Not every spooky season journey needs to frighten you. From iconic favorites for example Scooby-Doo to delightful stories including Over the Garden Wall, many Halloween-themed titles are enjoyable without requiring raising your heart rate. Moreover, a growing library of ghostly-adorable titles including autumn atmosphere, yet without the truly terrifying level of horror. Gloomy Eyes was released in the fall, and serves as an superb comfortable alternative to the truly terrifying games of the current season.
A Unique Collaborative Solo Adventure
Labeled as a “self-coop” brain-teaser, Gloomy Eyes pairs up a living-impaired child named Gloomy and a human girl named Nena as they embark on an quest to restore sunlight to their dark, dark world. Their design evokes Funko Pops blended with the characters from a animated feature. The pale-skinned and baggy-eyed appearance is influenced by the appearance of Tim Burton’s films, and the story is a classic family-friendly adventure. The duo forms an enduring connection over the span of the game’s 14 chapters as Nena attempts to demonstrate to her priest uncle that, hey, maybe the undead can be friendly.
Innovative Puzzle Mechanics
The “self-coop” description stems from the game’s environmental puzzles. When Gloomy and Nena encounter each other, you’ll swap among the budding companions to overcome obstacles and progress through the areas. As an undead, Gloomy can’t walk through the illumination of a light source, while Nena can be captured by idle zombies without a beam is shone on them.
They must cooperate closely — actually, players control them together — to advance through areas. Nena might relocate or momentarily deactivate illumination to open routes for Gloomy, while the intellectually curious boy will employ his undead power to rearrange items in the surroundings, opening up paths for Nena.
Captivating Level Design
These challenges bring to mind a little of The Gardens Between, in the fashion the areas are hovering, miniature designs that the camera pans around in conjunction with your heroes. Gloomy Eyes’ settings are highly entertaining, leading the duo around a carnival and through a haunted house, including other locales. There’s a “diorama view” feature that enables you to view from afar and turn the stages, both for enjoy the designs and hunt for ways that may not have been apparent.
Small Hiccups and General Experience
Here lies one of the few problems with Gloomy Eyes. Comparable to other releases with a fixed perspective, occasionally it's confusing where the heroes may or may not travel. Gamers could require to randomly encounter a few random elements to determine which ones are interactable, as it’s not always intuitive.
Nevertheless, those minor challenges don't obstruct of a eerie-adorable fun adventure. Gloomy Eyes is relatively brief, with roughly several hours worth of brain-teasers. Advanced areas integrate subtle stealth and dynamic sequences with the challenge completion, as Gloomy Eyes advances to a fulfilling — and somewhat surprising — ending.
Release and Final Thoughts
Gamers shying away from the terror of terrifying releases won’t want to miss Gloomy Eyes. The game is out on Nintendo Switch, PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X, and is presently discounted for 25% off on game marketplaces.
Gloomy Eyes has been released on several consoles and offers a pleasurable alternative for players seeking spooky entertainment without the intense scares.
