Not each autumn fright journey has to scare gamers. Starting with well-known tales such as Scooby-Doo to charming series such as Over the Garden Wall, numerous spooky-season favorites provide fun without increasing anxiety. Moreover, a increasing selection of spooky-cute titles featuring autumn atmosphere, yet without the sleep-with-the-lights-on level of terror. Gloomy Eyes debuted in recent months, and serves as an superb comfortable alternative to the deeply scary games of the current season.
An Original Self-Coop Adventure
Labeled as a “self-coop” brain-teaser, Gloomy Eyes teams up a living-impaired child named Gloomy and a human girl known as Nena as they begin an quest to bring the sun back to their shadowy world. They look evokes Funko Pops mixed with the figures from a Laika film. The light-complected and tired-looking style borrows heavily from the appearance of Tim Burton’s films, and the narrative is a quintessential suitable for everyone journey. The duo builds an unbreakable friendship over the span of the game’s 14 chapters as Nena tries to demonstrate to her religious guardian that, hey, maybe living-impaired beings aren’t half bad.
Innovative Puzzle Mechanics
The innovative description stems from the game’s environmental puzzles. After Gloomy and Nena encounter each other, you’ll swap amidst the budding companions to solve puzzles and move forward through the stages. Since he's not alive, Gloomy cannot pass through the light of a light source, while Nena will get snatched up by wandering undead unless a lamp is focused on them.
They must collaborate effectively — in practice, gamers operate them in tandem — to finish levels. Nena might relocate or temporarily shut off lights to open routes for Gloomy, while the intellectually curious boy will employ his undead power to move items in the world, revealing routes for Nena.
Captivating Level Design
These challenges evoke memories a bit of The Gardens Between, in the fashion the stages are suspended, miniature structures that the camera pans around in conjunction with your characters. Gloomy Eyes’ worlds are highly entertaining, taking the friends around a fair and through a ghostly building, amid other places. There’s a “diorama view” option that permits you to pull back and rotate the stages, simultaneously to enjoy the visuals and search for ways that may not have been obvious.
Small Hiccups and Complete Gameplay
And that’s one of the few difficulties with Gloomy Eyes. Like other titles with a locked camera, it’s not always clear where the protagonists may or may not travel. Players might have to just bump into a several various items to discover which ones are interactable, as clues aren't consistently provided.
Nevertheless, those minor speedbumps don’t get in the way of a eerie-adorable good time. Gloomy Eyes runs on the short side, with roughly a few sessions worth of brain-teasers. Subsequent stages combine light hidden movement and action elements with the challenge completion, as Gloomy Eyes marches toward a satisfying — and moderately unexpected — ending.
Availability and Final Thoughts
Those avoiding the scares of fear-inducing titles won’t want to miss Gloomy Eyes. You can find it on Nintendo platform, PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X, and is presently discounted for a discount on game marketplaces.
This charming title is available on various systems and delivers a delightful choice for gamers seeking Halloween fun minus the intense scares.
