Not each spooky season adventure must terrify you. From beloved classics such as Scooby-Doo to charming series including Over the Garden Wall, many spooky-season titles offer entertainment without causing fear. Moreover, a growing library of ghostly-adorable games with Halloween vibes, though lacking the keep-you-awake level of fear. Gloomy Eyes debuted in September, and stands as an superb comfortable choice to the deeply scary releases of this year.
A Distinctive Collaborative Solo Adventure
Labeled as a single-player cooperative puzzle game, Gloomy Eyes unites a undead youth known as Gloomy and a living girl named Nena as they begin an mission to return daylight to their shadowy environment. Their design evokes collectible figures blended with the figures from a Laika film. Their fair-toned and tired-looking appearance is influenced by the visual style of Gothic fantasy movies, and the narrative is a quintessential all-ages adventure. These two develops an enduring bond over the course of the game’s multiple stages as Nena tries to show to her clerical relative that, look, possibly zombies are actually good.
Creative Gameplay Systems
This unique description stems from the game’s interactive problem-solving. Once Gloomy and Nena cross paths, players alternate among the recent allies to solve puzzles and advance through the stages. Since he's not alive, Gloomy can’t walk through the illumination of a lamppost, while Nena may be grabbed by wandering undead except if a lamp is shone on them.
They must work in tandem — well, players control them in tandem — to finish levels. Nena could adjust or briefly disable lights to create passages for Gloomy, while the intellectually curious boy will use his zombie strength to rearrange obstacles in the world, creating ways for Nena.
Engaging Level Design
The brain-teasers bring to mind a bit of The Gardens Between, in the manner the levels are floating, miniature constructions that the perspective pans around in conjunction with your characters. Gloomy Eyes’ environments are quite fun, guiding the companions around a fair and through a spooky mansion, among other places. The game includes a “diorama view” option that allows you to view from afar and rotate the areas, simultaneously to admire the artwork and search for ways that may not have been apparent.
Small Hiccups and Complete Gameplay
This represents one of the few problems with Gloomy Eyes. Like other titles with a fixed perspective, sometimes it's unclear where the characters can and cannot go. You may need to simply collide with a several various elements to discover which ones are interactable, as the game doesn't always indicate.
Nevertheless, those small speedbumps don’t get in the way of a spooky-cute good time. Gloomy Eyes runs on the short side, with about a few sessions worth of puzzles. Subsequent stages blend together light hidden movement and exciting moments with the puzzle solving, as Gloomy Eyes marches toward a satisfying — and moderately surprising — finale.
Availability and Conclusion
Those avoiding the frights of fear-inducing titles won’t want to miss Gloomy Eyes. The game is out on Nintendo Switch, PS5, Windows PC, and Xbox, and is presently discounted for a quarter off on online stores.
Gloomy Eyes is available on several consoles and offers a enjoyable alternative for gamers looking for spooky entertainment without the terrifying moments.
