Not each autumn fright experience has to terrify you. Including well-known tales like Scooby-Doo to endearing shows like Over the Garden Wall, plenty of autumn-inspired favorites provide fun without needing raising your heart rate. Additionally, a increasing selection of ghostly-adorable releases featuring Halloween vibes, yet without the sleep-with-the-lights-on level of terror. Gloomy Eyes arrived in September, and stands as an superb comfortable choice to the deeply scary games of this year.
An Original Collaborative Solo Adventure
Described as a single-player cooperative brain-teaser, Gloomy Eyes pairs up a living-impaired child called Gloomy and a human girl named Nena as they begin an adventure to return daylight to their dark, dark environment. Their design resembles stylized dolls combined with the figures from a stop-motion animation. The fair-toned and heavy-lidded appearance draws inspiration from the look of Burtonesque cinema, and the narrative is a quintessential all-ages journey. The pair forms an strong connection over the span of the game’s numerous levels as Nena tries to prove to her priest uncle that, look, possibly zombies are actually good.
Original Puzzle Mechanics
The innovative label comes about from the game’s interactive problem-solving. Once Gloomy and Nena encounter each other, you’ll swap between the recent allies to solve puzzles and advance through the areas. Being a zombie, Gloomy cannot pass through the illumination of a lamppost, while Nena may be grabbed by idle zombies except if a light is focused on them.
They must collaborate effectively — in practice, gamers operate them together — to advance through areas. Nena may move or temporarily shut off lamps to clear paths for Gloomy, while the thoughtful character will use his zombie strength to rearrange objects in the world, revealing ways for Nena.
Engaging Environment Creation
The brain-teasers bring to mind a bit of The Gardens Between, in the way the stages are hovering, miniature constructions that the camera pans around in coordination with your heroes. Gloomy Eyes’ settings are highly entertaining, guiding the friends around a fair and through a spooky mansion, including other locations. There’s a “diorama view” feature that enables you to view from afar and turn the levels, both for admire the designs and hunt for ways that may not have been obvious.
Slight Hiccups and Overall Experience
And that’s one of the only hiccups with Gloomy Eyes. Similar to other titles with a locked camera, it’s not always clear where the characters can and cannot go. Gamers could require to just bump into a several various items to discover which ones are interactable, as it’s not always intuitive.
Nonetheless, those minor speedbumps don't hinder of a spooky-cute enjoyable experience. Gloomy Eyes has a compact length, with approximately a few sessions worth of puzzles. Advanced areas blend together light hidden movement and action elements with the puzzle solving, as Gloomy Eyes marches toward a satisfying — and moderately unforeseen — finale.
Release and Summary
Those avoiding the terror of intense horror titles won’t want to miss Gloomy Eyes. It’s available on Switch console, PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X, and is currently on sale for a discount on game marketplaces.
The spooky-cute adventure is out now on various systems and offers a pleasurable option for players looking for Halloween fun without fear factor.
