Not every Halloween horror experience needs to frighten gamers. From beloved classics such as animated detectives to charming series including Over the Garden Wall, many autumn-inspired favorites are enjoyable without raising your heart rate. Additionally, a growing library of eerie-charming releases including spooky themes, but not the sleep-with-the-lights-on intensity of terror. Gloomy Eyes debuted in recent months, and stands as an outstanding relaxing choice to the truly terrifying releases of this year.
An Original Single-Player Cooperative Adventure
Known as a single-player cooperative brain-teaser, Gloomy Eyes pairs up a zombie boy called Gloomy and a human girl called Nena as they embark on an quest to restore sunlight to their gloomy environment. Their design resembles stylized dolls combined with the characters from a stop-motion animation. The fair-toned and baggy-eyed aesthetic draws inspiration from the look of Gothic fantasy movies, and the plot is a classic family-friendly adventure. These two develops an unbreakable bond over the span of the game’s 14 chapters as Nena tries to demonstrate to her clerical relative that, look, maybe living-impaired beings can be friendly.
Innovative Gameplay Systems
The innovative description stems from the game’s world-based challenges. Once Gloomy and Nena cross paths, you’ll swap between the budding companions to solve puzzles and advance through the areas. Being a zombie, Gloomy can’t walk through the light of a streetlight, while Nena will get snatched up by wandering undead except if a lamp is shone on them.
They have to work in tandem — in practice, you’ll use them simultaneously — to advance through areas. Nena could adjust or temporarily shut off lights to create passages for Gloomy, while the intellectually curious youth will use his zombie strength to move objects in the environment, revealing ways for Nena.
Captivating World Building
The brain-teasers bring to mind a little of The Gardens Between, in the way the areas are hovering, diorama-like constructions that the camera rotates in sync with your characters. Gloomy Eyes’ environments are very enjoyable, guiding the companions around a amusement park and through a haunted house, amid other locales. The game includes a “diorama view” feature that permits you to view from afar and spin the levels, both for admire the artwork and search for routes that may not have been apparent.
Slight Issues and Complete Adventure
This represents one of the few problems with Gloomy Eyes. Similar to other games with a fixed perspective, occasionally it's confusing where the heroes may or may not travel. Players might have to randomly encounter a several various objects to figure out which ones are interactable, as the game doesn't always indicate.
Nevertheless, those slight challenges don't hinder of a ghostly-charming good time. Gloomy Eyes has a compact length, with roughly a few sessions worth of puzzles. Subsequent stages integrate light sneaking and exciting moments with the challenge completion, as Gloomy Eyes marches toward a satisfying — and moderately unexpected — conclusion.
Availability and Final Thoughts
Gamers steering clear of the terror of fear-inducing releases should definitely try Gloomy Eyes. The game is out on Switch console, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox, and is currently on sale for a quarter off on game marketplaces.
Gloomy Eyes is available on various systems and provides a delightful choice for fans in search of autumn enjoyment without the fear factor.
