TUNIC

This work of art has no praises I cannot sing without spoilers. Please, for all that is right in this world, play this game. Play it now. Go into it blind, free of judgement, like the child you once were.

A very clever souls-like that makes you figure things out for yourself. Tons of secrets to uncover and plenty of challenges to overcome. Well worth the money.

Do you like puzzle games? Do you like metroidvanias? Do you like Souls-likes? Do you love the art style of the game? Then you will love Tunic. Seriously, it is a really great game and that is all you need to know to buy this game. But, if you really want more...Combat is simple but fun and challenging. The story is interesting and well designed. It is a game you discover as you go and that is the magic of this game. My wife and I played it together and we both loved it. I love Dark Souls and Souls-likes and she is not a gamer at all but loves a good puzzle. It is really a beautiful game to experience. The magic lies playing this game totally blind for the first time. So stop reading reviews that may spoil the game! But if you really want to know the story breakdown WHAT ARE YOU DOING LOOKING UNDER A SPOILER TAG AFTER I TOLD YOU TO GO IN BLIND!! UNBELIEVABLE! Kids these days...I tell you what. Seriously go in as blind as you can. The game is better for it.

This game is a genuine indie master piece in my opinion. The combat is reminiscent of a simplified Dark Souls-esque system (roll, attack, parry, pick up currency after death) with the feel of a Legend of Zelda title. The music is ethereal and the world design is so cozy (until it's not which is a crazy vibe change). The best part of this game is how it lets (forces) you (to) find your own way through challenges with the use of the in-game manual pages. By far one of the coolest things I have seen in a video game. I can't say I solved the golden road on my own (because that is insane), but holy shit what a cool secret. Can't recommend enough.

I absolutely loved Tunic for the first 10-15 hours. At some point the combat became tedious. Most of the bosses just feel like they have too much health. I would prefer a puzzle-y challenge to beat the bosses, something that makes it difficult to figure out how to win, but once you do, they go down quickly. This is, after all, a puzzle-y game.
As it is, the boss encounters tend to last a long time. Eventually I gave up on not looking at guides and found strategy help for most bosses if only so I wouldn't have to play them over and over amd over. I really disliked the final boss in particular.
The rest of the game is amazing, and I highly recommend it if you enjoy puzzles and difficult combat doesn't scare you away. This has some of the best puzzles and puzzle mechanics I've seen in videogames. The puzzling does go a bit too far with some of the extra stuff, but that stuff isn't required to beat the game anyway.
Slight spoiler: there is a parry ability. Apparently learning to use it well makes bosses much easier. I did not learn to use it and mostly forgot it existed until near the end when I had no desire to try anymore.

With no exaggeration, this is one of the best games I've ever played. Have you ever read "Vermis"? It's a manual for a game that does not exist. Its nature as secondary media makes the act of reading it incredibly interpretive. Tunic uses this concept to create a gripping puzzlebox of an old game with an incomplete manual that you can barely read. Do you remember playground rumors? The "Mew under the truck" and "Unlocking sonic in melee" types? Tunic made from those bits of folklore. And on top of all of that, it manages to be a rock-solid top-down souls-like, complete with shortcuts, bosses, the works. I implore you, just let this game happen to you. It's up there with Outer Wilds as the most impactful experiences I've had in this medium.

This game is so much more than it appears on the surface. It's mechanics are a simple throwback to early Zelda games, but the joy is in learning how those mechanics can be used in interesting ways. There are surprising depths of secrets to discover here - in the lore of the world, the approach to gameplay, and riddles to solve. A surprisingly rich game, and much more to it than you'd think by looking at screenshots.

Great gameplay and optics. Great explenation mechanic.

I was really into this game, I was playing for hours on end without realising it, a lot of that came because of the promise of more, cleverer puzzles, more things hiding in plain sight, deeper lore that would all unlock as I kept going.

But the combat is a chore, aimed at a souls-like audience, and the final puzzle and ending were so poorly crafted and such a letdown that it retroactively hurt my enjoyment of everything I'd played up until then. I expected much, much better.

