Not each spooky season journey needs to frighten players. Including well-known tales for example animated detectives to endearing shows like Over the Garden Wall, plenty of Halloween-themed titles provide fun without raising your heart rate. Additionally, a growing library of spooky-cute games featuring spooky themes, but not the truly terrifying level of terror. Gloomy Eyes arrived in recent months, and acts as an excellent cozy option to the deeply scary titles of this year.
A Distinctive Self-Coop Journey
Labeled as a “self-coop” puzzle game, Gloomy Eyes unites a undead youth named Gloomy and a human girl known as Nena as they start an quest to bring the sun back to their shadowy environment. Their design evokes Funko Pops blended with the characters from a stop-motion animation. Their pale-skinned and heavy-lidded aesthetic borrows heavily from the visual style of Burtonesque cinema, and the story is a quintessential all-ages tale. The duo develops an unbreakable bond over the duration of the game’s 14 chapters as Nena attempts to demonstrate to her religious guardian that, look, maybe living-impaired beings can be friendly.
Innovative Problem-Solving Features
The innovative label originates from the game’s environmental puzzles. After Gloomy and Nena cross paths, gamers switch among the recent allies to overcome obstacles and move forward through the stages. As an undead, Gloomy can’t walk through the brightness of a lamppost, while Nena will get snatched up by wandering undead unless a lamp is focused on them.
They have to cooperate closely — actually, gamers operate them simultaneously — to complete stages. Nena may move or temporarily shut off lights to clear paths for Gloomy, while the open-brained boy will utilize his supernatural ability to move objects in the world, creating routes for Nena.
Engaging Environment Creation
The brain-teasers remind me a bit of The Gardens Between, in the manner the areas are floating, model-like designs that the view rotates in coordination with your heroes. Gloomy Eyes’ worlds are highly entertaining, guiding the friends around a carnival and through a haunted house, amid other places. Players can use a “diorama view” button that allows you to view from afar and spin the areas, both to enjoy the designs and look for paths that may not have been clear.
Minor Hiccups and General Experience
Here lies one of the few difficulties with Gloomy Eyes. Comparable to other releases with a fixed perspective, occasionally it's confusing where the heroes are able to move. You may need to randomly encounter a few random objects to determine which ones are usable, as it’s not always intuitive.
Nonetheless, those minor challenges don't hinder of a spooky-cute enjoyable experience. Gloomy Eyes has a compact length, with approximately three to five hours worth of brain-teasers. Subsequent stages blend together minor stealth and action elements with the challenge completion, as Gloomy Eyes advances to a satisfying — and moderately surprising — ending.
Availability and Final Thoughts
Players steering clear of the terror of fear-inducing games should definitely try Gloomy Eyes. The game is out on Nintendo Switch, Sony system, Windows PC, and Xbox, and is currently on sale for a discount on digital platforms.
This charming title is out now on various systems and provides a enjoyable choice for fans in search of Halloween fun without terrifying moments.
