The Ghostly-Charming Puzzler Functions as the Ideal Substitute to Spooky Scares

Not every Halloween horror experience has to terrify players. From iconic favorites like mystery-solving cartoons to endearing shows including Over the Garden Wall, plenty of spooky-season favorites provide fun without requiring increasing anxiety. There’s also, a expanding collection of eerie-charming games with Halloween vibes, but not the truly terrifying degree of fear. Gloomy Eyes arrived in the fall, and stands as an excellent comfortable choice to the deeply scary games of the current season.

A Distinctive Collaborative Solo Adventure

Described as a solo collaboration brain-teaser, Gloomy Eyes unites a zombie boy known as Gloomy and a living girl known as Nena as they embark on an quest to restore sunlight to their gloomy world. Their design evokes stylized dolls blended with the puppets from a animated feature. Their fair-toned and baggy-eyed appearance borrows heavily from the visual style of Burtonesque cinema, and the story is a archetypal family-friendly adventure. These two builds an strong friendship over the span of the game’s multiple stages as Nena attempts to prove to her priest uncle that, hey, perhaps living-impaired beings are actually good.

Innovative Puzzle Mechanics

The innovative description comes about from the game’s world-based challenges. Once Gloomy and Nena encounter each other, you’ll swap between the budding companions to overcome obstacles and progress through the levels. Being a zombie, Gloomy is unable to traverse through the light of a lamppost, while Nena can be captured by loitering creatures unless a light is shone on them.

They must work in tandem — actually, gamers operate them together — to finish levels. Nena may move or momentarily deactivate lights to create passages for Gloomy, while the intellectually curious youth will employ his undead power to rearrange objects in the environment, opening up paths for Nena.

Captivating Environment Creation

These challenges evoke memories a little of The Gardens Between, in the fashion the levels are suspended, model-like constructions that the view pans around in conjunction with your protagonists. Gloomy Eyes’ environments are very enjoyable, leading the duo around a carnival and through a haunted house, among other places. The game includes a “diorama view” button that enables you to pull back and rotate the stages, both to appreciate the artwork and look for ways that may not have been apparent.

Small Hiccups and Overall Experience

This represents one of the few problems with Gloomy Eyes. Similar to other titles with a locked camera, sometimes it's unclear where the heroes are able to move. Players might have to just bump into a multiple different objects to discover which ones are interactable, as it’s not always intuitive.

However, those minor speedbumps don’t get in the way of a spooky-cute good time. Gloomy Eyes is relatively brief, with about three to five hours worth of challenges. Later levels combine light hidden movement and dynamic sequences with the puzzle solving, as Gloomy Eyes marches toward a fulfilling — and moderately unforeseen — ending.

Release and Summary

Those shying away from the terror of terrifying games should definitely try Gloomy Eyes. You can find it on Switch console, PlayStation 5, PC, and Xbox Series X, and is available at a reduced price for a quarter off on digital platforms.

This charming title has been released on various systems and provides a delightful choice for players looking for autumn enjoyment without the fear factor.