If you ever played Dark Souls 1 there's an innocuous elevator mid/late game that takes you all the way down back to the starting Firelink shrine. That moment blew my mind and forever made me a fan of FromSoft.

Tunic had like a dozen of these moments, in world design, story telling, and game mechanics, revealing something that completely recontextualize what you experienced before. It was truly a pleasure exploring this world. I want to thank the devs for all the love and thoughts put into this game, they deserve all the praises.

I'm actually a bit sad because there's not many games that can give similar experiences, outer wilds and the Myst series are a couple in that vane if you want to check those out as well.

This is a game that i was lucky to play blind and thus enjoied it even more, it all feels like a big puzzle and its atmosphere is unmatched but if i learned something from it is that if you cant from the front try going from behind

Learn absolutely nothing about the game before playing, except maybe that you shouldn't feel bad about using the accessibility settings; the combat is by FAR this game's weak point, and after giving it the ol' college try, you absolutely should just turn on god mode after 5 or so failures.

Very enjoyable for anyone looking for a zelda-like puzzle game, where the game IS the puzzle, sometimes.

The combat is sh*t in this game, specially then you compare it with games like Death's Door. I want to play Zelda style game, but this games also clones mechanics from Souls games without even clue why they are there in the first place.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this game. I do genuinely think it's a good game (or at least could be). It has a charm and coziness to it that's reminiscent of Link's Awakening, but I'm having trouble deciding how I feel about the game.

There's a handful of things I'm just not vibing with right now
- The combat is clunky--especially the parry mechanic. The delayed animation and unresponsiveness of the button-tap the input just feels really unintuitive and frustrating.
- The instruction/tutorial manual not only needs to be unlocked page by page, but it's also written in the fantasy runic language of the game world which is both a neat feature as well as a frustrating mechanic to navigate.
- It's easy to get lost because the world map is part of the tutorial manual that needs to be unlocked and the lack of fast travel (as far as I'm aware atm) makes the backtracking tedious in a way that doesn't feel good--even with the shortcuts.

Just a lot of small things adding up to something I wish I enjoyed but just can't right now. I'll come back to it in a few weeks and see if my opinions change at all.

I tried really hard to like this game. I love vague puzzle games, Outer Wilds is my favourite game, and I heard that this game had a lot of similar puzzle solving to that, which is why I tried this.

This beautiful Zelda-inspired "figure it out" puzzle game is dragged down heavily by it's clunky, slow and non-functional combat system. This really wouldn't be a problem if this game didn't happen to also be a souls-like, and as such combat is a huge part of this game. Bosses can easily dodge out of your reach and boss lock-on regularly turns off if the boss decides to dodge to the opposite side of the arena, forcing you to hold down LT to lock on instead of just having it on all the time. The shield seemingly serves zero purpose other than blocking of early route with enemies you need a shield for since dodge rolling is better in almost every situation.

As a final attempt to enjoy this game I even tried out reduced combat difficulty mode and while that does reduce the damage you take it doesn't stop certain bosses from dodging out of your small range of attack anytime you walk towards them. I'm probably missing something here but the fact that I am missing something while trying my best to focus on solving these puzzles and not even getting a hint at something to help is a problem in and of itself.

Maybe I'll come back to this game one day with no-fail on just to enjoy the puzzles but the whole time I've played the combat system has absolutely killed my motivation to play, so I'm not sure.

Tunic is almost a very good game. It is heavy on exploration and discovery. Unfortunately, it is also heavy on combat, and its combat system is held together with duct tape and string. Attacks are slow and chunky, the lock-on mechanic barely functions, and the defensive options are not worth using most of the time. Enemies fly around you outside of your effective range (and forcing you to use the god-forsaken lock-on). Enemy AI is not good, and it's easy to cheese bosses by running around in circles.

TUNIC is an amazing game that i didn't think was for me until i sat down and played the entire game in one day my first time playing.

TUNIC is also one of the best games to randomize i've ever played. if you loved your first playthrough, you will learn to love this game all over again if you run a randomizer.

