Not all spooky season adventure needs to frighten you. From beloved classics such as mystery-solving cartoons to delightful stories such as Over the Garden Wall, numerous Halloween-themed staples provide fun without needing raising your heart rate. Moreover, a increasing selection of eerie-charming games with spooky themes, yet without the truly terrifying level of terror. Gloomy Eyes arrived in the fall, and stands as an excellent relaxing alternative to the intensely frightening games of the current season.
A Unique Self-Coop Quest
Known as a single-player cooperative brain-teaser, Gloomy Eyes pairs up a living-impaired child named Gloomy and a human girl named Nena as they embark on an mission to restore sunlight to their shadowy realm. Their appearance resembles Funko Pops combined with the characters from a Laika film. The light-complected and baggy-eyed style is influenced by the look of Gothic fantasy movies, and the narrative is a quintessential family-friendly tale. The duo develops an strong connection over the span of the game’s multiple stages as Nena strives to show to her religious guardian that, hey, perhaps the undead can be friendly.
Creative Problem-Solving Features
This unique label stems from the game’s interactive problem-solving. After Gloomy and Nena encounter each other, you’ll swap among the recent allies to complete challenges and progress through the stages. Being a zombie, Gloomy cannot pass through the illumination of a light source, while Nena will get snatched up by idle zombies unless a beam is shone on them.
They have to collaborate effectively — well, you’ll use them simultaneously — to finish levels. Nena could adjust or briefly disable illumination to create passages for Gloomy, while the intellectually curious character will utilize his supernatural ability to move obstacles in the surroundings, creating routes for Nena.
Captivating Level Design
The brain-teasers evoke memories a little of The Gardens Between, in the manner the stages are floating, model-like structures that the perspective pans around in coordination with your characters. Gloomy Eyes’ settings are very enjoyable, taking the companions around a carnival and through a ghostly building, including other places. Players can use a “diorama view” option that allows you to pull back and rotate the stages, both to enjoy the visuals and search for paths that may not have been clear.
Minor Issues and Complete Gameplay
And that’s one of the only difficulties with Gloomy Eyes. Similar to other releases with a locked camera, occasionally it's confusing where the characters are able to move. You may need to just bump into a few random objects to determine which ones are interactive, as the game doesn't always indicate.
However, those small challenges don’t get in the way of a ghostly-charming fun adventure. Gloomy Eyes has a compact length, with about several hours worth of brain-teasers. Later levels blend together light stealth and action elements with the problem-solving, as Gloomy Eyes advances to a satisfying — and somewhat unforeseen — conclusion.
Release and Conclusion
Those shying away from the frights of fear-inducing titles ought to experience Gloomy Eyes. You can find it on Nintendo Switch, PS5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X, and is currently on sale for a quarter off on online stores.
Gloomy Eyes is available on multiple platforms and offers a pleasurable option for gamers seeking autumn enjoyment without the intense scares.
