TUNIC

Game is best appreciated as a discovery process, much like Outer Wilds. There's sufficient basics that get shown, but the rest you discover on your own.

I'm not entirely sure what TUNIC is about, but that's probably the point. Game's got layers upon layers, and if you're willing to dig for its secrets, you're unlikely to be disappointed. Maybe keep a notebook or something handy while you play though.

Beautiful adventure - if you get nostalgic for the days when games came with instruction manuals and used to love reading them then this is the game for you - great puzzles, great mystery, great music

Tunic is a ton of fun; a really well crafted game that is just a pleasure to play. Can't really recommend it enough if you're the kind of person who likes discovering as you go. If you're finding the combat tough, give a hints & tips video a shot and then maybe consider lowering difficulty and/or enabling settings under the accessibility menu :)

IMO worth picking up, especially in a sale

I've just now beaten the game!

Tunic is a charming adventure title of the old/early style (think NES). The atmosphere is usually light and cheerful, the puzzles have surprising depth (especially the optional ones), and the combat is difficult until you get the tools that you need.

The mechanic of finding pages to the sort of game manual that used to come with cartridge-style physical media games was a delight. Finding the pages that gave you part of the solution to a puzzle, or hinted at what you might be missing made coming across them extra exciting, and I loved all of the little hints that looked written in with a ballpoint pen.

A+

disclaimer: I was a little kid when NES games were new, so the nostalgic lens really, really worked for me.

Nice and clever game with overcomplicated final quest

Great game, definitely have to go into it blind. Can be a bit buggy at times but nothing too bad

if i had to say anything about this game without including spoilers it would be impossible holy moly just play it now

Very cool game, it was about what I expected it to be. I had a few issues with it but I'll start with the pros first.

Pros:
Exploration is really cool. My favorite thing about this game by far is how the game introduces the mechanics to you... or rather you introduce them to yourself. Finding a new page of instructions is like finding money on the floor. You can't help but wonder what new possibilities are in store.
This is more of a loor heavy rather than story heavy game. One of those games like hollow knight where you could beat the entire game and still have no idea what's going on. I think it gives it a nice charm
The game does not hold your hand unless you want it to be held. For the main story at the very least, you can easily complete it without help or guides, and every time you discover something for yourself, it feels really good.

Cons
It feels like combat was sacrificed a little bit to fit the art style. It feels clunky and the 2.5D aspects of the game makes it difficult with the way the camera will move in a boss fight. Attack tells are pretty lacking, and blocking just doesn't work unless you're a second early
This may be personal, but I did not like the stamina mechanic much at all. I understand that many souls likes have some sort of poise bar that drops so you can't block everything, but this bar also takes away your ability to dodge, sprint, and evade too. I think personally this game would benefit to have dodge rolling and sprinting separate from block stamina.
End game exploration for me was really boring really fast. Some of the puzzles in the game are really satisfying and really fun, and I can't think of much if any puzzles that were just down right bad. But by the end of the game even before I finished the main story I found myself just wanting to watch guides or shortcuts to get it over with. Once everything had been explored, I wasn't intrigued enough to keep finding all of the in depth secrets on my own.

Basically, I really did enjoy the game. I do highly recommend it. Really fun exploration, decent combat, good story. For those who are wondering about the difficulty of puzzles, main story stuff is easy. If you're like me and you want to 100% the game, don't get discouraged if you can't do it all by yourself. It's a lot like FEZ, in the sense that the community worked together until all of the peaces were in place. I doubt anyone could find the solutions to every puzzle by themselves without at least a little bit of help. I would recommend looking up hints first and then look up answers as a last resort, unless you just want the achievements with the least amount of effort.

One more tip for my 100% people out there: look up missable achievements before playing.

great early game - tedious lategame with hard riddles. If you're into that, then this game is for you :)
Don't spoil yourself until late game. You'll notice when you've reached it

Great game! Loved the low-poly aesthetics. Combat is very fun (sometimes tricky but fair). Finding all the little secrets and power ups was really fun.

A wonderful adventure with an heavy focus on exploration, puzzles and combat.
Accessibility options are there to assist in case you find combat too difficult or some types of puzzles a bit harsh;
Every main challenge though is fair, with all you need to figure stuff out being found naturally in your path forward (for optional stuff there's more layers of difficulty though);
It captures the feeling of playing a game with no assistance on how to go forward but a cryptic game manual and your own skill;
I'd only recommend it to people already familiar with at least Zelda-likes, as it's definitely a challenging game that may feel too difficult to someone, say, only attracted by the charming visuals.
If you're into puzzles, exploration and combat though this game has plenty to offer!