Super cool and unique game.

A blend of zelda and dark souls but with a twist:
There's no tutorial, you find pages of the manual that teach you the mechanics of the game and how to get over certain obstacles to progress.

I.E: you get an item but you cant use it and dont know what it is for, then 20 min later you find a page of the manual that has drawings explaining how to use the item to progress through a previous area.

Cool progression, hard bosses, interesting mechanics and chill music.
Can't recommend enough.

This is not necessarily a "bad" game, but definitely not a game that I enjoyed playing. My progress is pretty much at the final boss, but given that it's quite challenging and I decided to just google the ending and the true ending.

During my playthrough, this game indeed has a very strong 90s-00s game vibe. Little to none hand holding and the player can approach the game whatever the way they'd like to. However, to make this experience fun, the game should provide a strong positive feedback so that player can be engaged. This is where the game is a lackluster. There're so much wall hug to the extent that you'll do that to every single wall, however 90% of time they just give you a chest of 10 coins.

Combat wise the bosses are challenging, but the character movement is clunky to the point that it felt like a turn-based game. In simple words, I don't get the adrenaline rush after beating a boss like I did in any of the other souls-like games. There're only couple of bosses as well, and beating each one don't necessarily grant you cool abilities or flashy weapons. In summary I guess combat isn't the dev's main strength, not a very enjoyable experience.

Last but not least, the game has 100% fantastic graphics and music, some scenes are just breathtaking. However, I would not recommend playing this game. This is a more of game that's fun to watch video essays on Youtube explaining all the puzzles rather than play yourself. I only gave a not recommend because the overall review is way overrated as it shall be.

It's not a bad game! Just not what I was looking for.

I was hoping it'd be similar to Death's Door or Another Crab's Treasure, but this game lacks the exposition that the previous two had. Because of that, it was hard to "get into" the game. I understand that's intentional, especially with elements like finding items around the map with instructions being in a lost, unknown language, or kind of just aimlessly wandering and exploring until you find the right way to go, but I personally like clearer directions.

I loved the experience. Letting the player mostly off the leash to explore on their own is a great choice for this. I would play more of this. Thank you.

Tunic is a game I would recommend to a specific gamer who is looking for a classic experience where figuring out mechanics and learning about the world is put onto the player themselves. Overall a good game but one that was not really my style. Tunic is a true successor to Zelda-like games with little direction in a "figure it out yourself" style with an in-game "physical" manual you collect pages for (which was admittedly very cool and unique). Learning was definitely the most fun part about the game as it was filled to the brim with secrets hidden in plain sight via the environment or the previously mentioned manual which is written in an unknown language. Most things are intuitive, however personally I felt that at times the game felt somewhat too vague for my taste leading to frustrations. One example of this for me was looking at the different "rings" and basically giving up on figuring out what some of them did since I could not tell what was changing when I equipped them (in hindsight I should of just googled these ones). But overall the game wants you to progress and gives you enough to learn yourself while vaguely guiding you through what you need to do and where you need to go.

However for me, since I was overly dedicated in not looking anything up (which was probably a mistake as it probably dampened my enjoyment at times), involved lots of backtracking to check areas I might of missed things and wasted time as the fast travel system was itself, quite limited.

This was combined with the combat that was... not great. If I had to describe the combat in Tunic I would probably use the world "serviceable," because while it got the job done, I never once felt like I had mastered any fight or did anything interesting during the combat. Some of the boss runbacks were also somewhat frustrating, and while not Dark Souls 2 / Demons Souls level of runbacks it still added a level of annoyance to a combat system I wasn't particularly engaged in either way. Also, while I was fine with it, I'm sure for some people the limited and somewhat rare nature of consumables could lead to frustrations when dying to a boss after using a bunch of them. For a game with a cutesy artstyle and chill vibe like Tunic has, I was surprised that they used the Soulslike style of checkpoints (which I also sometimes wished auto activated) as it seemed overly punishing to me at times.

