Gloomy Eyes is a gothic casual adventure game developed by Fishing Cactus and published by ARTE France and Untold Tales. In a world filled with darkness, you pursue a chance of seeing sunlight for the last time, potentially giving the world some sunlight back.
The story follows Gloomy, a young zombie, and Nena, a human girl. They live in a world of eternal night, where fireflies are a light source and zombies are hunted by humans. Both Gloomy and Nena are somewhat aware that the world wasn’t like this before. Pure chance lets them meet and they both journey to find the last source of natural sunlight. Meanwhile, they are both hunted by Nena’s uncle, a priest who is the head of the broken world they live in.
Gloomy Eyes creates a spooky atmosphere while telling an ambitious story about humanity’s flawed nature and how children might provide the answer to a brief flicker of hope. It makes you think about humanity’s fear, paranoia, and distrust of anything that’s different. On the other side, you look at Gloomy and Nena’s efforts to find something better and look for hope. It’s a great contrast that sets up how important the duo’s efforts are and how humanity wants to maintain the status quo.
The story has a strong message, but it also trips over that ambition. Gloomy Eyes isn’t a long game and the story doesn’t get time to make a strong impression or smooth out inconsistencies. Some scenes exist purely to set up puzzles, like a transition from a beach to an amusement park. There isn’t an explanation for how the duo arrives there or why it’s important and other aspects are also quickly glossed over, like how Gloomy can be near Nena when other zombies would kill her. Not addressing important story beats blunts the impact of the story, especially after a strong start. The setup is a story where two young individuals clash against the standards of a broken world. However, at the end, I was confused because I don’t actually understand how the characters got there. This could leave players unsatisfied and hinder interest in continuing if they aren’t into the puzzles.
You explore different environments to bypass obstacles and reach a destination marked by fireflies. Early on, you learn how to play and interact with the environment with each character. Once Gloomy and Nena meet, you learn about their unique advantages that help you solve puzzles. Working together in “self co-op” gameplay, the duo will overcome challenges with the power of teamwork.
Every puzzle has a theme based on the location, which influences how you solve the puzzle. Most of your tasks involve moving objects around the environment or figuring out how to safely traverse an area. You switch between Gloomy and Nena depending on your needs. Gloomy can get through areas with zombies while Nena can climb ladders and walk through light. It’s an equal partnership and you genuinely can’t finish puzzles without the duo working together.
The puzzles are creative and make you think outside the box. You are encouraged to explore and test your ideas to get past obstacles. No puzzle is too difficult with an obscure solution and you can view the entire level to find clues that you may have missed. It’s also great to see Gloomy and Nena get equal time to shine, reinforcing the fact that both are in it together. You can explore a variety of locations that have unique challenges, making you ponder over solutions every time.
As the story progresses, puzzles become increasingly more difficult. While the problems and solutions are obvious early on, they are harder to discern later. However, there are no indications or hints with puzzles or to confirm if you’re on the right track, so it can be difficult to understand what the objective is. It’s easy to get lost if you don’t understand what your goal is or what you need to do. This leads to frustration because you aren’t sure if your actions are working. While it does allow you to feel proud when you find the solution, it also leads to frustration when you struggle. Even if the puzzles aren’t obtuse, their solutions don’t readily present themselves. You can have important objects only visible through one angle or constant backtracking to check your answers. It feels like the difficulty is inflated deliberately to stall for time.
What always works in the game’s favor is the art style. The world is appropriately dark and ruined, with civilization barely hanging on. Our two protagonists are children and are drawn to be cute with big eyes, as if symbolizing hope. Antagonists are large individuals, sometimes tall and lanky or wearing a costume. It emphasizes how dystopic the world has become and how rare it is to have hope. That makes it more important that two children are the heroes.
Gloomy Eyes is ambitious, aiming to tell a story with a warning by using themes of paranoia and distrust. But it also provides some hope in the form of our protagonists working together. Unfortunately, this ambition goes too far and the story could use more length to clear up inconsistencies. There are also no hints or assistance for puzzles, forcing you to use a guide or pay extra attention. It’s a good game but you probably won’t think much of it when it’s done.
Victor reviewed Gloomy Eyes on PC with a provided review copy.
