Not every spooky season adventure has to frighten gamers. Including iconic favorites like animated detectives to delightful stories such as Over the Garden Wall, many autumn-inspired favorites are enjoyable without requiring causing fear. There’s also, a growing library of ghostly-adorable releases including Halloween vibes, but not the sleep-with-the-lights-on intensity of fear. Gloomy Eyes debuted in recent months, and serves as an superb relaxing alternative to the intensely frightening games of this year.
An Original Single-Player Cooperative Adventure
Known as a single-player cooperative brain-teaser, Gloomy Eyes unites a undead youth called Gloomy and a human girl known as Nena as they begin an adventure to restore sunlight to their gloomy world. Their appearance is similar to Funko Pops blended with the figures from a stop-motion animation. Their light-complected and heavy-lidded aesthetic borrows heavily from the visual style of Tim Burton’s films, and the story is a archetypal family-friendly tale. The duo forms an enduring connection over the duration of the game’s multiple stages as Nena strives to prove to her priest uncle that, you know, maybe zombies are actually good.
Creative Gameplay Systems
The “self-coop” label stems from the game’s environmental puzzles. Once Gloomy and Nena cross paths, gamers switch amidst the recent allies to complete challenges and progress through the levels. Since he's not alive, Gloomy is unable to traverse through the illumination of a streetlight, while Nena may be grabbed by wandering undead without a light is directed on them.
They must cooperate closely — well, gamers operate them simultaneously — to finish levels. Nena may move or briefly disable lights to create passages for Gloomy, while the thoughtful youth will employ his undead power to rearrange objects in the world, creating paths for Nena.
Immersive Level Design
The brain-teasers remind me a bit of The Gardens Between, in the manner the areas are floating, model-like constructions that the view rotates in sync with your characters. Gloomy Eyes’ environments are very enjoyable, guiding the companions around a amusement park and through a haunted house, among other places. The game includes a “diorama view” button that allows you to pull back and rotate the stages, simultaneously to admire the designs and look for routes that may not have been obvious.
Minor Challenges and General Experience
This represents one of the only hiccups with Gloomy Eyes. Similar to other releases with a fixed perspective, occasionally it's confusing where the protagonists are able to move. You may need to randomly encounter a several various elements to discover which ones are interactive, as the game doesn't always indicate.
However, those slight challenges don't hinder of a ghostly-charming fun adventure. Gloomy Eyes runs on the short side, with about a few sessions worth of brain-teasers. Subsequent stages blend together minor hidden movement and exciting moments with the puzzle solving, as Gloomy Eyes progresses to a rewarding — and slightly unforeseen — conclusion.
Accessibility and Final Thoughts
Gamers avoiding the frights of intense horror games won’t want to miss Gloomy Eyes. The game is out on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, computer, and Xbox Series X, and is available at a reduced price for 25% off on digital platforms.
This charming title is out now on multiple platforms and provides a delightful alternative for gamers in search of Halloween fun minus the terrifying moments.
