Not every autumn fright adventure must scare you. Starting with beloved classics like animated detectives to endearing shows such as Over the Garden Wall, many autumn-inspired titles offer entertainment without causing fear. There’s also, a increasing selection of eerie-charming titles including spooky themes, yet without the truly terrifying intensity of terror. Gloomy Eyes debuted in September, and serves as an superb comfortable option to the deeply scary releases of this year.
A Unique Single-Player Cooperative Adventure
Described as a “self-coop” brain-teaser, Gloomy Eyes unites a zombie boy known as Gloomy and a human girl known as Nena as they embark on an mission to return daylight to their shadowy world. They look evokes Funko Pops mixed with the figures from a stop-motion animation. The pale-skinned and heavy-lidded appearance is influenced by the visual style of Tim Burton’s films, and the narrative is a quintessential all-ages journey. The pair forms an unbreakable friendship over the span of the game’s 14 chapters as Nena tries to demonstrate to her priest uncle that, you know, perhaps the undead are actually good.
Creative Puzzle Mechanics
The innovative term originates from the game’s world-based challenges. Once Gloomy and Nena meet, gamers switch between the budding companions to complete challenges and progress through the areas. Since he's not alive, Gloomy can’t walk through the brightness of a light source, while Nena can be captured by idle zombies without a beam is shone on them.
They have to collaborate effectively — in practice, gamers operate them simultaneously — to finish levels. Nena may move or temporarily shut off illumination to clear paths for Gloomy, while the open-brained boy will use his zombie strength to shift around objects in the world, revealing ways for Nena.
Captivating World Building
These challenges remind me a little of The Gardens Between, in the manner the stages are hovering, diorama-like designs that the view rotates in conjunction with your heroes. Gloomy Eyes’ worlds are very enjoyable, guiding the companions around a amusement park and through a spooky mansion, including other places. The game includes a “diorama view” option that enables you to view from afar and turn the stages, simultaneously to enjoy the visuals and hunt for ways that may not have been obvious.
Small Challenges and Overall Adventure
Here lies one of the few hiccups with Gloomy Eyes. Comparable to other titles with a locked camera, sometimes it's unclear where the heroes are able to move. You may need to just bump into a several various elements to determine which ones are usable, as clues aren't consistently provided.
However, those small obstacles don't obstruct of a spooky-cute good time. Gloomy Eyes is relatively brief, with roughly a few sessions worth of challenges. Advanced areas blend together minor hidden movement and exciting moments with the puzzle solving, as Gloomy Eyes marches toward a fulfilling — and moderately surprising — ending.
Accessibility and Summary
Those steering clear of the scares of intense horror titles ought to experience Gloomy Eyes. The game is out on Nintendo Switch, PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X, and is currently on sale for a quarter off on game marketplaces.
The spooky-cute adventure has been released on various systems and provides a pleasurable option for fans in search of spooky entertainment minus the fear factor.
