Not all Halloween horror experience needs to scare players. Starting with beloved classics for example Scooby-Doo to delightful stories like Over the Garden Wall, plenty of spooky-season titles provide fun without requiring causing fear. Additionally, a increasing selection of ghostly-adorable games including spooky themes, but not the sleep-with-the-lights-on intensity of horror. Gloomy Eyes was released in September, and acts as an excellent comfortable option to the truly terrifying titles of the current season.
A Unique Self-Coop Adventure
Known as a “self-coop” brain-teaser, Gloomy Eyes pairs up a living-impaired child known as Gloomy and a mortal child known as Nena as they start an quest to restore sunlight to their dark, dark environment. Their design resembles stylized dolls mixed with the puppets from a stop-motion animation. Their fair-toned and heavy-lidded style is influenced by the visual style of Tim Burton’s films, and the narrative is a quintessential all-ages journey. The duo develops an strong connection over the course of the game’s multiple stages as Nena strives to demonstrate to her religious guardian that, hey, possibly living-impaired beings aren’t half bad.
Innovative Problem-Solving Features
This unique term stems from the game’s environmental puzzles. When Gloomy and Nena meet, you’ll swap among the budding companions to complete challenges and move forward through the areas. As an undead, Gloomy can’t walk through the brightness of a streetlight, while Nena may be grabbed by idle zombies unless a light is focused on them.
It's necessary for them to collaborate effectively — actually, players control them in tandem — to finish levels. Nena could adjust or momentarily deactivate lamps to open routes for Gloomy, while the open-brained youth will use his zombie strength to shift around obstacles in the environment, creating paths for Nena.
Engaging Environment Creation
The puzzles evoke memories a bit of The Gardens Between, in the fashion the levels are hovering, diorama-like structures that the view moves across in conjunction with your characters. Gloomy Eyes’ environments are quite fun, leading the friends around a carnival and through a haunted house, including other places. The game includes a “diorama view” feature that enables you to view from afar and spin the levels, both for enjoy the designs and search for routes that may not have been clear.
Minor Challenges and Overall Adventure
Here lies one of the sole problems with Gloomy Eyes. Like other releases with a fixed perspective, it’s not always clear where the protagonists are able to move. Players might have to just bump into a few random elements to figure out which ones are interactable, as clues aren't consistently provided.
However, those small speedbumps don't hinder of a ghostly-charming enjoyable experience. Gloomy Eyes runs on the short side, with approximately several hours worth of brain-teasers. Advanced areas blend together minor hidden movement and exciting moments with the challenge completion, as Gloomy Eyes progresses to a rewarding — and slightly unforeseen — finale.
Availability and Final Thoughts
Those avoiding the frights of fear-inducing titles should definitely try Gloomy Eyes. It’s available on Nintendo Switch, Sony system, PC, and Xbox, and is currently on sale for a discount on game marketplaces.
This charming title has been released on multiple platforms and provides a pleasurable choice for players looking for autumn enjoyment without intense scares.
