Not each autumn fright journey needs to terrify gamers. From beloved classics like animated detectives to endearing shows such as Over the Garden Wall, many spooky-season titles are enjoyable without requiring causing fear. Moreover, a growing library of spooky-cute games with spooky themes, but not the truly terrifying degree of terror. Gloomy Eyes was released in the fall, and serves as an superb comfortable choice to the deeply scary titles of the current season.
An Original Self-Coop Adventure
Known as a “self-coop” problem-solving title, Gloomy Eyes teams up a living-impaired child called Gloomy and a mortal child named Nena as they begin an adventure to return daylight to their shadowy realm. Their design is similar to collectible figures combined with the puppets from a stop-motion animation. The light-complected and tired-looking appearance is influenced by the visual style of Burtonesque cinema, and the story is a quintessential all-ages adventure. The pair develops an unbreakable friendship over the duration of the game’s 14 chapters as Nena strives to prove to her religious guardian that, hey, possibly the undead aren’t half bad.
Original Gameplay Systems
The “self-coop” description stems from the game’s world-based challenges. After Gloomy and Nena meet, you’ll swap among the recent allies to complete challenges and move forward through the stages. Being a zombie, Gloomy is unable to traverse through the illumination of a light source, while Nena can be captured by idle zombies unless a light is shone on them.
They must collaborate effectively — well, gamers operate them together — to complete stages. Nena might relocate or temporarily shut off illumination to clear paths for Gloomy, while the thoughtful boy will utilize his supernatural ability to rearrange obstacles in the environment, creating routes for Nena.
Captivating World Building
The brain-teasers evoke memories a bit of The Gardens Between, in the way the areas are suspended, model-like structures that the perspective rotates in coordination with your characters. Gloomy Eyes’ settings are quite fun, guiding the companions around a fair and through a spooky mansion, among other locations. There’s a “diorama view” feature that enables you to pull back and turn the levels, simultaneously to admire the visuals and search for routes that may not have been apparent.
Small Challenges and Overall Experience
And that’s one of the few difficulties with Gloomy Eyes. Comparable to other titles with a locked camera, sometimes it's unclear where the characters can and cannot go. Gamers could require to simply collide with a multiple different elements to figure out which ones are interactive, as the game doesn't always indicate.
However, those slight speedbumps don't obstruct of a eerie-adorable enjoyable experience. Gloomy Eyes runs on the short side, with approximately a few sessions worth of brain-teasers. Later levels blend together light sneaking and dynamic sequences with the puzzle solving, as Gloomy Eyes progresses to a rewarding — and slightly unforeseen — finale.
Availability and Final Thoughts
Those shying away from the frights of intense horror titles ought to experience Gloomy Eyes. You can find it on Nintendo platform, PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X, and is currently on sale for a quarter off on digital platforms.
Gloomy Eyes is available on several consoles and offers a pleasurable option for players in search of spooky entertainment minus the fear factor.
