Not all autumn fright journey has to frighten players. From well-known tales like mystery-solving cartoons to delightful stories such as Over the Garden Wall, plenty of Halloween-themed titles are enjoyable without requiring causing fear. There’s also, a growing library of spooky-cute titles featuring spooky themes, but not the sleep-with-the-lights-on intensity of horror. Gloomy Eyes was released in the fall, and acts as an excellent comfortable option to the intensely frightening games of the current season.
An Original Self-Coop Adventure
Described as a solo collaboration puzzle game, Gloomy Eyes unites a undead youth called Gloomy and a living girl called Nena as they start an adventure to return daylight to their dark, dark realm. Their design resembles stylized dolls blended with the characters from a stop-motion animation. Their pale-skinned and baggy-eyed style borrows heavily from the appearance of Gothic fantasy movies, and the plot is a quintessential all-ages journey. The duo forms an unbreakable friendship over the course of the game’s multiple stages as Nena attempts to prove to her priest uncle that, you know, maybe the undead can be friendly.
Creative Problem-Solving Features
The “self-coop” description originates from the game’s world-based challenges. When Gloomy and Nena encounter each other, gamers switch between the budding companions to overcome obstacles and move forward through the levels. Since he's not alive, Gloomy can’t walk through the light of a lamppost, while Nena will get snatched up by idle zombies unless a light is focused on them.
It's necessary for them to cooperate closely — in practice, players control them simultaneously — to complete stages. Nena could adjust or briefly disable illumination to create passages for Gloomy, while the intellectually curious youth will utilize his supernatural ability to move objects in the environment, opening up routes for Nena.
Immersive Environment Creation
These challenges bring to mind a little of The Gardens Between, in the way the levels are suspended, miniature structures that the perspective rotates in sync with your characters. Gloomy Eyes’ settings are very enjoyable, guiding the friends around a fair and through a ghostly building, including other places. There’s a “diorama view” button that allows you to pull back and rotate the levels, both for admire the designs and look for routes that may not have been obvious.
Small Hiccups and Complete Experience
And that’s one of the only problems with Gloomy Eyes. Similar to other titles with a static view, sometimes it's unclear where the characters are able to move. Gamers could require to randomly encounter a multiple different items to discover which ones are interactable, as the game doesn't always indicate.
Nonetheless, those minor challenges don't obstruct of a eerie-adorable fun adventure. Gloomy Eyes is relatively brief, with about several hours worth of brain-teasers. Later levels blend together light stealth and dynamic sequences with the problem-solving, as Gloomy Eyes advances to a satisfying — and somewhat unexpected — conclusion.
Release and Summary
Players steering clear of the scares of terrifying games won’t want to miss Gloomy Eyes. It’s available on Nintendo Switch, PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X, and is currently on sale for 25% off on game marketplaces.
The spooky-cute adventure is available on several consoles and provides a pleasurable choice for fans seeking spooky entertainment minus the terrifying moments.
