Not each Halloween horror journey needs to frighten gamers. Starting with iconic favorites like mystery-solving cartoons to charming series including Over the Garden Wall, plenty of Halloween-themed staples are enjoyable without raising your heart rate. There’s also, a expanding collection of spooky-cute releases featuring Halloween vibes, but not the sleep-with-the-lights-on degree of horror. Gloomy Eyes debuted in the fall, and stands as an outstanding cozy choice to the intensely frightening releases of the current season.
An Original Self-Coop Adventure
Labeled as a single-player cooperative problem-solving title, Gloomy Eyes pairs up a undead youth called Gloomy and a living girl named Nena as they start an quest to bring the sun back to their shadowy realm. Their design resembles collectible figures combined with the characters from a Laika film. Their fair-toned and baggy-eyed style draws inspiration from the look of Burtonesque cinema, and the narrative is a quintessential all-ages journey. These two develops an enduring connection over the course of the game’s numerous levels as Nena tries to demonstrate to her clerical relative that, hey, perhaps zombies aren’t half bad.
Original Gameplay Systems
The “self-coop” label comes about from the game’s interactive problem-solving. Once Gloomy and Nena cross paths, players alternate between the newfound friends to complete challenges and progress through the stages. Since he's not alive, Gloomy can’t walk through the brightness of a streetlight, while Nena may be grabbed by wandering undead except if a beam is focused on them.
It's necessary for them to cooperate closely — actually, players control them simultaneously — to finish levels. Nena could adjust or temporarily shut off lights to open routes for Gloomy, while the thoughtful boy will employ his undead power to rearrange items in the world, opening up paths for Nena.
Immersive World Building
These challenges bring to mind a touch of The Gardens Between, in the way the stages are suspended, miniature constructions that the view pans around in sync with your characters. Gloomy Eyes’ worlds are highly entertaining, leading the duo around a amusement park and through a haunted house, including other locations. There’s a “diorama view” feature that allows you to view from afar and turn the areas, both to admire the designs and search for paths that may not have been apparent.
Minor Hiccups and Complete Gameplay
And that’s one of the few hiccups with Gloomy Eyes. Similar to other games with a locked camera, it’s not always clear where the heroes can and cannot go. You may need to just bump into a multiple different items to determine which ones are interactable, as the game doesn't always indicate.
Nevertheless, those minor obstacles don't obstruct of a spooky-cute enjoyable experience. Gloomy Eyes is relatively brief, with about a few sessions worth of puzzles. Subsequent stages combine subtle stealth and exciting moments with the challenge completion, as Gloomy Eyes advances to a fulfilling — and moderately unexpected — conclusion.
Release and Conclusion
Players avoiding the frights of terrifying titles won’t want to miss Gloomy Eyes. The game is out on Switch console, PlayStation 5, computer, and Xbox, and is available at a reduced price for a quarter off on game marketplaces.
The spooky-cute adventure is available on various systems and provides a delightful option for gamers seeking spooky entertainment without intense scares.