However that is not to say Tunic is a bad game I knew from the very start that for some people this game will easily cement itself as one of their all-time favorites. And if you're someone who is attracted to the artstyle, likes puzzles, or is interested in playing a game which asks you to decipher it yourself, Tunic is a fantastic game.

Overall, Tunic had a specific vision and goal for its game and achieved it spectacularly even if it's not for me personally.

P.S. While I don't recommend using a guide (in fact it would be a major disservice to the game if you did), If you find yourself stuck, I would recommend looking up small bits and pieces over struggling walking around aimlessly. If I could blind playthrough it again, I personally would as it would of alleviated many of my vexations I encountered throughout my playthrough.

Kept me wanting to learn more secrets about the game for so long, some say I'm still looking for more

TLDR; Reminds me of Zelda and Hyper Light Drifter - It's not as difficult as it feels at first, don't give up or you'll miss out!

Phenomenal game. Initially thought it was going to be too difficult but that all changed once I began finding weapons/equipment <2 hours in and got a better feel for the simple combat mechanics. (There are also invincibility and unlimited stamina settings that you can toggle on/off if you are having a hard time.)

Brilliant game design, from the engaging map exploration to the beautiful graphics/art style and soundtrack. Love the retro in-game manual that you piece together through exploration. This innovative mechanic rewards you for exploring and reviewing the manual as tips/tricks are revealed. It also helps the game actually feel like an adventure where you learn as you go.

Overall, one of the most satisfying games I've played in a while. Highly recommend.

More than anything, I respect TUNIC. It's a game that calls back to the obtuse puzzle solving and game manual skimming of many game generations ago. It's a rather difficult Zelda-like adventure game that directly explains almost nothing to you, and is completely comfortable losing players in its expansive and bizarre world. It reminded me of playing games as a kid when I didn't understand how to read tutorials and making progress felt so arcane. TUNIC forces YOU to learn how to navigate it, and often won't let you progress until you do.

I won't lie, the unhelpfulness did lead to moments of frustration from me (and honestly I think it's intended that you do), but if you are able to decipher the world of TUNIC then its exhilarating. Learning how to cheese difficult combat encounters and chasing every little scribbled secret in your game manual made every moment of getting lost or dying helplessly worth it. I respect that TUNIC commits so hard to the feeling its trying to inspire in the player, and I had a lot of fun. Especially with the end game puzzles; mind-blowing stuff.

Cute skin on some serious zelda/souls born style mechanics. Loads of puzzles and exploration. I kinda love it. It’s a much deeper game than I had originally expected.

TUNIC, to me, is more interesting in concept than execution, but I still had a good time with it. It's a Zelda-like game based on the idea of importing a foreign game decades ago; the game doesn't give you much instruction upfront, but through exploration you're able to find pages to a game manual which provides important information. Aside from the concept, I enjoyed TUNIC's puzzles, they remind me of The Witness and FEZ because of how much attention to the environment and fine details is required. It's one of those games where you might want a notebook for the puzzles.

It took me a few sessions to get into Tunic, but as I started understanding what was going on and making some significant progress the game sucked me in. However, my enjoyment of the game wavered at times. The start of the game can be a difficult wall to break through, but after doing so I felt the game opened up and became much easier- this is when I enjoyed it most. Unfortunately, after that middle section I went back to being more mixed on the game as there were a few environments and game design decisions that spiked the difficulty in ways that felt more annoying than things I needed to improve at.

The combat is my least favorite element of the game, it's serviceable, but keeps me from being as high on Tunic as many others are. I played another Zelda-like, Death's Door in the last year, which does combat far better than Tunic and that certainly informs my opinion. Although I don't think I'm being overly critical in saying Tunic has below-average combat for the genre. The movement options feel a bit clunky, especially when locked onto enemies. While the final boss was one of the harder boss fights in recent memory, generally the bosses felt easy, and honestly felt like I had cheesed them when I defeated them, versus having solved their patterns or passed a real challenge.

