Not all Halloween horror adventure must scare you. Starting with iconic favorites such as animated detectives to charming series like Over the Garden Wall, many Halloween-themed favorites are enjoyable without needing causing fear. Additionally, a growing library of ghostly-adorable releases including Halloween vibes, though lacking the keep-you-awake level of horror. Gloomy Eyes arrived in September, and acts as an superb comfortable alternative to the deeply scary releases of this year.
An Original Single-Player Cooperative Journey
Described as a “self-coop” brain-teaser, Gloomy Eyes pairs up a living-impaired child known as Gloomy and a mortal child known as Nena as they embark on an quest to return daylight to their dark, dark world. They look resembles collectible figures blended with the figures from a stop-motion animation. Their pale-skinned and baggy-eyed aesthetic draws inspiration from the visual style of Tim Burton’s films, and the story is a archetypal all-ages adventure. These two forms an strong friendship over the course of the game’s multiple stages as Nena attempts to show to her priest uncle that, hey, perhaps the undead aren’t half bad.
Innovative Problem-Solving Features
This unique label originates from the game’s interactive problem-solving. Once Gloomy and Nena encounter each other, gamers switch between the budding companions to solve puzzles and move forward through the levels. As an undead, Gloomy can’t walk through the light of a lamppost, while Nena may be grabbed by wandering undead without a beam is shone on them.
They have to cooperate closely — actually, you’ll use them in tandem — to finish levels. Nena might relocate or briefly disable lights to create passages for Gloomy, while the intellectually curious youth will use his zombie strength to rearrange items in the surroundings, revealing routes for Nena.
Immersive Environment Creation
The brain-teasers bring to mind a touch of The Gardens Between, in the way the levels are floating, diorama-like structures that the view rotates in coordination with your protagonists. Gloomy Eyes’ worlds are very enjoyable, leading the friends around a carnival and through a ghostly building, including other locales. Players can use a “diorama view” option that enables you to pull back and turn the areas, simultaneously to appreciate the artwork and search for routes that may not have been apparent.
Slight Issues and Overall Adventure
This represents one of the only hiccups with Gloomy Eyes. Like other games with a fixed perspective, it’s not always clear where the characters can and cannot go. Players might have to simply collide with a few random items to determine which ones are usable, as it’s not always intuitive.
However, those slight challenges don't obstruct of a eerie-adorable good time. Gloomy Eyes has a compact length, with roughly a few sessions worth of brain-teasers. Later levels integrate subtle sneaking and exciting moments with the problem-solving, as Gloomy Eyes marches toward a satisfying — and somewhat surprising — conclusion.
Release and Summary
Players avoiding the scares of terrifying titles won’t want to miss Gloomy Eyes. The game is out on Nintendo Switch, PS5, computer, and Xbox Series X, and is presently discounted for a quarter off on game marketplaces.
Gloomy Eyes is out now on various systems and offers a pleasurable option for gamers seeking autumn enjoyment without the fear factor.
