Not each Halloween horror adventure has to terrify players. Including well-known tales like Scooby-Doo to endearing shows such as Over the Garden Wall, numerous spooky-season titles are enjoyable without requiring increasing anxiety. There’s also, a growing library of spooky-cute games with Halloween vibes, but not the truly terrifying degree of fear. Gloomy Eyes was released in the fall, and serves as an excellent relaxing choice to the truly terrifying games of this year.
A Unique Single-Player Cooperative Quest
Known as a “self-coop” problem-solving title, Gloomy Eyes teams up a living-impaired child called Gloomy and a living girl named Nena as they start an quest to return daylight to their gloomy environment. They look resembles collectible figures mixed with the figures from a stop-motion animation. Their pale-skinned and tired-looking style draws inspiration from the appearance of Gothic fantasy movies, and the plot is a archetypal all-ages journey. These two develops an enduring friendship over the course of the game’s numerous levels as Nena attempts to prove to her priest uncle that, look, possibly living-impaired beings can be friendly.
Original Problem-Solving Features
This unique term comes about from the game’s world-based challenges. After Gloomy and Nena meet, you’ll swap between the recent allies to solve puzzles and advance through the stages. As an undead, Gloomy can’t walk through the light of a lamppost, while Nena will get snatched up by idle zombies without a lamp is directed on them.
They have to collaborate effectively — well, gamers operate them simultaneously — to complete stages. Nena may move or briefly disable lights to clear paths for Gloomy, while the open-brained youth will utilize his supernatural ability to rearrange items in the world, revealing ways for Nena.
Immersive Level Design
The brain-teasers bring to mind a bit of The Gardens Between, in the way the levels are suspended, miniature constructions that the camera rotates in conjunction with your characters. Gloomy Eyes’ environments are quite fun, leading the duo around a carnival and through a spooky mansion, among other places. There’s a “diorama view” option that allows you to view from afar and rotate the levels, both to appreciate the visuals and look for routes that may not have been apparent.
Minor Issues and Complete Experience
Here lies one of the only difficulties with Gloomy Eyes. Like other games with a static view, it’s not always clear where the heroes may or may not travel. You may need to randomly encounter a multiple different elements to discover which ones are interactive, as clues aren't consistently provided.
Nevertheless, those small challenges don't obstruct of a spooky-cute fun adventure. Gloomy Eyes is relatively brief, with about a few sessions worth of brain-teasers. Later levels combine minor stealth and exciting moments with the problem-solving, as Gloomy Eyes progresses to a fulfilling — and moderately unexpected — conclusion.
Accessibility and Final Thoughts
Those steering clear of the terror of intense horror titles ought to experience Gloomy Eyes. The game is out on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Microsoft console, and is available at a reduced price for a discount on digital platforms.
The spooky-cute adventure is out now on various systems and delivers a delightful choice for fans in search of Halloween fun without the fear factor.