There are some baffling game design decisions; one that bothered me was consumable items being permanently consumed regardless of if you die. So if you fail on a boss fight and spend significant resources in that failed attempt, on your next attempt you're going at it without any of those resources. The checkpoint system leaves a little to be desired. There are save points that reset your spawn point, but the lack of an automatic checkpoint when entering a new area feels a little archaic, and checkpoints, at times, feel way too far away from the target location (final boss is a great example here). Lastly, after achieving the ideal ending you're unable to keep exploring the world, which is completely baffling considering getting any other ending allows you to return to the world. This completely caught me off guard and actually forced me to download a save file to continue playing, solving puzzles, and attempt the 100%.

Ultimately, Tunic is an interesting game, and a difficult one to recommend to everyone. I would recommend Tunic, but only to a certain type of niche gamer. I really wish they put in the time to create a stellar combat system - if this was on-par with other recent acclaimed releases in the genre it would be an easy recommendation to far more people. On the other hand, what Tunic does with much of it's game design, and puzzles is quite impressive and worth recommending. I believe there are assist options available to turn some of the difficulty spikes into more manageable situations for those looking for a less intense experience. If you have nostalgia for 2D Zelda games you're more likely to love this, same with those who enjoy interesting game concepts and puzzles.

Recommended at Discount

If you found my review helpful, please consider following my Steam Curator page, where you can see more thoughts and recommendations

Im one of those gamers who barely can enjoy single player games, and im not even an old zelda fanboy. but damn how insane this game is. I read a lot of critics about the game not feeling responsive / bad combat? thats really not my experience. But sure, i guess Quake and CS 1.6 is better in that sense.

The level of gameplay is relaxing but still requires some focus to a degree i feel is rather ideal.
As the journey is not so straight-forward-braindead, it gives its mystique, cosy touch in combination with the beautiful scenery/gfx.

The "bonus" content it provides for le geeks is really cool and I kind of wish I wasn't so impatient and looked up a few things too much online. But to be fair some things are just way too hardcore to come up with by yourself... it reminded me of my childhood how mysteries surrounding games(READ: POKEMON) was everything. pre internet-boom you would have to learn by other nerds irl instead of just visiting a website and get everything for free. But as we're not 10 year olds running around with a gameboy all day you could argue some stuff are too hidden.

Through the main part you should really avoid internet guides as much as possible. The in-game manual is key!! :)
+++++The soundtrack of this game is something only old warcraft/wow can compare to imo.
buy
buy

An excellent game that looks and sounds amazing. It's filled with puzzles and combat that seem perfectly designed to make you feel smart and skilled... Right before it spanks your bottom like you're a naughty boy. =(

Tunic is a game about some little fox in a big world.
Tunic is a game about exploration.
Tunic is a game about collecting every page.
Tunic is a game about reading like a grade schooler again.
Tunic is a game about enduring and overcoming adversity.
Tunic is a game about the secrets you've uncovered along the way.
Tunic is a game about learning things aren't quite what they seem.
Tunic is a game about emerging stronger and remembering who you are.
Tunic is a game about going the extra mile to find them all.
Tunic is a game about ending the cycle.
Tunic is a game about not being meant for the world you find yourself in.
Tunic is a game about designing something purely for the love of it.

A masterpiece of a game that expands as you experience and discover

Whatever you do, do not spoil yourself, and go in as blind as possible

I’ve wanted to try Tunic since the first day I heard about it, around the time it launched. I was scared by claims saying it was a difficult game. Last winter sale I decided to give it a try for myself, and I’m glad I did. Tunic is a pretty great game, but it is not a difficult game. I never got stuck both in figuring out what to do or in fighting a boss. That does not mean I never lost to a boss fight, but I don’t think I ever took more than 3 or 4 tries to beat a boss, which really is not that much.

The game is essentially a really charming 2D style Zelda game but without the puzzle dungeons. There are locations that feel sort of like dungeons, but they don’t really have puzzles. The games gimmick is as you progress you unlock pages to the games manual, except they are mostly not in English. The pages include some hints, maps of various areas, basic game mechanics, and I have to imagine some secrets. To be fully honest, I found myself almost never looking at this in game manual. I looked over every page when I first unlocked it and occasionally looked at the map pages, but for the most part I navigated the game just fine on my own.

