The Ghostly-Charming Puzzler Functions as the Excellent Replacement to Halloween Horror

Not all spooky season adventure needs to terrify you. From well-known tales like mystery-solving cartoons to endearing shows including Over the Garden Wall, numerous spooky-season favorites provide fun without needing raising your heart rate. Additionally, a expanding collection of spooky-cute titles featuring autumn atmosphere, yet without the truly terrifying intensity of fear. Gloomy Eyes debuted in the fall, and stands as an superb cozy choice to the intensely frightening games of this year.

An Original Self-Coop Journey

Known as a “self-coop” brain-teaser, Gloomy Eyes teams up a living-impaired child called Gloomy and a human girl named Nena as they embark on an mission to return daylight to their shadowy world. Their design is similar to stylized dolls combined with the characters from a stop-motion animation. The fair-toned and tired-looking aesthetic borrows heavily from the visual style of Tim Burton’s films, and the narrative is a archetypal suitable for everyone adventure. The duo forms an unbreakable friendship over the span of the game’s numerous levels as Nena strives to show to her clerical relative that, you know, perhaps living-impaired beings are actually good.

Creative Puzzle Mechanics

This unique label originates from the game’s environmental puzzles. When Gloomy and Nena meet, players alternate between the budding companions to complete challenges and move forward through the areas. As an undead, Gloomy can’t walk through the illumination of a streetlight, while Nena can be captured by wandering undead without a light is directed on them.

They must cooperate closely — actually, you’ll use them in tandem — to finish levels. Nena may move or momentarily deactivate lamps to create passages for Gloomy, while the open-brained youth will employ his undead power to move items in the surroundings, revealing ways for Nena.

Immersive Environment Creation

The brain-teasers remind me a little of The Gardens Between, in the fashion the areas are floating, miniature constructions that the camera pans around in conjunction with your protagonists. Gloomy Eyes’ environments are quite fun, guiding the friends around a fair and through a ghostly building, among other places. There’s a “diorama view” button that permits you to zoom out and spin the areas, both for appreciate the artwork and search for ways that may not have been obvious.

Small Issues and Overall Experience

And that’s one of the few difficulties with Gloomy Eyes. Similar to other games with a static view, sometimes it's unclear where the characters may or may not travel. You may need to randomly encounter a several various objects to discover which ones are interactable, as clues aren't consistently provided.

Nonetheless, those small speedbumps don't hinder of a spooky-cute enjoyable experience. Gloomy Eyes runs on the short side, with roughly several hours worth of brain-teasers. Subsequent stages blend together light hidden movement and exciting moments with the problem-solving, as Gloomy Eyes marches toward a satisfying — and moderately surprising — ending.

Availability and Final Thoughts

Gamers shying away from the scares of intense horror releases won’t want to miss Gloomy Eyes. It’s available on Nintendo Switch, Sony system, computer, and Microsoft console, and is currently on sale for 25% off on online stores.

This charming title is available on multiple platforms and provides a delightful option for players seeking autumn enjoyment without intense scares.