A recreation like Gloomy Eyes ought to’ve been reviewed in October, proper? Not the vacation season in December? Nicely, right here we’re, anyway. Contemplate it a Nightmare Earlier than Christmas form of factor, which is sensible contemplating the Burton-inspired visuals.
Gloomy Eyes is an journey/puzzle recreation primarily based on an animated VR brief from 2019. You play as Gloomy (a zombie boy) and Nena (a residing woman) who come collectively in hopes of discovering the solar, which has been misplaced for some time. The artwork fashion, sound, and storytelling have a distinctly creepy vibe, however the recreation stays cozy and enjoyable, with no main jumpscares or fast current hazard.
The Gloomy Eyes world exists like a Tremendous Mario Galaxy map, during which every degree is a brand new setting with a lot to discover and plenty of puzzles to unravel. There’s a place to begin at every degree, and your objective is at all times to seek out your technique to the tip. After all, many obstacles block your manner, and swapping between Gloomy and Nena might be required to get previous—he can’t be within the mild and she will’t be round zombies. These characters due to this fact should work collectively, however from separate elements of the extent, to clear one another of any obstacles and discover the best way to the tip.
The sport is single-player solely, so anticipate quite a lot of switching between the 2 and discovering what actions serve what functions. For instance, within the first couple ranges the place the 2 meet, you’ll play as Nena and discover buttons inside her space that shut off lights so Gloomy can then entry areas the place he’ll remedy puzzles that assist Nena in return.
These areas are like dioramas from which you’ll be able to again out and rotate to take all of it in. They’re massive, although, so you’ll spend loads of time down near the motion, experimenting with the environments to determine what to do. That’s the entire level, in any case. Gloomy Eyes doesn’t do a lot to information you, you’re simply anticipated to scout the areas till you discover the triggers to assist the opposite progress. A big majority of the gameplay, due to this fact, facilities round blind exploration and trial and error. Is that enjoyable?
Right here, it form of is, largely as a result of lastly determining easy methods to progress is kind of satisfying. It’s like advancing from one puzzle to the following in an escape room, and it doesn’t take for much longer; Gloomy Eyes might be accomplished in only one or two sittings should you’re devoted. You additionally don’t need to cope with being cramped in a tiny room with others who suppose they’re higher puzzle-solvers than you.
You’re, nevertheless, struck with a cramped digital camera that makes it troublesome to seek out what you want. In some areas, I wasn’t even capable of detect that there have been paths I might take. The muted colours and blurry graphics on the Change don’t assist, both. To stay with the Tim Burton reference, it wants the visible aptitude of Corpse Bride’s land of the lifeless, not the upstairs.
And contemplating the brief gameplay, Gloomy Eyes is simply priced too excessive at $25.
Nonetheless, I had enjoyable with the sport. The story is sweet, though cryptic in elements. The gameplay supplies sufficient rewards to push you thru the occasional irritating components. And though it’s single-player solely, I like to recommend sharing it with others, particularly youthful players who’ll extra simply join with Gloomy and Nena. And no want to attend for subsequent October to take action; it’s OK to be spooked in any given season.
