Not every Halloween horror journey must frighten you. Including iconic favorites for example mystery-solving cartoons to charming series including Over the Garden Wall, numerous autumn-inspired staples offer entertainment without requiring raising your heart rate. Additionally, a growing library of ghostly-adorable games featuring autumn atmosphere, but not the keep-you-awake level of horror. Gloomy Eyes was released in September, and serves as an excellent cozy choice to the truly terrifying releases of the current season.
A Unique Collaborative Solo Quest
Known as a solo collaboration brain-teaser, Gloomy Eyes pairs up a living-impaired child known as Gloomy and a human girl named Nena as they start an mission to return daylight to their gloomy realm. Their appearance resembles Funko Pops blended with the puppets from a animated feature. The light-complected and heavy-lidded style borrows heavily from the visual style of Tim Burton’s films, and the narrative is a archetypal family-friendly journey. The duo builds an strong friendship over the course of the game’s multiple stages as Nena attempts to demonstrate to her priest uncle that, hey, maybe the undead are actually good.
Innovative Puzzle Mechanics
This unique label originates from the game’s interactive problem-solving. When Gloomy and Nena meet, you’ll swap among the newfound friends to solve puzzles and move forward through the stages. Since he's not alive, Gloomy can’t walk through the brightness of a lamppost, while Nena will get snatched up by idle zombies unless a lamp is focused on them.
It's necessary for them to collaborate effectively — well, gamers operate them together — to finish levels. Nena may move or briefly disable illumination to open routes for Gloomy, while the open-brained character will employ his undead power to move objects in the world, revealing routes for Nena.
Immersive Level Design
These challenges bring to mind a touch of The Gardens Between, in the manner the areas are hovering, diorama-like constructions that the view pans around in sync with your characters. Gloomy Eyes’ worlds are highly entertaining, guiding the companions around a carnival and through a haunted house, amid other locations. There’s a “diorama view” option that allows you to zoom out and rotate the areas, simultaneously to enjoy the artwork and look for paths that may not have been obvious.
Slight Issues and General Adventure
Here lies one of the few hiccups with Gloomy Eyes. Like other games with a static view, it’s not always clear where the protagonists can and cannot go. Players might have to just bump into a multiple different objects to determine which ones are interactive, as clues aren't consistently provided.
Nevertheless, those small challenges don't obstruct of a ghostly-charming good time. Gloomy Eyes runs on the short side, with approximately a few sessions worth of challenges. Later levels integrate minor stealth and exciting moments with the challenge completion, as Gloomy Eyes advances to a rewarding — and moderately surprising — ending.
Release and Summary
Gamers avoiding the scares of fear-inducing games won’t want to miss Gloomy Eyes. You can find it on Nintendo Switch, PS5, Windows PC, and Xbox, and is currently on sale for a quarter off on online stores.
Gloomy Eyes is available on multiple platforms and provides a enjoyable option for gamers seeking Halloween fun minus the terrifying moments.
