I have been eagerly anticipating Reanimal ever since I saw the preview for it. After playing Little Nightmares 3, it left me feeling nostalgic for the first one. The monsters just weren’t the same for me, they didn’t have my heart racing and I was wondering if I was just over the formula. But after playing the Reanimal demo, I can tell you the answer is simply Little Nightmares 3 missed the mark. While the game is beautiful, Reanimal delivers the ambiance, the creep factor, and the creativity I was missing.

The demo is brief, but I think it delivered so much that I was sad when it abruptly ended. When it first started, I wasn’t sure what to think. For the first time, we have characters that are actually speaking, not just little whispers, but full conversations. It didn’t detract from what was happening, but I was surprised to hear it. Like previously installments, the opening is kind of a slow introduction, easing you into a world that doesn’t feel quite right. You’re on a boat and when you reach land and start to explore, the story unfolds and things begin to feel more ominous.

The thing I loved about this demo is it literally made me stop in my tracks and turn around. You’d turn a corner, see something and just stop moving. Reanimal has couch co-op so my husband and I could play on a shared screen, but it makes it so you can’t run off screen for too long or you will die. This means you have to communicate and coordinate. No one can take off running and leave someone behind. So when I saw something weird, like a twitching body, I made my husband stop and look with me, and warned him we needed to run the second I picked up an object.

The way the monsters move and the design of them are just *chef’s kiss* – The way they physically move and fill the space, their jittery movements, the lack of smoothness… it just really amplifies the creep factor. There was a moment where we walked through a door and saw someone walking through another where I literally just stopped, turned around, and walked out the door… but when we finally went back in to see where he was going, well… see for yourself.

Like… what TF WAS THAT!? Oh my god, the atmosphere of this game is so good. I know I’m being repetitive but THIS is what Little Nightmares was all about. THIS is what I was missing. And you know, Reanimal is made by the original studio that made my favorite installment. This is a return to form. This is what these games are all about. This is what made me fall in love with these games. I literally panicked and froze when I saw this guy for the first time. I didn’t run and hide like I was supposed to. I saw him see us, I heard the music shift, and I watched as he transformed into an unsettling hunter that I couldn’t escape. I’ve never been so thrilled by dying in a game LOL.

I hope that the Little Nightmares 3 future DLC takes notes because this is what we need more of. Atmosphere is important, but the monsters have to equally deliver and being chased by a giant baby doll just doesn’t scratch the itch that this does. I reminisce about that first monster in Little Nightmares and how I screamed running from that thing. This gives me that same anxiety.

This game releases on February 13th, but the demo is out now. Please go play it. Experience it for yourself. I cannot wait to see what other horrific monsters we will encounter. I can’t wait to see what the DLC looks like. I’ve already preordered the deluxe version and I just know this is going to be a favorite.