A Macabre Masterpiece with a Tim Burton Vibe
The gaming world allows for many things. It brings enjoyment. It brings pain. It brings new ideas and emotions that are hard to convey in other forms. It brings us elements of surprise, of shock, of awe and astonishment. And it brings us variety.
There are games that some will enjoy, but others will hate. Narrative led mega-adventures that are hundreds of hours long, or fast flowing platformers ripe for speed runs. Others may prefer glorious visuals, the pounding of a soundscape. More still will look for a test, the chance to one-up the opposition or the opportunity to prove their mind still has it, to no one but themselves.
Poor, mediocre, good, great or legendary, it’s the games themselves that are the stars. But very few hit the highest of highs, capable of delivering a gaming experience that any and all should play. Think Limbo. Think Inside. Think Coccoon. Think GRIS. Think all manner of other must-plays.
Gloomy Eyes reaches for those levels. And for the majority of its time, it has exactly what is needed to warrant a playthrough by anyone familiar with a controller. But ultimately, it just comes up short from sitting alongside the utter icons of the gaming world. Great? Most definitely. Legendary? Not quite.
A Duo of Darkness and Light
Gloomy Eyes places you in control of two young children, heading off onto an adventure into the unknown. You’ve got Gloomy himself; an undead child with glowing eyes, capable of thwarting zombies, carrying objects, but needing to stay out of the brightest of lights. And you’ve got Nena; a human girl intent on finding fun and friendship. It just so happens that she thrives in light, and is more than capable of pulling a switch or two to help her mate out. Just keep her away from the undead though, yeah.
Together, the duo come together in Gloomy Eyes, working as one in harmony as they – read: you – are left to navigate the world, solve puzzles and get to the bottom of a tale that twists, turns, flips and flops. And it all works brilliantly from the get-go, with gameplay mechanics high on the agenda, switching between characters in order to aid in certain situations. For example, if there’s a light source that Gloomy can’t pass by, then send Nena on her way in hope of finding its switch. Or similarly, any monstrosity that is hidden in the dark will see Gloomy as a friend; Nena as foe. That’s a Gloomy Eyes idea in its most basic form, but you can be sure that making the most of this partnership is key to how things progress.
Puzzles, Platforms, and Dioramas
Throughout this five hour or so playthrough, you’ll be tasked with helping the twosome manoeuvre from a starting point, through a set stage, to an end goal, aided by some delightful fireflies that light the way ahead. But to get to that point you’ll need to partake in a host of puzzling action, pulling switches, climbing ladders, utilising lifts, throwing bricks, unlocking doors, gathering parts for equipment and more. And you’ll only get to action all these things in specific ways, using the skills and abilities of each character as and when it is required.
Stages are – in the grand scheme of things – reasonably tight affairs, and once you get a grasp on what is needed, on where you need to go, and what you need to pick up, can be completed in mere minutes. But getting to that point can sometimes be tricky, as you wander the world, taking in each and every visual and audio cue, to help you better understand.
Across some 14 stages, we’ve found that the vast majority of them play out brilliantly, hardly ever leaving you frustrated, instead intrigued as to what will work, and what won’t. In fact, and we’re calling out the Haunted House stage here, but it was only that one that left us getting anywhere near annoyed by what Untold Tales and the development team at Fishing Cactus have put together. Yep, Gloomy Eyes is a stunning playthrough, with the puzzling nature just ever-so-slightly broken up by some equally enjoyable boss battles.
A Handcrafted World and Haunting Narration
It looks great too. Tim Burton-esque and extremely macabre, this is a dark game that tells a dark tale. But it’s all extremely well detailed, cleverly designed and well crafted to ensure that, even as level progress is made, navigation is – mostly – a cinch. With lighting powering things on, and a glorious Pop figure type art style to the two main characters – big heads, big eyes – this is about as good as a puzzle adventure can get.
But with puzzles comes the need to sometimes take a step back and survey the scene. In Gloomy Eyes, a handcrafted rotatable diorama view point allows for this, as you swirl the camera around to begin to take in hidden areas, collectibles, and secrets. Without this view point, without being able to zoom out on the standard viewing, we’d say that Gloomy Eyes would become a struggle. But with it? Well, it all just comes together delightfully.
It’s with that diorama view where we do have our only real issue. The camera is fine and all that, but even with swirling around, zooming in and moving out, it’s not quite as precise as we would want. In fact, going back to the Haunted House level and our only frustration with Gloomy Eyes, and it was a combination of the dark tones, and the lack of proper camera controls that stopped us from really being able to nail down what was needed – a key component hidden out of sight. A more flexible system would therefore have been preferred.
Thankfully, everything else found in Gloomy Eyes is top notch – no more so than the narration and story that unfolds. Pulled along by both soundtrack and the tones of Eric Nolan, Gloomy Eyes is about as immersive as you can get, with the story playing out before your very eyes, with every action and movement you undertake. It’s obviously not a narrative we are going to spoil here, and we aren’t even going to tell you about the characters Gloomy and Nena meet on their adventure, for fear of ruining any playthrough, but for near on every single minute of our five hours with Gloomy Eyes, we sat immersed in the bleak but heartwarming world it delivered. And yes, once the ending credits roll, once Gloomy and Nena reach their goal, there is still a chance to go back through individual stages and dioramas to hunt further secrets and collectibles.
A Must-Play Puzzle Adventure
Gloomy Eyes is one of those games that you really must play. Aside from a slight camera issue, it introduces the player to a wicked world, dark, foreboding, but full of charm. This is an adventure you’ll want to join, as you aid two distinct children on a journey into the unknown. If you’re looking for puzzles, it’s got it, and if you need brilliant visuals, it nails matters. But further to that comes a narrator that brings this world together in the very best possible way.
Go and play Gloomy Eyes right now.
Important Links
Explore Twisted Dioramas in this Tim Burton-esque Puzzler – Gloomy Eyes – https://www.thexboxhub.com/explore-twisted-dioramas-in-this-tim-burton-esque-puzzler-gloomy-eyes/
Buy Gloomy Eyes on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/gloomy-eyes/9nd15j624dfh
