Not every spooky season adventure has to terrify gamers. From well-known tales such as Scooby-Doo to delightful stories such as Over the Garden Wall, numerous autumn-inspired titles are enjoyable without needing increasing anxiety. Moreover, a expanding collection of ghostly-adorable games including autumn atmosphere, though lacking the truly terrifying intensity of fear. Gloomy Eyes arrived in the fall, and stands as an excellent comfortable choice to the deeply scary titles of this year.
A Distinctive Self-Coop Journey
Labeled as a solo collaboration puzzle game, Gloomy Eyes teams up a living-impaired child known as Gloomy and a human girl known as Nena as they start an adventure to return daylight to their gloomy environment. Their appearance evokes collectible figures blended with the figures from a animated feature. Their pale-skinned and heavy-lidded aesthetic borrows heavily from the visual style of Burtonesque cinema, and the narrative is a classic suitable for everyone tale. The duo forms an strong friendship over the duration of the game’s multiple stages as Nena tries to demonstrate to her priest uncle that, you know, maybe living-impaired beings aren’t half bad.
Creative Puzzle Mechanics
The innovative label originates from the game’s interactive problem-solving. After Gloomy and Nena cross paths, players alternate between the recent allies to overcome obstacles and move forward through the levels. As an undead, Gloomy cannot pass through the illumination of a light source, while Nena can be captured by idle zombies except if a lamp is directed on them.
They have to collaborate effectively — in practice, you’ll use them in tandem — to advance through areas. Nena may move or temporarily shut off lights to open routes for Gloomy, while the intellectually curious character will employ his undead power to rearrange obstacles in the environment, opening up paths for Nena.
Engaging Environment Creation
The brain-teasers remind me a little of The Gardens Between, in the fashion the stages are hovering, model-like structures that the view rotates in sync with your characters. Gloomy Eyes’ settings are quite fun, guiding the duo around a fair and through a haunted house, including other locations. Players can use a “diorama view” button that allows you to view from afar and spin the stages, both to appreciate the artwork and hunt for ways that may not have been clear.
Small Challenges and Complete Gameplay
Here lies one of the few problems with Gloomy Eyes. Comparable to other titles with a locked camera, it’s not always clear where the characters may or may not travel. You may need to just bump into a several various elements to determine which ones are interactable, as clues aren't consistently provided.
Nevertheless, those slight obstacles don’t get in the way of a ghostly-charming good time. Gloomy Eyes runs on the short side, with approximately a few sessions worth of puzzles. Later levels blend together subtle hidden movement and action elements with the challenge completion, as Gloomy Eyes advances to a rewarding — and slightly unforeseen — ending.
Release and Final Thoughts
Players steering clear of the frights of intense horror games ought to experience Gloomy Eyes. You can find it on Switch console, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X, and is available at a reduced price for 25% off on game marketplaces.
Gloomy Eyes has been released on several consoles and provides a pleasurable option for players seeking autumn enjoyment minus the terrifying moments.
