It’s been nearly four years since Tarsier Studios said goodbye to Little Nightmares after it was purchased by Embracer Group, giving developer Supermassive a chance to work on the much-loved Bandai-Namco-owned horror series. So what has Tarsier been up to since then? Well, it turns out the studio hasn’t quite shaken off its fascination with creepy kids in scary places, as a look at its latest project, the just-unveiled Reanimal, makes clear.
Reanimal’s grim, fairy-tale aesthetic, its gangly monsters, and its two young protagonists (all of which are evident in the reveal trailer) are certainly reminiscent of Tarsier’s Little Nightmares series. And while that’s no bad thing, given the studio’s often brilliant work on those games, it’s not entirely clear after a half-hour press conference how substantially Reanimal will differ (beyond two key features) from what’s come before.
Reanimal tells the story of an orphaned brother and sister, trapped on a hellish version of the island that used to be their home, as they embark on a quest to rescue their three friends. It’s a violent world of gloomy forests and decimated buildings, where empty bags of fur hang from trees and horrific creatures and animals roam. It’s also a game that aims for a “darker and grittier” tone compared to Tarsier’s previous horror games.
Exactly why our two protagonists find themselves in a twisted version of their home is a central mystery in Renanimal’s story – Tarsier teases the look of its monsters and the design of its protagonists, all of which are tied to the children’s past. And it’s a story that will unfold using a minimalist, “restricted” narrative approach, where, as in Tarsier’s previous work, visual storytelling remains the focus, albeit now accompanied by a bit of voice acting.
That’s not the big new addition to Tarsier’s horror formula, though. Instead, that honor goes to local and online co-op play – a feature that managed to elude Little Nightmares, even though its dual protagonists seemed like a natural fit – but which the studio is finally ready to offer in its latest game. Working on the foundation that “horror is better with friends,” Reanimal lets two players explore its world at the same time, both viewing the action through a shared camera that keeps them together in the same frame, even as it switches from one cinematic perspective to the next. And for solo players, it’s possible to play with the AI controlling the second character.
And beyond that, all Tarsier is willing to say for now is that Reanimal’s on-foot gameplay will be augmented by boat navigation, allowing players to sail between the fragmented islands that make up its world. It will apparently even be possible to stray from its main narrative path to explore smaller areas in a non-linear fashion if they so choose.
Of course, Little Nightmares 1 and 2 were both gloriously sinister slices of fairytale horror, so it wouldn’t be an easy task to repeat the same. However, there are hints that Reanimal might offer something a little more ambitious than a quiet evolution of a familiar formula, so hopefully we’ll start to get a better idea of its identity once Tarsier is ready to reveal more.
There's no word on a release date for Reanimal yet, but when it does appear, it'll be available on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC.