Not every autumn fright experience has to terrify you. Including well-known tales like animated detectives to endearing shows like Over the Garden Wall, plenty of spooky-season titles provide fun without causing fear. Moreover, a increasing selection of eerie-charming releases featuring autumn atmosphere, yet without the keep-you-awake level of horror. Gloomy Eyes was released in September, and stands as an excellent cozy option to the intensely frightening releases of this year.
A Distinctive Collaborative Solo Quest
Known as a “self-coop” problem-solving title, Gloomy Eyes pairs up a zombie boy known as Gloomy and a living girl named Nena as they start an adventure to bring the sun back to their shadowy environment. Their design is similar to Funko Pops mixed with the figures from a Laika film. The pale-skinned and tired-looking style draws inspiration from the appearance of Gothic fantasy movies, and the story is a quintessential suitable for everyone tale. The duo develops an strong bond over the duration of the game’s numerous levels as Nena strives to prove to her clerical relative that, look, possibly the undead aren’t half bad.
Original Puzzle Mechanics
The innovative label originates from the game’s interactive problem-solving. Once Gloomy and Nena encounter each other, gamers switch among the newfound friends to solve puzzles and advance through the stages. Being a zombie, Gloomy can’t walk through the illumination of a streetlight, while Nena may be grabbed by idle zombies unless a lamp is shone on them.
They have to work in tandem — well, you’ll use them in tandem — to advance through areas. Nena may move or briefly disable lights to open routes for Gloomy, while the open-brained boy will utilize his supernatural ability to rearrange objects in the environment, opening up routes for Nena.
Captivating World Building
These challenges evoke memories a bit of The Gardens Between, in the fashion the levels are floating, diorama-like constructions that the view moves across in conjunction with your heroes. Gloomy Eyes’ environments are highly entertaining, guiding the companions around a carnival and through a spooky mansion, among other locales. The game includes a “diorama view” option that permits you to zoom out and turn the areas, simultaneously to appreciate the artwork and hunt for ways that may not have been obvious.
Minor Issues and Overall Adventure
This represents one of the few problems with Gloomy Eyes. Like other games with a fixed perspective, sometimes it's unclear where the heroes can and cannot go. Gamers could require to simply collide with a several various objects to discover which ones are usable, as the game doesn't always indicate.
Nonetheless, those minor obstacles don't obstruct of a ghostly-charming fun adventure. Gloomy Eyes is relatively brief, with roughly three to five hours worth of challenges. Later levels integrate light stealth and dynamic sequences with the challenge completion, as Gloomy Eyes advances to a satisfying — and slightly unexpected — ending.
Accessibility and Summary
Those avoiding the scares of terrifying games should definitely try Gloomy Eyes. The game is out on Switch console, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Microsoft console, and is currently on sale for 25% off on digital platforms.
This charming title is available on several consoles and provides a enjoyable choice for fans looking for Halloween fun without the terrifying moments.
