Not every spooky season journey has to scare gamers. Starting with iconic favorites such as mystery-solving cartoons to charming series such as Over the Garden Wall, numerous Halloween-themed titles offer entertainment without requiring causing fear. Additionally, a expanding collection of spooky-cute releases including autumn atmosphere, but not the truly terrifying degree of terror. Gloomy Eyes arrived in September, and acts as an superb relaxing choice to the intensely frightening releases of the current season.
An Original Collaborative Solo Journey
Described as a single-player cooperative problem-solving title, Gloomy Eyes teams up a living-impaired child called Gloomy and a mortal child named Nena as they start an adventure to bring the sun back to their shadowy realm. Their design is similar to Funko Pops mixed with the figures from a Laika film. The pale-skinned and heavy-lidded aesthetic borrows heavily from the look of Tim Burton’s films, and the narrative is a quintessential family-friendly tale. The pair develops an enduring friendship over the span of the game’s numerous levels as Nena tries to prove to her priest uncle that, look, maybe living-impaired beings are actually good.
Original Problem-Solving Features
The innovative term stems from the game’s environmental puzzles. When Gloomy and Nena meet, players alternate between the recent allies to solve puzzles and move forward through the levels. Since he's not alive, Gloomy can’t walk through the light of a light source, while Nena can be captured by wandering undead without a light is focused on them.
It's necessary for them to collaborate effectively — in practice, players control them together — to finish levels. Nena could adjust or momentarily deactivate lamps to open routes for Gloomy, while the open-brained character will use his zombie strength to move obstacles in the environment, creating routes for Nena.
Captivating Environment Creation
The puzzles bring to mind a bit of The Gardens Between, in the fashion the stages are floating, miniature constructions that the camera moves across in sync with your heroes. Gloomy Eyes’ settings are quite fun, guiding the duo around a amusement park and through a haunted house, among other locations. The game includes a “diorama view” option that allows you to pull back and rotate the levels, both for appreciate the designs and look for paths that may not have been obvious.
Minor Issues and Complete Experience
This represents one of the only difficulties with Gloomy Eyes. Like other releases with a static view, occasionally it's confusing where the protagonists may or may not travel. Players might have to simply collide with a several various objects to discover which ones are interactable, as the game doesn't always indicate.
Nevertheless, those minor challenges don’t get in the way of a spooky-cute enjoyable experience. Gloomy Eyes is relatively brief, with about a few sessions worth of brain-teasers. Later levels integrate subtle sneaking and dynamic sequences with the problem-solving, as Gloomy Eyes advances to a rewarding — and moderately unforeseen — ending.
Availability and Summary
Gamers steering clear of the terror of intense horror titles should definitely try Gloomy Eyes. The game is out on Switch console, Sony system, PC, and Xbox Series X, and is available at a reduced price for 25% off on online stores.
The spooky-cute adventure has been released on various systems and offers a delightful option for fans looking for autumn enjoyment minus the intense scares.