Without spoiling too much, when I beat the game and saw the credits roll, it did tell me I was missing 5 pages of the manual and offered to let me “try again”, so I do imagine there may be some secret ending hidden in the manual, but as much as I enjoyed this game, I feel I have had enough of it, at least for now and do not care enough to try and do this. Maybe one day.

In terms of performance, the game runs fine. I played the entire game on my Steam Deck on what I am pretty sure was medium settings. The game mostly hit the 90hz refresh rate of my Deck, but It was not at all locked. There were many locations where the frame rate would dip to 60 or even lower, including most boss fights.

Overall, I really enjoyed my time with Tunic. It’s filled with charm, has a really neat map to explore, and a very nice combat difficulty that I did not find too easy or too hard. It’s not the longest game, taking me only 11 hours to beat, but as I mentioned, I think there may be more to the game if I take the time to go back and finish the in game manual.

A delight, just an absolute delight. I loved the nostalgic play on the instruction booklet, I loved the top down playstyle reminiscent of the old Zelda games, I loved how surprising the game is in revealing its secrets. Go in blind, it’s great discovering all the hidden twists and turns this game has to offer.

That being said, I am a little frustrated with the post-game. There are a number of secrets that depend on game mechanics that were never introduced and never used outside of the context of the puzzle, really toeing the line between sufficiently advanced puzzles and gibberish. It’s not enough to dim my endorsement of the game, just be aware that it isn’t without *some* frustration.

Very obvious old school Zelda inspiration but it comes into something of its own and it's a good time, if you like Zelda you'll probably like this.

It isn't a Zelda game officially but it's one of if not the best Zelda game ever made. I cannot recommend this beautiful game enough. My only complaint is I wish there was more. By far one of my new favorites

I loved pretty much every aspect of this game. Whether it was the satisfying souls-like combat, the treasure trove of puzzles and secrets, the evocative art style and music, or the gradual piecing-together of the story, the design and quality always remained top-notch and kept me firmly hooked. Aside from the occasional difficulty spike or confusing roadblock, my only issue with the game is that it wasn't longer. I became so invested in the game that by the time the ending came about, I was moved to tears. Lots of love and thanks to the devs for making such a wonderful game! <3

What an awesome game!! The atmosphere is great with music that fits the vibe of each area you're in. Your little fox is so cute and controls great, and the levels are super fun to explore. The mysteries of the land just keep you coming back to play it again and again. Highly recommend!!

Tunic is a great game. It has an adventurous and nostalgic atmosphere like the best Zelda games. It has fairly fast paced Soulslike combat. Exploring is fun. There's tons of secrets, and tons of speedrunning potential just in exploiting knowledge of map shortcuts and game mechanics learned in another playthrough. It's worth a second or third play just to approach things from different directions. Going into this game completely blind is an important part of the experience of playing for the first time. Finding out something new, either from exploring and messing around, or finding a new manual page, is always fun.

I'd love to talk specifics about what I liked about the story or mechanics, but I can't say too much at risk of spoiling it for someone trawling the reviews to determine if they want to play Tunic. The answer is "Yes, you do." Only look up a guide after you see two endings or if you're hopelessly stuck.

While this cute Zelda-like game has some very Souls-like difficulty to the boss fights, in the end I was quite happy to have been The Witness to this gem.

A sadly negative review

Tunic's art design, world-building, and yet simple concept immediately draw you in. You feel compelled to explore, uncover secrets, and piece everything together.

For all its beauty and charm though, the combat undermines the experience. Focusing on a single target feels clunky, making it hard to know when to dodge or attack. It lacks the fluidity to back up the difficulty. If you look at Death's Door, for instance, it nails that balance, with fluid combat that makes every mechanic feel just right. In contrast, Tunic’s combat feels punishing in a way that just doesn't feel right.

