Not each autumn fright journey must terrify players. Including beloved classics like animated detectives to delightful stories like Over the Garden Wall, plenty of autumn-inspired staples provide fun without raising your heart rate. There’s also, a growing library of ghostly-adorable titles including autumn atmosphere, yet without the sleep-with-the-lights-on degree of fear. Gloomy Eyes debuted in the fall, and acts as an outstanding cozy choice to the deeply scary games of this year.
A Distinctive Self-Coop Quest
Known as a single-player cooperative brain-teaser, Gloomy Eyes unites a living-impaired child called Gloomy and a mortal child named Nena as they embark on an adventure to restore sunlight to their gloomy world. Their design evokes stylized dolls blended with the puppets from a stop-motion animation. The pale-skinned and heavy-lidded aesthetic is influenced by the appearance of Tim Burton’s films, and the plot is a archetypal all-ages tale. These two develops an enduring bond over the course of the game’s numerous levels as Nena strives to prove to her clerical relative that, look, perhaps zombies aren’t half bad.
Original Gameplay Systems
The innovative term originates from the game’s environmental puzzles. After Gloomy and Nena cross paths, you’ll swap between the newfound friends to overcome obstacles and move forward through the levels. As an undead, Gloomy can’t walk through the illumination of a streetlight, while Nena can be captured by wandering undead unless a light is directed on them.
They must cooperate closely — in practice, players control them together — to complete stages. Nena could adjust or briefly disable lamps to create passages for Gloomy, while the thoughtful youth will utilize his supernatural ability to rearrange obstacles in the surroundings, creating paths for Nena.
Engaging Level Design
The puzzles evoke memories a touch of The Gardens Between, in the way the stages are suspended, diorama-like structures that the camera moves across in coordination with your characters. Gloomy Eyes’ worlds are highly entertaining, guiding the duo around a amusement park and through a spooky mansion, including other locales. There’s a “diorama view” option that enables you to view from afar and rotate the levels, both to admire the visuals and search for routes that may not have been obvious.
Slight Issues and Complete Adventure
And that’s one of the few problems with Gloomy Eyes. Similar to other releases with a static view, occasionally it's confusing where the heroes are able to move. Players might have to randomly encounter a few random elements to determine which ones are interactive, as the game doesn't always indicate.
Nonetheless, those small obstacles don’t get in the way of a eerie-adorable enjoyable experience. Gloomy Eyes runs on the short side, with approximately a few sessions worth of puzzles. Subsequent stages integrate light stealth and dynamic sequences with the puzzle solving, as Gloomy Eyes advances to a rewarding — and moderately unexpected — finale.
Release and Final Thoughts
Players avoiding the frights of fear-inducing titles should definitely try Gloomy Eyes. It’s available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PC, and Xbox, and is presently discounted for 25% off on game marketplaces.
This charming title is out now on multiple platforms and delivers a pleasurable choice for players in search of autumn enjoyment without the terrifying moments.
