This Spooky-Cute Puzzler Acts as the Excellent Alternative to Spooky Scares

Not each Halloween horror adventure must frighten you. Including iconic favorites like Scooby-Doo to delightful stories like Over the Garden Wall, plenty of autumn-inspired staples offer entertainment without raising your heart rate. There’s also, a increasing selection of spooky-cute games including autumn atmosphere, but not the truly terrifying degree of terror. Gloomy Eyes was released in the fall, and acts as an superb cozy alternative to the deeply scary releases of the current season.

A Distinctive Collaborative Solo Journey

Described as a solo collaboration problem-solving title, Gloomy Eyes pairs up a living-impaired child called Gloomy and a human girl known as Nena as they start an quest to restore sunlight to their dark, dark environment. Their design is similar to Funko Pops mixed with the puppets from a Laika film. Their pale-skinned and tired-looking style is influenced by the visual style of Burtonesque cinema, and the plot is a archetypal all-ages journey. These two develops an strong friendship over the span of the game’s 14 chapters as Nena strives to demonstrate to her priest uncle that, you know, maybe the undead can be friendly.

Creative Problem-Solving Features

This unique description comes about from the game’s environmental puzzles. When Gloomy and Nena cross paths, gamers switch amidst the recent allies to complete challenges and move forward through the levels. Since he's not alive, Gloomy is unable to traverse through the illumination of a light source, while Nena may be grabbed by idle zombies unless a lamp is focused on them.

They have to work in tandem — in practice, gamers operate them simultaneously — to finish levels. Nena may move or briefly disable lamps to open routes for Gloomy, while the thoughtful youth will use his zombie strength to rearrange items in the environment, opening up paths for Nena.

Engaging Level Design

The puzzles evoke memories a little of The Gardens Between, in the manner the areas are floating, diorama-like structures that the perspective rotates in conjunction with your protagonists. Gloomy Eyes’ environments are quite fun, taking the friends around a fair and through a haunted house, among other places. Players can use a “diorama view” option that enables you to zoom out and spin the areas, both to admire the artwork and search for ways that may not have been apparent.

Small Issues and Overall Experience

And that’s one of the sole problems with Gloomy Eyes. Similar to other titles with a static view, sometimes it's unclear where the heroes are able to move. You may need to randomly encounter a multiple different items to discover which ones are usable, as it’s not always intuitive.

However, those small speedbumps don't obstruct of a eerie-adorable good time. Gloomy Eyes is relatively brief, with approximately three to five hours worth of challenges. Subsequent stages integrate light hidden movement and dynamic sequences with the challenge completion, as Gloomy Eyes progresses to a fulfilling — and slightly unforeseen — finale.

Accessibility and Conclusion

Players shying away from the scares of terrifying titles won’t want to miss Gloomy Eyes. You can find it on Switch console, PlayStation 5, computer, and Xbox Series X, and is presently discounted for a discount on online stores.

The spooky-cute adventure is out now on multiple platforms and offers a pleasurable choice for gamers in search of autumn enjoyment minus the intense scares.