Eyes In The Dark: The Curious Case of One Victoria Bloom is an artistic indie side-scroller that follows Victoria Bloom’s attempts to save her missing grandfather – with nothing more than a flashlight and a slingshot. Eyes In The Dark, developed by Under The Stairs and published by Gearbox Publishing, is a whimsical roguelite title that is perfect for fans of Hades or Hollow Knight. However, the difficulty level and unique gameplay can make it a challenge to get a hang of, making early gameplay grindy and occasionally frustrating.
Set in the 1920s, players take on the role of Victoria Bloom, a young girl who has gone to visit her grandfather at the family mansion. The story is told like a black and white film, with dialogue in cutscenes appearing as queue cards. Upon arriving at the mansion, Victoria witnesses her grandfather being consumed by darkness. Before disappearing, he throws her a pocket watch, which she later discovers has the ability to rewind time. Using the pocket watch and a mysteriously customizable flashlight, Victoria must work her way through the ever-changing mansion to discover what has happened to her grandfather, while uncovering the secrets of her family history along the way.
Exploration is a key feature in Eyes in the Dark: The Curious Case of One Victoria Bloom. During each playthrough, the area map changes, with rooms rearranging and monsters appearing in new locations. Using both doors and border transitions, Victoria can gain access to each location on the map, which is laid out as squares on a navigator in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. While some rooms are well-lit and easy to explore, others are shrouded in darkness. In these rooms, the player must carve the darkness away using their flashlight, slowly exposing what the room might hold. This could include dressers filled with “Sparks” (the game’s currency), chests containing flashlight upgrades and health, or monsters waiting to jump out and attack.
The monsters of Eyes in the Dark are diverse, which is perfect for keeping side-scroller gameplay interesting. Each zone has monsters that are themed for the area, possessing unique attack sets and movement patterns. In a room infested with monsters, players will enter the space and become locked into the location, requiring they finish off a certain number of attackers before an escape route becomes accessible. The monsters are destroyed by the light of the player’s flashlight, or the light-based projectiles that can be shot from the trusty slingshot. Unfortunately, the way monsters attack in early runs through Eyes in the Dark can create a frustrating hurdle for new players. Victoria is often swarmed by numerous monsters in a locked room at once, and because escape isn’t an option, players can easily be killed in just a few short minutes.
In a similar manner to Hades, a good way to handle the hordes of monsters is by upgrading Victoria’s arsenal of weapons and gadgets. Upgrades for the Flashlight include a variety of bulbs that affect the way light is cast, and boosts can be attached to extend the range of the light or the power of the beam. Additionally, players can find projectile upgrades for the slingshot and gadgets Victoria can wear for certain buffs. Each combination of upgrades offers different effects and can be more or less helpful depending on which zone of the mansion is being explored. Unfortunately, players lose their upgrades if they die, though certain starting bonuses do unlock via collecting “Knowledge” as progress is made through each zone.
The biggest hurdle players will face when exploring the areas in Eyes in the Dark are the climbing and jumping mechanics. Similar to Skul: The Hero Slayer, players will need to use their environment to their benefit when battling monsters. This includes climbing ropes, jumping around barriers, and using sheltered areas for protection from certain enemy attacks. However, these movements often require quick key combinations, like using the “S” key and spacebar to drop down off ledges. Often, players may find that the key combination doesn’t register, which in a room filled with monsters, can mean a quick death. Additionally, dashing onto ledges by using “A” and “D” in combination with the left shift key can be equally as difficult, frequently resulting in a fall instead of landing safely on a distant ledge. A patch to streamline these controls could be beneficial in helping players seamlessly move around each map.
However, for fans of difficult side-scroller games, Eyes in the Dark: The Curious Case of Victoria Bloom is a fantastic challenge. The emotional and heartfelt storyline compels the player to keep exploring, while the unique and intricate art style of the characters and background have produced a quality adventure that is unlike many other options currently available for the genre. While Eyes in the Dark would benefit from some final tweaking for controls, as well as a bit of early-game enemy balancing, it is a delightful journey from start to finish. Those looking to enjoy a game that is equal parts good narrative and challenging gameplay will likely find Eyes in the Dark: The Curious Case of One Victoria Bloom an excellent and refreshing fit.
Eyes in the Dark: The Curious Case of One Victoria Bloom releases on PC via steam on July 14, 2022. Screen Rant was provided with a Steam PC code for the purpose of this review.
