Not all spooky season experience needs to terrify you. From iconic favorites like animated detectives to endearing shows like Over the Garden Wall, numerous autumn-inspired titles provide fun without causing fear. Moreover, a growing library of ghostly-adorable releases featuring spooky themes, but not the sleep-with-the-lights-on intensity of terror. Gloomy Eyes arrived in recent months, and acts as an outstanding relaxing option to the intensely frightening titles of the current season.
A Distinctive Collaborative Solo Journey
Labeled as a single-player cooperative puzzle game, Gloomy Eyes teams up a zombie boy known as Gloomy and a living girl called Nena as they begin an mission to bring the sun back to their shadowy world. Their design resembles Funko Pops combined with the figures from a animated feature. The light-complected and baggy-eyed aesthetic is influenced by the appearance of Burtonesque cinema, and the plot is a classic family-friendly adventure. These two develops an unbreakable connection over the duration of the game’s 14 chapters as Nena tries to demonstrate to her religious guardian that, look, perhaps the undead aren’t half bad.
Original Gameplay Systems
This unique description comes about from the game’s interactive problem-solving. After Gloomy and Nena encounter each other, you’ll swap among the recent allies to solve puzzles and progress through the levels. Since he's not alive, Gloomy can’t walk through the brightness of a lamppost, while Nena may be grabbed by wandering undead unless a light is focused on them.
They have to cooperate closely — well, players control them simultaneously — to advance through areas. Nena may move or temporarily shut off lamps to create passages for Gloomy, while the intellectually curious boy will employ his undead power to rearrange obstacles in the world, revealing paths for Nena.
Engaging World Building
These challenges remind me a little of The Gardens Between, in the way the levels are hovering, model-like constructions that the perspective rotates in coordination with your protagonists. Gloomy Eyes’ environments are highly entertaining, guiding the duo around a fair and through a spooky mansion, among other locations. The game includes a “diorama view” feature that enables you to pull back and rotate the levels, both to appreciate the designs and look for paths that may not have been obvious.
Minor Challenges and Overall Adventure
This represents one of the sole difficulties with Gloomy Eyes. Like other releases with a locked camera, sometimes it's unclear where the protagonists are able to move. Players might have to simply collide with a few random objects to discover which ones are usable, as clues aren't consistently provided.
However, those small challenges don’t get in the way of a ghostly-charming enjoyable experience. Gloomy Eyes is relatively brief, with about several hours worth of brain-teasers. Later levels integrate subtle hidden movement and dynamic sequences with the problem-solving, as Gloomy Eyes advances to a rewarding — and slightly unexpected — conclusion.
Accessibility and Conclusion
Gamers shying away from the frights of terrifying games should definitely try Gloomy Eyes. The game is out on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Microsoft console, and is currently on sale for a discount on game marketplaces.
Gloomy Eyes is available on various systems and offers a enjoyable choice for gamers in search of autumn enjoyment without the intense scares.
