Not each autumn fright experience must terrify you. Including iconic favorites such as mystery-solving cartoons to charming series like Over the Garden Wall, plenty of autumn-inspired staples offer entertainment without requiring raising your heart rate. Moreover, a expanding collection of ghostly-adorable releases with autumn atmosphere, but not the keep-you-awake degree of terror. Gloomy Eyes was released in September, and acts as an superb cozy choice to the intensely frightening releases of 2025.
A Unique Self-Coop Journey
Labeled as a “self-coop” brain-teaser, Gloomy Eyes teams up a undead youth named Gloomy and a living girl called Nena as they start an quest to bring the sun back to their dark, dark realm. Their design evokes Funko Pops mixed with the puppets from a Laika film. The pale-skinned and baggy-eyed aesthetic draws inspiration from the look of Gothic fantasy movies, and the plot is a quintessential suitable for everyone tale. The duo develops an unbreakable friendship over the course of the game’s 14 chapters as Nena attempts to prove to her religious guardian that, hey, maybe the undead can be friendly.
Original Problem-Solving Features
The “self-coop” description originates from the game’s interactive problem-solving. Once Gloomy and Nena cross paths, you’ll swap among the newfound friends to overcome obstacles and advance through the stages. Being a zombie, Gloomy is unable to traverse through the light of a lamppost, while Nena may be grabbed by loitering creatures without a light is focused on them.
They must collaborate effectively — actually, gamers operate them together — to advance through areas. Nena may move or momentarily deactivate illumination to open routes for Gloomy, while the thoughtful youth will utilize his supernatural ability to rearrange items in the surroundings, creating ways for Nena.
Captivating World Building
These challenges remind me a bit of The Gardens Between, in the way the areas are suspended, diorama-like constructions that the perspective pans around in conjunction with your characters. Gloomy Eyes’ worlds are very enjoyable, guiding the companions around a fair and through a ghostly building, amid other places. Players can use a “diorama view” button that allows you to zoom out and rotate the levels, simultaneously to enjoy the artwork and hunt for paths that may not have been obvious.
Small Issues and General Adventure
And that’s one of the sole difficulties with Gloomy Eyes. Comparable to other releases with a locked camera, it’s not always clear where the protagonists may or may not travel. Gamers could require to simply collide with a multiple different elements to discover which ones are interactive, as it’s not always intuitive.
However, those small obstacles don’t get in the way of a spooky-cute enjoyable experience. Gloomy Eyes runs on the short side, with roughly a few sessions worth of challenges. Advanced areas integrate minor sneaking and action elements with the problem-solving, as Gloomy Eyes marches toward a satisfying — and somewhat unexpected — ending.
Availability and Conclusion
Those shying away from the scares of intense horror titles ought to experience Gloomy Eyes. It’s available on Switch console, PS5, Windows PC, and Xbox, and is currently on sale for 25% off on game marketplaces.
Gloomy Eyes is out now on several consoles and provides a enjoyable option for fans looking for Halloween fun without the intense scares.
