Not every spooky season adventure must frighten gamers. Including beloved classics like Scooby-Doo to charming series including Over the Garden Wall, many Halloween-themed staples provide fun without requiring raising your heart rate. There’s also, a growing library of spooky-cute titles featuring Halloween vibes, yet without the sleep-with-the-lights-on intensity of horror. Gloomy Eyes arrived in the fall, and stands as an excellent cozy choice to the deeply scary titles of this year.
A Unique Single-Player Cooperative Journey
Known as a “self-coop” puzzle game, Gloomy Eyes unites a zombie boy known as Gloomy and a mortal child known as Nena as they embark on an adventure to restore sunlight to their shadowy realm. They look is similar to stylized dolls combined with the puppets from a Laika film. The light-complected and baggy-eyed style borrows heavily from the look of Gothic fantasy movies, and the plot is a quintessential suitable for everyone tale. The pair forms an enduring connection over the duration of the game’s numerous levels as Nena strives to show to her religious guardian that, hey, perhaps living-impaired beings aren’t half bad.
Original Problem-Solving Features
This unique description comes about from the game’s world-based challenges. Once Gloomy and Nena meet, you’ll swap among the newfound friends to solve puzzles and advance through the levels. As an undead, Gloomy can’t walk through the brightness of a lamppost, while Nena may be grabbed by idle zombies unless a lamp is directed on them.
They have to collaborate effectively — actually, gamers operate them simultaneously — to advance through areas. Nena could adjust or momentarily deactivate lights to clear paths for Gloomy, while the open-brained boy will utilize his supernatural ability to shift around obstacles in the environment, revealing ways for Nena.
Immersive Level Design
These challenges bring to mind a touch of The Gardens Between, in the manner the areas are suspended, miniature designs that the view pans around in coordination with your characters. Gloomy Eyes’ settings are very enjoyable, leading the duo around a fair and through a spooky mansion, amid other places. Players can use a “diorama view” button that allows you to zoom out and spin the levels, simultaneously to enjoy the designs and search for ways that may not have been obvious.
Minor Hiccups and Overall Gameplay
Here lies one of the few difficulties with Gloomy Eyes. Similar to other releases with a static view, sometimes it's unclear where the heroes are able to move. Players might have to simply collide with a few random elements to determine which ones are interactable, as it’s not always intuitive.
However, those slight challenges don’t get in the way of a ghostly-charming good time. Gloomy Eyes runs on the short side, with roughly several hours worth of challenges. Advanced areas integrate subtle sneaking and action elements with the challenge completion, as Gloomy Eyes progresses to a rewarding — and slightly unforeseen — ending.
Release and Final Thoughts
Those shying away from the terror of fear-inducing titles won’t want to miss Gloomy Eyes. You can find it on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PC, and Microsoft console, and is currently on sale for a discount on online stores.
The spooky-cute adventure is out now on several consoles and provides a enjoyable alternative for players seeking spooky entertainment minus the intense scares.