Tunic has all the ingredients of a masterpiece, and every now and then I give it another chance only to be let down by the combat.

Although quite cryptic, this game is a wonderful time! With a good mix of Zelda and Dark Souls, it really teases your brain and makes you feel like a genius when you figure out the puzzles on your own. The music is also very good, and the game has absolutely beautiful lighting that makes it look super vibrant. Overall, I'd say give this game a shot whenever you can!

Much like another review mentioned, this game was definitely hoping to invoke the feelings of confusion and discovery when first starting a new game in the days of paper user manuals, with the twist being that the user manual is not in your native language and is a vital collectible item instead of a game box additive!

If you are more interested in solving puzzles and exploring than fighting, then most of the game is your cup of tea, as there are several challenges you consistently have to overcome while exploring:

- Figuring out the full range of controls. The most basic to get around are given in a user manual page you find early on, so don't worry about not being able to move or anything fundamental like that. However, a few of the tools have things called "secret techniques" that can be useful in certain situations, but you the player wouldn't think of using without playing around with the controls.

- Reading the manual. Even lategame, much of the manual is in a pictogram language that, while common in the game, can make anything without pictures or famaliar words a complete mystery. This is especially true of the backstory of the game, which will be pieced together only through exploring the different areas for context and reading the few parts of the backstory pages that do have famaliar words.

- Solving overworld puzzles is pretty self explanatory and plays into the previous 2 things I"ve mentioned, but a special shoutout to the ones that require a shift in perspective (using focus) or trying to find openings that aren't immeditaely visible.

The music is also very ambient in that it can go from catchy adventure tune, to whimsical, to omnious depending on the location. That said, only 2 particular themes have stuck in my head, neither of which are the Overworld (despite listening to it sometimes for hours navigating back and forth between the different areas).

Overall, Tunic is a fun game that has far more exploration and puzzle solving than I was expecting just off the figurative box art. Highly recommend if you love solving mysteries and exploring in your games.

I was led to believe this is the second coming of Christ, in game-form. Or at least that it's a bastion of the blossoming Metroidbrania genre that I so enjoy.

Now, don't get me wrong, It's a great game, but I don't think it lives up to the hype. It's a pretty stock, albeit very engaging, Zelda clone with a punishing combat system. Most of the areas are still mostly gated by actual equipment you pick up and stats you have to advance, (though the speedrunners can get around it all, of course) rather than player-held knowledge, as a true Metroidbrania has (c.f. Toki Tori 2). The main thing it has is a sort of meta-progression in the form of the missing manual pages and then eventually the late game environmental puzzles. In theory you can do those from the start, which I guess brania's it's metroid, but even so they're pretty weaksauce puzzles that almost all get resolved by : go to place, look at manual/environment, do the correct sequence. Well, except for the one that wants you to decode the text.


Sure, it looks cure, plays well, sounds great, engages the player, but I was expecting a game with more easter eggs and secrets than Fez and a beautiful, environmentally-told Outer Wilds style story that can theoretically be completed in the first 5 minutes. It's not like that at all. So it's a bit of a victim of it's own fate. Had I originally played it simply due to being a cutey Foxy Zelda-em-up on the PC then I would love it, but I've been undersold! I guess that's not that game's fault.

Downsides: In general the combat is pretty lame. For the first half of the game it wants you to learn all of the monster timings like some kind of monster nerd, but eventually you upgrade and it drops all of that an you can just whack everyone with a few combos. The boss cameras suck. The parry is _awful_, even with the upgrade (I don't know if it's my controller or what, but getting it to reliable fire, let along parry, was impossible). The stamina system isn't the best. The lock on is tedious at times.

🦊 ፈቹርዑጤቺ ኦ legend
📒 ጆቺሄሁገራፀ ኦ ነኦሮጆቺፀ book
➕ ሄቺ courageous, ረገፓፐሪቹ ዐᎆቺ!

