Not every autumn fright journey must frighten gamers. Including iconic favorites such as Scooby-Doo to delightful stories such as Over the Garden Wall, many autumn-inspired favorites are enjoyable without causing fear. Additionally, a expanding collection of eerie-charming games including autumn atmosphere, but not the sleep-with-the-lights-on level of terror. Gloomy Eyes was released in recent months, and acts as an outstanding relaxing alternative to the deeply scary titles of this year.
An Original Self-Coop Adventure
Known as a single-player cooperative brain-teaser, Gloomy Eyes teams up a living-impaired child named Gloomy and a mortal child known as Nena as they embark on an mission to return daylight to their shadowy environment. They look is similar to stylized dolls mixed with the figures from a Laika film. Their fair-toned and heavy-lidded style borrows heavily from the appearance of Gothic fantasy movies, and the plot is a classic family-friendly tale. These two builds an unbreakable friendship over the span of the game’s numerous levels as Nena strives to prove to her priest uncle that, look, possibly living-impaired beings are actually good.
Original Puzzle Mechanics
The “self-coop” term stems from the game’s interactive problem-solving. When Gloomy and Nena meet, gamers switch among the newfound friends to overcome obstacles and advance through the stages. As an undead, Gloomy is unable to traverse through the brightness of a streetlight, while Nena can be captured by wandering undead except if a lamp is directed on them.
They have to cooperate closely — well, players control them in tandem — to advance through areas. Nena might relocate or temporarily shut off lamps to create passages for Gloomy, while the open-brained character will use his zombie strength to shift around objects in the environment, revealing ways for Nena.
Engaging World Building
The puzzles bring to mind a little of The Gardens Between, in the way the stages are suspended, miniature designs that the perspective pans around in sync with your characters. Gloomy Eyes’ environments are very enjoyable, leading the duo around a fair and through a ghostly building, including other locations. The game includes a “diorama view” button that allows you to pull back and spin the stages, both for admire the visuals and search for paths that may not have been apparent.
Slight Challenges and Complete Adventure
Here lies one of the few problems with Gloomy Eyes. Similar to other titles with a locked camera, occasionally it's confusing where the heroes can and cannot go. Players might have to simply collide with a few random items to discover which ones are usable, as the game doesn't always indicate.
Nonetheless, those slight challenges don’t get in the way of a ghostly-charming fun adventure. Gloomy Eyes runs on the short side, with approximately a few sessions worth of challenges. Advanced areas combine minor stealth and exciting moments with the puzzle solving, as Gloomy Eyes progresses to a satisfying — and moderately surprising — finale.
Release and Summary
Players shying away from the scares of intense horror games should definitely try Gloomy Eyes. The game is out on Nintendo platform, Sony system, Windows PC, and Xbox, and is presently discounted for 25% off on digital platforms.
The spooky-cute adventure is out now on multiple platforms and offers a delightful choice for gamers in search of spooky entertainment without the fear factor.
