Reanimal Review - A Brooding Landscape Lacking Depth
Tarsier Studios have assembled quite a reputation for their exceptional worlds and their intimidating environments, and the soul-shaking moments they create for the player through tension and terror, but their games have always been missing the polish required to transform their games into must-plays. As the team steps away from its Little Nightmares franchise and tries its hand at a new franchise, Reanimal, the opportunity has presented itself to hit refresh, and in doing so, address the concerns raised of their previous works. Unfortunately, though, despite making several impressive steps forward in the areas that they were already excelling in, the same old frustrations have once again reared their heads, leaving you wishing for the game that took the next step.
Reanimal aims to tell the tale of two siblings, rocked by trauma, but does so through a minimalist lens. This means that rather than expansive dialogue sequences, lengthy cutscenes, or even the tried and true note or audiolog drops, Tarsier has opted to let the environments and the inhabitants do the talking. It’s haunting, even symbolic at times, but it’s also extremely vague. Perhaps I need to concede that I’m not smart enough to see the storytelling here, or perhaps I’ve not been exposed to enough trauma in my life to connect some of the dots that are being depicted, but outside of one fairly on-the-nose sequence where we see a child snatched by the occupant of a creepy ice-cream truck, there were storytelling threads at play here that I just wasn’t grasping onto. For those perhaps more equipped to unravel such experiences, there might be more there to connect with in Reanimal, but at face value, the game steers you through a range of spooky scenarios, seemingly just because the art design team came up with some scary character models, and the team then built scenarios around those.
With the game clocking in somewhere between 3-5 hours, the narrative, regardless of how you might feel about it, doesn’t overstay its welcome, and the gameplay can take centre stage. Much like Tarsier’s previous works, Reanimal isn’t a complicated game-playing experience, with the two siblings navigating a range of relatively simplistic puzzle platforming obstacles and eluding a range of supernatural threats as they progress through the dark and brooding world. While there are several dark, enclosed spaces that you’ll navigate, some that really fire up any claustrophobia you might have, there are also a few open environments, with hints of colour and life to explore. These areas are more interactive than much of Tarsier’s previous works, more expansive in size, and splashed in along the way. Some great scripted sequences do a superb job of building suspense and making you sweat a little, as you attempt to outrun the threat pursuing you. Unfortunately, some old, reliable Tarsier design flaws rear their heads in these sequences, with jarring transitions between fixed-camera perspectives sometimes creating a clumsy, disorienting experience for the player. In the less chaotic sequences, where a fixed-camera angle is employed, the game handles things quite well, and the lack of urgency required by the player makes it much easier to navigate these scenarios.
There are a few scenarios that will see you engage in combat; these sequences are quite minimalistic in their design and can be overcome with some button mashing. In a few of the open-sea sequences, the player will also have control of a boat with a harpoon attachment. When playing cooperatively, the players handling the brother and sister pairing share the responsibility of steering and shooting, and while this was the most profound impact of co-operative play, it does make some of the puzzles and combat scenarios feel a little less forced to play in co-op as opposed to solo.
Reanimal looks gorgeous. By no means is it a technical powerhouse, but as with their Little Nightmares games before it, Tarsier’s signature style and the ominous atmosphere that they’re so good at manifesting seeps out of the game’s pores. The dark, barely lit environments, which only lessen in tension when you flick on a light source, are fantastic; the open expanses still give off an oppressive aura. This world hasn’t felt happiness in a long time, and it shows, but the game’s soundtrack and minimalistic but powerful voice-work do wonders to build upon the environmental storytelling.
All in all, there’s a lot to like about Reanimal. The narrative is absolutely vague and didn’t register much interest with me, but the vibe of the world is immense, and when paired with the presentational elements, it does a phenomenal job of carrying the experience. Some of the rough edges of previous Tarsier games are present once again, but if you can overlook them, you’ve got a great night or two to wade through the deep, dark mysteries of Reanimal.
Reanimal was reviewed on a PS5 with a code kindly provided by Plaion Australia.
