Not all spooky season experience has to terrify gamers. Starting with well-known tales for example Scooby-Doo to endearing shows such as Over the Garden Wall, plenty of autumn-inspired favorites provide fun without needing increasing anxiety. Additionally, a increasing selection of ghostly-adorable titles featuring Halloween vibes, yet without the truly terrifying intensity of fear. Gloomy Eyes arrived in September, and serves as an superb comfortable alternative to the intensely frightening games of this year.
An Original Single-Player Cooperative Adventure
Known as a “self-coop” brain-teaser, Gloomy Eyes teams up a zombie boy called Gloomy and a living girl called Nena as they begin an mission to bring the sun back to their dark, dark realm. Their appearance is similar to Funko Pops combined with the characters from a Laika film. The light-complected and baggy-eyed style borrows heavily from the look of Tim Burton’s films, and the story is a classic family-friendly adventure. The duo builds an unbreakable friendship over the span of the game’s 14 chapters as Nena attempts to demonstrate to her priest uncle that, hey, maybe living-impaired beings can be friendly.
Creative Problem-Solving Features
The innovative term originates from the game’s world-based challenges. Once Gloomy and Nena encounter each other, gamers switch amidst the newfound friends to overcome obstacles and move forward through the areas. Being a zombie, Gloomy is unable to traverse through the brightness of a light source, while Nena can be captured by loitering creatures unless a lamp is focused on them.
They must cooperate closely — in practice, players control them together — to advance through areas. Nena could adjust or briefly disable lights to open routes for Gloomy, while the open-brained youth will use his zombie strength to rearrange objects in the surroundings, opening up ways for Nena.
Engaging Environment Creation
The brain-teasers remind me a little of The Gardens Between, in the way the areas are suspended, model-like designs that the camera moves across in conjunction with your characters. Gloomy Eyes’ environments are very enjoyable, leading the duo around a fair and through a haunted house, amid other locales. Players can use a “diorama view” button that allows you to view from afar and rotate the areas, both to appreciate the visuals and search for ways that may not have been apparent.
Small Hiccups and Overall Adventure
Here lies one of the only problems with Gloomy Eyes. Like other releases with a fixed perspective, occasionally it's confusing where the heroes can and cannot go. You may need to just bump into a several various items to discover which ones are interactive, as it’s not always intuitive.
Nevertheless, those small obstacles don't obstruct of a ghostly-charming good time. Gloomy Eyes has a compact length, with approximately three to five hours worth of challenges. Subsequent stages combine subtle sneaking and exciting moments with the puzzle solving, as Gloomy Eyes advances to a fulfilling — and somewhat surprising — conclusion.
Availability and Summary
Gamers shying away from the frights of terrifying titles should definitely try Gloomy Eyes. You can find it on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PC, and Xbox Series X, and is presently discounted for a quarter off on online stores.
Gloomy Eyes is available on several consoles and provides a pleasurable alternative for fans in search of Halloween fun without terrifying moments.
