Not all spooky season experience must scare you. From iconic favorites like animated detectives to endearing shows like Over the Garden Wall, plenty of Halloween-themed staples are enjoyable without requiring increasing anxiety. There’s also, a expanding collection of eerie-charming releases with spooky themes, though lacking the sleep-with-the-lights-on intensity of horror. Gloomy Eyes debuted in September, and stands as an outstanding cozy option to the intensely frightening titles of the current season.
An Original Self-Coop Adventure
Described as a “self-coop” brain-teaser, Gloomy Eyes pairs up a undead youth known as Gloomy and a human girl named Nena as they embark on an mission to bring the sun back to their dark, dark realm. Their appearance evokes Funko Pops combined with the puppets from a stop-motion animation. Their fair-toned and tired-looking appearance is influenced by the look of Gothic fantasy movies, and the plot is a classic all-ages tale. The pair develops an enduring friendship over the course of the game’s 14 chapters as Nena attempts to show to her priest uncle that, hey, maybe zombies are actually good.
Creative Puzzle Mechanics
The innovative description comes about from the game’s interactive problem-solving. When Gloomy and Nena meet, players alternate among the recent allies to solve puzzles and move forward through the areas. Since he's not alive, Gloomy is unable to traverse through the brightness of a lamppost, while Nena will get snatched up by wandering undead without a light is directed on them.
They must cooperate closely — actually, players control them together — to finish levels. Nena might relocate or momentarily deactivate illumination to clear paths for Gloomy, while the thoughtful boy will use his zombie strength to shift around objects in the surroundings, revealing routes for Nena.
Engaging World Building
The brain-teasers evoke memories a little of The Gardens Between, in the fashion the stages are floating, miniature structures that the view moves across in conjunction with your characters. Gloomy Eyes’ settings are very enjoyable, guiding the friends around a fair and through a ghostly building, including other places. The game includes a “diorama view” button that allows you to view from afar and spin the levels, both for admire the artwork and look for paths that may not have been clear.
Minor Issues and General Adventure
This represents one of the sole hiccups with Gloomy Eyes. Similar to other games with a locked camera, sometimes it's unclear where the characters can and cannot go. You may need to simply collide with a few random elements to discover which ones are interactive, as clues aren't consistently provided.
However, those minor obstacles don't obstruct of a eerie-adorable fun adventure. Gloomy Eyes runs on the short side, with roughly three to five hours worth of brain-teasers. Later levels integrate subtle stealth and exciting moments with the challenge completion, as Gloomy Eyes progresses to a fulfilling — and moderately surprising — conclusion.
Accessibility and Summary
Players avoiding the frights of intense horror titles should definitely try Gloomy Eyes. The game is out on Switch console, Sony system, PC, and Xbox, and is available at a reduced price for a discount on online stores.
The spooky-cute adventure has been released on several consoles and offers a enjoyable choice for players looking for spooky entertainment minus the intense scares.
