Not every spooky season journey has to frighten you. Including beloved classics for example animated detectives to delightful stories like Over the Garden Wall, many Halloween-themed staples provide fun without requiring increasing anxiety. Additionally, a growing library of spooky-cute releases with autumn atmosphere, though lacking the sleep-with-the-lights-on intensity of fear. Gloomy Eyes arrived in the fall, and serves as an superb relaxing option to the deeply scary games of the current season.
A Unique Collaborative Solo Journey
Described as a solo collaboration brain-teaser, Gloomy Eyes pairs up a zombie boy named Gloomy and a living girl named Nena as they start an mission to restore sunlight to their gloomy world. Their appearance is similar to Funko Pops blended with the figures from a Laika film. The light-complected and baggy-eyed style draws inspiration from the look of Gothic fantasy movies, and the narrative is a archetypal all-ages journey. These two builds an unbreakable friendship over the duration of the game’s 14 chapters as Nena tries to show to her priest uncle that, hey, maybe the undead can be friendly.
Creative Gameplay Systems
The “self-coop” label originates from the game’s interactive problem-solving. Once Gloomy and Nena cross paths, players alternate amidst the recent allies to overcome obstacles and advance through the stages. Since he's not alive, Gloomy is unable to traverse through the brightness of a light source, while Nena may be grabbed by idle zombies unless a light is focused on them.
It's necessary for them to cooperate closely — actually, gamers operate them in tandem — to finish levels. Nena might relocate or momentarily deactivate lamps to clear paths for Gloomy, while the thoughtful youth will use his zombie strength to shift around items in the environment, creating ways for Nena.
Captivating World Building
The brain-teasers evoke memories a little of The Gardens Between, in the way the levels are suspended, miniature constructions that the camera rotates in sync with your heroes. Gloomy Eyes’ worlds are highly entertaining, leading the duo around a amusement park and through a spooky mansion, among other places. The game includes a “diorama view” button that permits you to zoom out and spin the areas, both to appreciate the visuals and search for ways that may not have been apparent.
Minor Hiccups and General Adventure
Here lies one of the only problems with Gloomy Eyes. Similar to other titles with a fixed perspective, sometimes it's unclear where the heroes can and cannot go. Gamers could require to simply collide with a multiple different items to determine which ones are interactable, as the game doesn't always indicate.
Nonetheless, those small obstacles don’t get in the way of a ghostly-charming good time. Gloomy Eyes has a compact length, with about a few sessions worth of puzzles. Subsequent stages combine light stealth and exciting moments with the puzzle solving, as Gloomy Eyes progresses to a rewarding — and somewhat surprising — conclusion.
Release and Final Thoughts
Those avoiding the terror of terrifying games should definitely try Gloomy Eyes. The game is out on Nintendo Switch, Sony system, computer, and Xbox, and is presently discounted for 25% off on online stores.
The spooky-cute adventure is out now on multiple platforms and delivers a pleasurable option for fans looking for autumn enjoyment without intense scares.
