Not every spooky season adventure has to terrify players. Including well-known tales like mystery-solving cartoons to endearing shows including Over the Garden Wall, numerous Halloween-themed titles provide fun without needing causing fear. There’s also, a growing library of ghostly-adorable titles with Halloween vibes, but not the sleep-with-the-lights-on level of fear. Gloomy Eyes arrived in the fall, and stands as an outstanding cozy alternative to the truly terrifying releases of this year.
An Original Collaborative Solo Journey
Described as a single-player cooperative problem-solving title, Gloomy Eyes teams up a living-impaired child called Gloomy and a mortal child named Nena as they begin an adventure to return daylight to their gloomy world. Their appearance resembles collectible figures mixed with the characters from a stop-motion animation. Their pale-skinned and tired-looking appearance is influenced by the appearance of Tim Burton’s films, and the story is a classic all-ages journey. The duo builds an unbreakable friendship over the duration of the game’s multiple stages as Nena tries to demonstrate to her clerical relative that, look, possibly the undead can be friendly.
Creative Problem-Solving Features
The “self-coop” label comes about from the game’s world-based challenges. When Gloomy and Nena meet, gamers switch amidst the newfound friends to solve puzzles and advance through the stages. Being a zombie, Gloomy is unable to traverse through the light of a streetlight, while Nena can be captured by loitering creatures except if a lamp is directed on them.
They have to collaborate effectively — in practice, gamers operate them in tandem — to finish levels. Nena may move or temporarily shut off lamps to open routes for Gloomy, while the open-brained boy will utilize his supernatural ability to move objects in the environment, creating ways for Nena.
Engaging Level Design
The brain-teasers remind me a little of The Gardens Between, in the fashion the levels are suspended, model-like structures that the perspective moves across in coordination with your protagonists. Gloomy Eyes’ settings are quite fun, leading the companions around a amusement park and through a spooky mansion, amid other places. The game includes a “diorama view” feature that permits you to pull back and rotate the areas, both to enjoy the visuals and search for routes that may not have been clear.
Small Hiccups and Complete Adventure
And that’s one of the only difficulties with Gloomy Eyes. Similar to other titles with a locked camera, it’s not always clear where the heroes can and cannot go. Gamers could require to randomly encounter a several various elements to determine which ones are interactive, as clues aren't consistently provided.
Nevertheless, those small challenges don’t get in the way of a spooky-cute enjoyable experience. Gloomy Eyes runs on the short side, with roughly a few sessions worth of brain-teasers. Later levels blend together subtle stealth and action elements with the problem-solving, as Gloomy Eyes marches toward a rewarding — and somewhat unforeseen — finale.
Availability and Summary
Gamers avoiding the scares of fear-inducing games should definitely try Gloomy Eyes. You can find it on Nintendo Switch, Sony system, PC, and Microsoft console, and is presently discounted for a quarter off on game marketplaces.
The spooky-cute adventure has been released on various systems and offers a enjoyable choice for players looking for Halloween fun without the fear factor.
