Not every spooky season adventure needs to frighten gamers. Including well-known tales like Scooby-Doo to charming series including Over the Garden Wall, plenty of autumn-inspired staples offer entertainment without increasing anxiety. Additionally, a expanding collection of eerie-charming titles with autumn atmosphere, but not the keep-you-awake degree of terror. Gloomy Eyes arrived in the fall, and serves as an excellent cozy choice to the truly terrifying games of the current season.
An Original Single-Player Cooperative Journey
Labeled as a solo collaboration problem-solving title, Gloomy Eyes pairs up a living-impaired child called Gloomy and a mortal child known as Nena as they begin an quest to return daylight to their gloomy world. Their design is similar to collectible figures blended with the figures from a Laika film. Their fair-toned and tired-looking style is influenced by the appearance of Gothic fantasy movies, and the plot is a classic suitable for everyone journey. The pair develops an strong bond over the span of the game’s 14 chapters as Nena attempts to prove to her clerical relative that, you know, perhaps living-impaired beings aren’t half bad.
Creative Gameplay Systems
This unique label comes about from the game’s environmental puzzles. Once Gloomy and Nena cross paths, you’ll swap amidst the budding companions to complete challenges and move forward through the stages. Being a zombie, Gloomy cannot pass through the light of a lamppost, while Nena can be captured by wandering undead except if a lamp is focused on them.
It's necessary for them to work in tandem — actually, players control them together — to finish levels. Nena might relocate or momentarily deactivate lights to clear paths for Gloomy, while the thoughtful youth will use his zombie strength to rearrange items in the world, opening up ways for Nena.
Engaging Environment Creation
These challenges bring to mind a bit of The Gardens Between, in the fashion the areas are suspended, diorama-like structures that the perspective pans around in coordination with your characters. Gloomy Eyes’ settings are quite fun, taking the friends around a fair and through a haunted house, amid other locations. There’s a “diorama view” button that allows you to view from afar and rotate the levels, both for admire the designs and look for ways that may not have been obvious.
Minor Challenges and Complete Experience
This represents one of the only problems with Gloomy Eyes. Like other games with a fixed perspective, it’s not always clear where the protagonists may or may not travel. Players might have to randomly encounter a few random elements to figure out which ones are interactable, as clues aren't consistently provided.
Nevertheless, those minor obstacles don't obstruct of a ghostly-charming fun adventure. Gloomy Eyes runs on the short side, with approximately three to five hours worth of puzzles. Subsequent stages blend together subtle sneaking and action elements with the puzzle solving, as Gloomy Eyes progresses to a rewarding — and moderately unexpected — ending.
Accessibility and Final Thoughts
Those shying away from the terror of terrifying titles won’t want to miss Gloomy Eyes. The game is out on Switch console, PlayStation 5, PC, and Microsoft console, and is currently on sale for a discount on digital platforms.
Gloomy Eyes is available on multiple platforms and offers a pleasurable choice for fans in search of Halloween fun without the fear factor.
