Not every autumn fright journey has to scare players. Including beloved classics like animated detectives to endearing shows including Over the Garden Wall, plenty of Halloween-themed titles offer entertainment without requiring causing fear. Moreover, a growing library of eerie-charming games featuring spooky themes, but not the keep-you-awake degree of terror. Gloomy Eyes arrived in the fall, and acts as an outstanding cozy alternative to the intensely frightening games of this year.
A Distinctive Collaborative Solo Adventure
Known as a solo collaboration problem-solving title, Gloomy Eyes teams up a undead youth known as Gloomy and a living girl called Nena as they start an quest to return daylight to their gloomy realm. Their design evokes stylized dolls mixed with the puppets from a Laika film. The light-complected and heavy-lidded aesthetic is influenced by the appearance of Tim Burton’s films, and the story is a quintessential all-ages tale. These two forms an strong bond over the duration of the game’s 14 chapters as Nena strives to prove to her religious guardian that, look, possibly zombies aren’t half bad.
Innovative Puzzle Mechanics
The innovative label 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 stages. Since he's not alive, Gloomy can’t walk through the brightness of a lamppost, while Nena can be captured by idle zombies without a light is shone on them.
They have to cooperate closely — well, you’ll use them in tandem — to complete stages. Nena may move or briefly disable lamps to open routes for Gloomy, while the intellectually curious boy will use his zombie strength to rearrange obstacles in the environment, revealing paths for Nena.
Immersive World Building
The puzzles remind me a little of The Gardens Between, in the way the areas are suspended, model-like designs that the perspective pans around in conjunction with your characters. Gloomy Eyes’ environments are highly entertaining, guiding the friends around a carnival and through a haunted house, among other places. There’s a “diorama view” button that allows you to view from afar and spin the levels, simultaneously to admire the visuals and hunt for ways that may not have been obvious.
Small Challenges and Complete Experience
This represents one of the only problems with Gloomy Eyes. Like other games with a locked camera, sometimes it's unclear where the protagonists can and cannot go. Players might have to just bump into a multiple different items to determine which ones are interactable, as clues aren't consistently provided.
However, those slight challenges don’t get in the way of a ghostly-charming good time. Gloomy Eyes has a compact length, with about three to five hours worth of puzzles. Later levels combine light hidden movement and action elements with the problem-solving, as Gloomy Eyes marches toward a rewarding — and moderately surprising — finale.
Accessibility and Summary
Gamers shying away from the terror of terrifying titles won’t want to miss Gloomy Eyes. The game is out on Switch console, Sony system, PC, and Xbox, and is presently discounted for a discount on online stores.
The spooky-cute adventure is available on several consoles and provides a delightful alternative for gamers looking for Halloween fun without the fear factor.
