It’s hard to stand out in today’s video game market. As a consumer, I find that sifting through the Nintendo eShop or pages of new releases on Steam is a pretty daunting affair. It’s actually a lot like going to T.J. Maxx. If you go in only with a vague plan of what you’re looking for, you’ll never find it. But if you go in totally open, with no agenda, there’s a good chance you’ll walk out with a 15-foot-tall sculpture of a balloon animal dog, or in this case, Gloomy Eyes from publishers ARTE France and Untold Tales.
What sets Gloomy Eyes apart is what initially grabbed my attention about the game: its art style. Heavily inspired by the works of Tim Burton, Gloomy Eyes features characters and settings that feel right out of films like The Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride. For me, that was an immediate selling point. As simple as it may sound, strong art can do wonders when a small studio is trying to draw me in. I’m so much more interested in a beautifully animated, cartoony style than a photo-realistic, fully voice-acted cinematic experience. Indie developers can compete with any studio when they take a fresh angle and do it well.
In terms of presentation, Gloomy Eyes doesn’t disappoint, and there’s no question that its atmosphere and tone are strengths. It turns out there’s a decent puzzle game to explore as well, and while I wasn’t blown away by the overall package, I’m confident Gloomy Eyes will find a home with the right audience.
He Was a Boy, She Was a Girl
The primary focus of Gloomy Eyes is on the relationship between a zombie boy named Gloomy and a human girl named Nena. While there is voice-acted narration throughout the story, I found the exposition to be a bit mysterious, to a fault. We’re introduced to Gloomy in a level that serves as a tutorial, teaching you that zombies can’t walk in direct light (though I thought that was only a vampire thing), but that they can throw things around the environment to break items or activate switches. The narrative makes mention of Gloomy’s death and his inability to fit in with other kids, but the context of your situation remains largely unclear. I don’t necessarily expect or even want the story in my puzzle game to be the best part of the journey, but given the heavy thematic elements Gloomy Eyes incorporates, a stronger hook could have gone a long way to get me more deeply invested in our heroes.
Speaking of heroes, it isn’t long before we meet our other pal, Nena. She’s a very much alive person, being held in her uncle’s home seemingly against her will, but escaping turns out to be a relatively easy task. It’s Nena’s uncle who ends up being the driving force behind the plot, but I use the word “driving” lightly. He is referred to as the “Priest,” and for whatever reason, he wants to rid the world of zombies like Gloomy. Signs and graffiti that say things like “Kill the dead” show up around the world, but I never fully understood what exactly the conflict was between the humans and the zombies. I guess being undead is unnatural, but I would have liked a bit more explanation as to why I was so hated as I ran around checking out my surroundings and solving puzzles.
Can I Make It Any More Obvious?
Gloomy Eyes is best described as a puzzle game, but for those who like a challenge, it’s important to note that it’s a bit of a slow burn. The first few levels take only a handful of minutes each, as they get you up to speed on your characters and familiarize you with the environment. You only control one person at first, but eventually Gloomy and Nena meet, and the player jumps into what is advertised as “self co-op.”
Similar to 2013’s Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, you control both characters yourself, although here you’ll press a button to swap between them whenever you want. I found this a great idea and a nice chance for a gamer without a buddy to fly solo, but I was confused as to why there wasn’t an option to bring a friend along for the ride. As far as I could tell, there’s no way to play two-player, which just seems like a massive whiff for a game that is essentially built for it. A solo co-op mode feels more like a nice feature to have for someone who wants to go it alone than a primary way to play, but unfortunately, it’s the only option available to you.
As you set off on your adventure with the goal of “finding the sun,” you’re taken through dark and creepy woods, dark and haunting beaches, dark and empty amusement parks, and plenty of other places that are equally dark. That all comes with the territory of the atmosphere, which is mostly a positive, but my wife’s one comment as she watched me play was, “This game is too dark; I can barely see where you’re going.” That ended up being a bit more of a problem than I anticipated, as I often found myself backtracking or bumping into corners I didn’t realize weren’t accessible.
The game is set up a bit like Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker in that you’re located on a floating landscape, which you can rotate and zoom in/out of like a diorama to gain a new perspective. The difference is that in Captain Toad, you were often looking for secrets in the form of hidden passages or, well, treasures to find. In Gloomy Eyes, you’re sort of just looking for the walkable path that’s available to you. Of course, a puzzle game shouldn’t be simple to navigate, but when part of what’s slowing you down is just the inability to identify where you can and can’t walk, succeeding doesn’t feel so rewarding.
He Was a Punk, She Did Ballet
Despite these shortcomings, Gloomy Eyes does start to hit a nice stride about halfway through the five-or-so-hour experience. The environmental puzzles involve a lot of tinkering with lights, switches, elevators, and — though you might not believe your eyes — fireflies. Swapping back and forth between Gloomy and Nena is seamless, and the instantaneous perspective shift made double-checking my next move easy to accomplish. Each character also has unique traits that make problem-solving trickier, though it isn’t always obvious what you are able to do and why. For some reason, Nena can jump, climb, and activate buttons, whereas Gloomy can’t. He can lift objects and throw projectiles, which helps a lot, but I’m still not sure what’s stopping a human girl from tossing a brick at a lamp post.
Regardless of the reasoning behind these abilities, it’s these differences that bring out the best in Gloomy Eyes. You’ll consistently need to parse out which character is right for the next portion of the level and move each one accordingly to accomplish objectives in a particular order. Tasks are rarely overly complicated (bring an item from one area to another, open a door, etc.), but there’s always something standing in your way that you need to handle appropriately.
Gloomy Eyes is generally good at letting you explore at your own pace and find helpful objects without handholding, with just enough freedom to not feel overly linear. I thoroughly enjoyed several levels toward the back half of the adventure, when I could clearly identify the objectives and feel my neurons firing with the subtle challenges I faced. I wanted to get even deeper with what was being offered, but given the short playtime, the scope ended up being relatively narrow. There’s good stuff here if you want to hunker down for some bite-sized, methodical brain exercises; I can only wish there was more complexity to scratch that itch a bit harder.
Final Thoughts: What More Can I Say?
Gloomy Eyes spoke to me with its melancholic tone and Tim Burton-inspired style, but a lack of depth holds it back from being a truly great indie title. I’m sure plenty of gamers will get a kick out of what the game brings to the table visually; just don’t expect anything groundbreaking in the minute-to-minute gameplay.
For those looking for a laid-back, slow-paced puzzler, Gloomy Eyes may be worth a look. What’s here is serviceable, if not at times enjoyable. Sadly, however, there’s just not enough meat on the bone to leave a lasting impression.
Score: 6.5/10
Gloomy Eyes, developed by Atlas V, Be Revolution Gaming, 3Dar, Fishing Cactus, and ARTE France, and published by ARTE France and Untold Tales, released on September 12, 2025, for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch. MSRP: $24.99. Version reviewed: Nintendo Switch.
Disclaimer: A review code was provided by the publisher.
Zack has been hooked on games ever since his older brother taught him where to find the secret warp whistles in Mario Bros. 3. He has never felt more joy than when Yoshi congratulated him on getting 120 stars in Mario 64 or more sadness than when he played Kingdom Hearts 3 after waiting 14 years for it. Zack mails a letter to Nintendo every day asking them to bring back Chibi Robo and will gladly tell you all about why it’s one of the greatest games of all time. He was hoping that writing for the site would help him get through his backlog, but it actually just made it worse now that he’s hearing about so many more great hidden gems. Oops…
