Not each spooky season adventure needs to scare players. Starting with well-known tales such as mystery-solving cartoons to endearing shows including Over the Garden Wall, plenty of autumn-inspired favorites provide fun without requiring causing fear. Moreover, a growing library of spooky-cute releases featuring Halloween vibes, yet without the sleep-with-the-lights-on degree of terror. Gloomy Eyes debuted in the fall, and stands as an excellent relaxing option to the truly terrifying releases of this year.
A Unique Single-Player Cooperative Journey
Labeled as a single-player cooperative brain-teaser, Gloomy Eyes unites a undead youth named Gloomy and a mortal child called Nena as they begin an mission to restore sunlight to their gloomy world. They look resembles stylized dolls blended with the figures from a animated feature. The light-complected and tired-looking appearance borrows heavily from the look of Gothic fantasy movies, and the story is a classic all-ages tale. The pair forms an enduring friendship over the course of the game’s numerous levels as Nena attempts to demonstrate to her religious guardian that, look, perhaps living-impaired beings can be friendly.
Creative Problem-Solving Features
The innovative description stems from the game’s world-based challenges. After Gloomy and Nena meet, gamers switch amidst the recent allies to solve puzzles and move forward through the stages. Being a zombie, Gloomy can’t walk through the light of a streetlight, while Nena may be grabbed by wandering undead without a beam is directed on them.
They must cooperate closely — in practice, gamers operate them in tandem — to advance through areas. Nena might relocate or temporarily shut off illumination to open routes for Gloomy, while the open-brained youth will utilize his supernatural ability to move objects in the surroundings, opening up routes for Nena.
Engaging World Building
The puzzles bring to mind a little of The Gardens Between, in the manner the areas are floating, diorama-like designs that the perspective pans around in conjunction with your protagonists. Gloomy Eyes’ environments are highly entertaining, guiding the friends around a fair and through a haunted house, amid other locations. The game includes a “diorama view” option that enables you to pull back and rotate the levels, both for enjoy the artwork and search for ways that may not have been obvious.
Small Hiccups and General Gameplay
Here lies one of the few problems with Gloomy Eyes. Comparable to other releases with a locked camera, sometimes it's unclear where the protagonists can and cannot go. You may need to just bump into a multiple different elements to determine which ones are usable, as it’s not always intuitive.
Nevertheless, those minor obstacles don't hinder of a eerie-adorable good time. Gloomy Eyes runs on the short side, with approximately several hours worth of puzzles. Later levels combine light stealth and dynamic sequences with the problem-solving, as Gloomy Eyes progresses to a fulfilling — and slightly surprising — conclusion.
Release and Conclusion
Those avoiding the scares of fear-inducing titles won’t want to miss Gloomy Eyes. The game is out on Switch console, Sony system, PC, and Xbox, and is currently on sale for 25% off on game marketplaces.
Gloomy Eyes is out now on several consoles and offers a enjoyable option for gamers in search of autumn enjoyment minus the terrifying moments.