Amazing game. The instruction booklet is brilliant and the world design led to so many wonderful moments of discovery. As you play your knowledge of this huge and dense world just grows and grows until you need to put it all to the test against the final challenges. Easy 10/10, loved every minute.

Tunic is a charming and deceptively challenging action-adventure game

One for the "just play this without looking up anything" pile. A wonderful game full of wonderful discoveries! The in-game instruction booklet is one of the smartest things I've seen in a long time. Play it!

I was impressed with the environmental storytelling and the level of thought put into puzzles. Try to go in blind as long as possible. If you're ever stumped, review the in-game instruction manual and thoroughly explore your surroundings.

I love this game. Play it. Use the in-game book to help you through the challenges. Find every secret. Resist the urge to lookup the answers. It is such a satisfyingly wonderful experience.

Thank you so much for making this game.

Thought this would be a quality casual experience but got more than that. The boss battles are surprisingly great and memorable. Its got a very intriguing narrative where you eventually understand that somethings more going on than just a young fox picking a sword and going on an adventure.

great game, very easy except the final boss and lordy lord the puzzles are difficult. still havent gotten the true ending and might just wait a bit until i come back but definetely buy this

So far it has been a great game. It has a good combination of action, problem solving and, exploration. The difficulty is well balanced (at least for me) and the game seem to be fair in punishment. I also love the cute graphic design. The game is often compared to Dark Souls, however for me it is more similar to Zelda.

Man, without exaggeration, I think this was the hardest I ever flip-flopped on a game.

I started out adoring the game. It was so ingenious, had such a clear vision and just constantly had me going like: "Woah!" and "Ahhhhh, that's how that goes!", grinning ear to ear all the while, fully immersed in the experience.

But then, two problems crept in:
1. The proficiency in enemy/boss design is just no way near the level of world design. Thats okay in the beginning, where everything's easy and combat is more of a sideshow to exploration. But once the game decides to test you, these insufficiencies really started to grind my gears. Barely anything is telegraphed properly, enemy movement is way to jittery, too much tracking, their speed and your's seems poorly matched, punishing windows seem weird and for simple enemies the optimal strat is often just dumb. I really like tough games, I played and finished many. But I did not find this enjoyable at all.
2. The game - even on its strong side - kinda runs out of steam halfway/two-thirds through. The intricate exploration and constant re-contextualization just turns into chores, fetch-quests and corridors. Towards the end, I could not believe that the dev-team that respected me so much in the beginning would subject me to such tedious busywork.

So, this is a great attempt, there are bits and signs of pure brilliance and bravery at display. If possible, I would suggest players try it out. But I cannot, in good conscience, wish my experience - as a whole - on others.

GOTY 2022. A incredibly charming game with some of the best puzzles I've seen in a game. A lovely cross between Zelda and Fez.

The Golden Path left me jaw dropped, such a satisfying puzzle to understand, unravel and pull off. Can't recommend the game more.

Tunic is a ludicrous game made by insane people. The sheer number of times I've had my mind blown or been made to feel like an idiot for not noticing something that was only just barely tucked away out of sight is unreasonably high for a single game. Super cool experience, the less you know about it going in the better, VERY highly recommend.

A phenomenal mix of the exploration of a Zelda game, the puzzles of FEZ, and the combat of a soulslike. The puzzles in particular are some of the strongest in any game I've ever played, the combat feels super rewarding to get a handle of, and the world is incredibly well-designed to make exploration feel fantastic. All of this and more in a cute foxy package! Could not recommend this game more.

One of the most carefully and lovingly constructed games I've ever played. An effusive love letter to A Link to the Past. Beautiful art and music.

makes my top 5 games of all time. I wasn't expecting it, but wow. They perfectly captured the video game 'aha' moment, the sense of discovery, and the reward for thinking outside the box that make games so fun.

I wish I could go back in time and play again with no knowledge. In 5 years when I've forgotten pieces, I'll be back.

I adore this game. There's always something new to discover and explore. It's beautifully made, and perfect for fans of Zelda and/ or puzzle games. It also has really great built in accessibility features, including a "no fail" option. Highly recommend.

Genuinely one of the most clever and rewarding games I've ever played. Playing off the idea of having an instruction manual for an NES game is excellently executed, and the puzzles, combat, and exploration tie the whole thing together to make what I can only describe as the perfect modern successor to a game like Link to the Past or Link's awakening. While it wears its inspiration on its sleeve, this game shows no fear in venturing outside the formula of a zelda game, and creating a new experience better suited to its mechanics and world.

An adorable metroidvania where you play as a cute fox with a manual in a language you don't understand, throughout the game you piece bits of the manual together to solve puzzles or learn mechanics of the game

This game is good. