waiting for a solution to become obvious, and that hesitation can absolutely get you killed.

Co-op tends to smooth out those moments – but there’s no drop-in/drop-out convenience here. Still, the game’s real strength is how reliably it keeps you engaged: these unlucky siblings’ nightmare never stops finding new ways to hold your attention. The sound design is excellent, the studio’s audio chops are on full display, and the music does its job without stepping on the atmosphere. The game stays focused, and that focus shows in the final result: heavy visuals, a well-constructed story, rewarding exploration, and the fact that co-op changes puzzles and encounters in meaningful ways compared to solo.

It Delivers

Reanimal earns a strong 8.5/10. Tarsier proves again that it knows how to build a frighteningly good experience, keep tension alive, and pour a little metroidvania-flavored exploration over the top. If you loved the first two Little Nightmares games, this is an easy recommendation. It’s not always obvious what the next step is, especially if you’re not used to environmental storytelling, but overall: this is an excellent game.

-V-

Developer: Tarsier Studios
Publisher: THQ Nordic, Amplifier Studios
Release Date: February 13, 2026
Genre: Horror Adventure Platformer