Masterfully crafted world building (they even made their own language!)
Really cute and unique aesthetic
Full of fun discoveries
Brilliant puzzles
Clean and Amazing level design
Mesmerizing music and sound effects
Awesome boss fights and the overall combat mechanic is very satisfying

and the game also has this mechanic that I really like where there's this sort of very in-depth guide book/manual/compendium in-game. Not many games have or implement this mechanic. But when they do, It is always amazing for me. And so far, I think Tunic does this best.

Tunic is a Masterpiece.
You should play the game, and I highly recommend playing it blind.

I enjoy how the game lets you learn how to play it + recaps with pages found throughout the game; I like the fox!

- Jogo legal, estilo zelda antigo, mas com algo especial: você vai achando páginas do manual do jogo conforme joga (poderiam ter aproveitado um pouco mais essa ideia, mas é legal)
- Os puzzles no final do jogo são bem divertidos de descobrir por conta própria, ou tendo poucas dicas de alguém que já jogou.
- Não tente decifrar a escrita do jogo sozinho, se não gostar muito desse tipo de "puzzle". É possível, mas é meio coisa de maluco. Eu platinei o jogo em umas 20h, e fiquei mais 5 só decifrando a escrita.
- Tenho a impressão de que os chefões são mais difíceis do que deveriam ser, e que o tema do jogo também é mais sombrio do que aparenta. Leve isso em consideração antes de comprar o jogo pra si ou pra outros. Bem, dá pra farmar itens e usar eles pra deixar qualquer combate do jogo bem mais simples, de toda forma.

Some of the most fun I've had playing a puzzle game ever. Expertly crafted riddles paired with a gorgeous visual style and the feeling that you are uncovering it all yourself. The Golden Path may be my favorite puzzle I've ever gotten to solve in a game, ever. If you love zelda then this game is right up your alley.

Didn't like the combat as I don't like iframe based fighting. Always seems fundamentally stupid to roll towards an attacking enemy. Luckily, you can switch on invincibility and enjoy the exploring. And it really was a joy at first, as discovering all the tucked away chests and little paths was so fun.

Unfortunately, I hit a point where I started finding shortcuts in reverse (presumably for sequence breaking/speedrunning, since more obvious paths back have a bridge/rope you first must fix from the other side), and finding them easier than I was finding the critical path. Other times I'm rushing around the map to do [redacted] on all the [redacted] and... not finding much other than the contents page.

I like the general idea of puzzling to figure out how to proceed, but I don't like wasting a bunch of time somewhere that I can't actually solve yet because I can't tell if I'm meant to have found this path or not. Contrast to Toki Tori 2, where you can absolutely sequence break but it requires more complex knowledge than walking around a small corner.

Maybe there's a fast travel system and I haven't found it yet, would be nice to have right now...

I love this game. Is an indie game that blends the nostalgia of classic adventure titles with a modern twist full of creativity. At first glance, its colorful world and fox protagonist wielding a sword might evoke memories of The Legend of Zelda, but it quickly establishes itself as something entirely unique.
The charm of TUNIC lies in both its vibrant art style and its ability to surprise players. The world is brimming with secrets, hidden paths, and clever puzzles that invite exploration and experimentation. One of its most fascinating features is the "instruction manual" you uncover throughout the game, presenting mechanics and hints in a way that feels like unearthing a treasure.
Combat is challenging but fair, requiring a tactical approach that rewards patience and mastery of the mechanics. Facing enemies and bosses demands precision and strategy, adding depth to the seemingly simple presentation.
What truly sets his apart is its open-world design and how it lets players solve its mysteries on their own. It doesn’t hold your hand, fostering a genuine sense of discovery and satisfaction as you uncover the game’s secrets.
The atmospheric soundtrack perfectly complements the journey, adding emotion and wonder to every corner of the world.
TUNIC is more than just a homage to classic adventure games—it’s a fresh and innovative take on the genre. Whether you’re a fan of nostalgic experiences or seeking something entirely new, this game offers charm, challenge, and mystery in equal measure. It’s an adventure you’ll remember long after you’ve put down the controller.