Not every autumn fright journey has to terrify players. Including well-known tales like Scooby-Doo to delightful stories like Over the Garden Wall, plenty of autumn-inspired staples provide fun without increasing anxiety. Additionally, a increasing selection of eerie-charming releases including autumn atmosphere, yet without the truly terrifying degree of terror. Gloomy Eyes arrived in the fall, and acts as an outstanding relaxing choice to the intensely frightening releases of this year.
A Unique Self-Coop Journey
Known as a solo collaboration problem-solving title, Gloomy Eyes unites a living-impaired child named Gloomy and a mortal child named Nena as they start an adventure to restore sunlight to their dark, dark realm. Their design resembles stylized dolls combined with the characters from a stop-motion animation. Their pale-skinned and tired-looking appearance borrows heavily from the look of Tim Burton’s films, and the plot is a quintessential family-friendly adventure. The pair builds an unbreakable connection over the span of the game’s multiple stages as Nena attempts to prove to her clerical relative that, hey, possibly zombies aren’t half bad.
Original Gameplay Systems
The innovative label originates from the game’s world-based challenges. Once Gloomy and Nena encounter each other, gamers switch among the recent allies to solve puzzles and advance through the areas. Since he's not alive, Gloomy cannot pass through the illumination of a lamppost, while Nena will get snatched up by loitering creatures unless a beam is directed on them.
They have to work in tandem — actually, players control them in tandem — to finish levels. Nena may move or briefly disable illumination to open routes for Gloomy, while the open-brained boy will use his zombie strength to rearrange obstacles in the world, opening up paths for Nena.
Immersive World Building
The brain-teasers remind me a bit of The Gardens Between, in the fashion the levels are hovering, diorama-like constructions that the view rotates in conjunction with your heroes. Gloomy Eyes’ worlds are highly entertaining, taking the friends around a amusement park and through a haunted house, including other locations. There’s a “diorama view” option that allows you to view from afar and turn the areas, both to appreciate the artwork and look for routes that may not have been clear.
Minor Issues and General Experience
This represents one of the only difficulties with Gloomy Eyes. Similar to other titles with a locked camera, sometimes it's unclear where the heroes are able to move. You may need to simply collide with a several various objects to figure out which ones are interactable, as the game doesn't always indicate.
Nevertheless, those small challenges don't obstruct of a spooky-cute fun adventure. Gloomy Eyes has a compact length, with roughly three to five hours worth of brain-teasers. Advanced areas integrate minor stealth and action elements with the puzzle solving, as Gloomy Eyes marches toward a satisfying — and somewhat surprising — ending.
Availability and Summary
Gamers shying away from the frights of intense horror releases should definitely try Gloomy Eyes. You can find it on Nintendo platform, PlayStation 5, PC, and Xbox Series X, and is available at a reduced price for 25% off on online stores.
The spooky-cute adventure is out now on various systems and delivers a delightful alternative for gamers in search of Halloween fun without fear factor.
