Not all autumn fright experience has to scare you. Starting with iconic favorites such as mystery-solving cartoons to endearing shows like Over the Garden Wall, numerous autumn-inspired staples provide fun without requiring raising your heart rate. There’s also, a growing library of spooky-cute games including autumn atmosphere, but not the sleep-with-the-lights-on intensity of horror. Gloomy Eyes arrived in September, and acts as an superb cozy choice to the deeply scary titles of this year.
A Unique Self-Coop Adventure
Labeled as a “self-coop” brain-teaser, Gloomy Eyes unites a undead youth known as Gloomy and a human girl named Nena as they start an quest to bring the sun back to their shadowy environment. They look resembles Funko Pops mixed with the figures from a stop-motion animation. The pale-skinned and baggy-eyed aesthetic borrows heavily from the look of Burtonesque cinema, and the plot is a archetypal all-ages tale. The pair develops an unbreakable bond over the duration of the game’s multiple stages as Nena attempts to demonstrate to her clerical relative that, hey, maybe living-impaired beings are actually good.
Innovative Problem-Solving Features
This unique label comes about from the game’s environmental puzzles. When Gloomy and Nena cross paths, players alternate amidst the recent allies to solve puzzles and move forward through the areas. Since he's not alive, Gloomy is unable to traverse through the illumination of a streetlight, while Nena will get snatched up by wandering undead unless a beam is directed on them.
They must collaborate effectively — well, players control them in tandem — to finish levels. Nena might relocate or momentarily deactivate lamps to create passages for Gloomy, while the open-brained boy will use his zombie strength to rearrange objects in the environment, creating ways for Nena.
Captivating Environment Creation
The brain-teasers remind me a touch of The Gardens Between, in the way the levels are suspended, diorama-like designs that the camera rotates in sync with your protagonists. Gloomy Eyes’ environments are quite fun, guiding the friends around a carnival and through a ghostly building, amid other locales. Players can use a “diorama view” button that allows you to view from afar and rotate the levels, simultaneously to admire the visuals and hunt for routes that may not have been obvious.
Minor Hiccups and Overall Experience
And that’s one of the sole hiccups with Gloomy Eyes. Like other games with a locked camera, sometimes it's unclear where the heroes can and cannot go. You may need to simply collide with a several various objects to determine which ones are interactable, as clues aren't consistently provided.
Nonetheless, those slight challenges don't hinder of a spooky-cute fun adventure. Gloomy Eyes has a compact length, with about three to five hours worth of puzzles. Subsequent stages integrate light hidden movement and exciting moments with the challenge completion, as Gloomy Eyes advances to a satisfying — and moderately unforeseen — ending.
Release and Conclusion
Gamers avoiding the frights of terrifying games ought to experience Gloomy Eyes. It’s available on Switch console, PS5, Windows PC, and Microsoft console, and is presently discounted for a quarter off on digital platforms.
Gloomy Eyes is available on various systems and delivers a delightful option for players in search of Halloween fun without the intense scares.