Not all Halloween horror adventure must terrify you. From beloved classics such as Scooby-Doo to delightful stories including Over the Garden Wall, many Halloween-themed titles are enjoyable without requiring causing fear. Additionally, a expanding collection of ghostly-adorable games including spooky themes, yet without the sleep-with-the-lights-on intensity of horror. Gloomy Eyes was released in recent months, and serves as an outstanding comfortable option to the truly terrifying titles of the current season.
A Unique Self-Coop Quest
Described as a solo collaboration brain-teaser, Gloomy Eyes pairs up a undead youth known as Gloomy and a living girl called Nena as they start an mission to bring the sun back to their dark, dark environment. They look evokes stylized dolls mixed with the figures from a stop-motion animation. Their pale-skinned and baggy-eyed appearance draws inspiration from the visual style of Gothic fantasy movies, and the plot is a archetypal all-ages adventure. The duo forms an strong friendship over the course of the game’s 14 chapters as Nena attempts to demonstrate to her religious guardian that, hey, possibly living-impaired beings can be friendly.
Original Puzzle Mechanics
The “self-coop” label stems from the game’s environmental puzzles. After Gloomy and Nena meet, you’ll swap between the budding companions to overcome obstacles and move forward through the areas. Being a zombie, Gloomy is unable to traverse through the brightness of a light source, while Nena can be captured by idle zombies unless a light is focused on them.
They must collaborate effectively — in practice, players control them together — to complete stages. Nena might relocate or temporarily shut off illumination to clear paths for Gloomy, while the thoughtful boy will use his zombie strength to move objects in the world, creating routes for Nena.
Engaging World Building
The brain-teasers evoke memories a touch of The Gardens Between, in the way the stages are floating, model-like designs that the camera pans around in sync with your heroes. Gloomy Eyes’ worlds are quite fun, taking the companions around a amusement park and through a spooky mansion, among other places. There’s a “diorama view” button that permits you to zoom out and rotate the areas, both for admire the artwork and search for ways that may not have been apparent.
Slight Challenges and Complete Gameplay
Here lies one of the few problems with Gloomy Eyes. Similar to other releases with a fixed perspective, occasionally it's confusing where the protagonists can and cannot go. Gamers could require to just bump into a few random elements to determine which ones are interactive, as the game doesn't always indicate.
However, those small obstacles don't obstruct of a spooky-cute enjoyable experience. Gloomy Eyes has a compact length, with approximately a few sessions worth of challenges. Later levels integrate minor stealth and dynamic sequences with the challenge completion, as Gloomy Eyes progresses to a rewarding — and somewhat unforeseen — conclusion.
Availability and Final Thoughts
Gamers steering clear of the frights of fear-inducing releases won’t want to miss Gloomy Eyes. It’s available on Switch console, Sony system, PC, and Microsoft console, and is currently on sale for a discount on game marketplaces.
Gloomy Eyes is out now on several consoles and provides a delightful alternative for fans seeking Halloween fun without terrifying moments.
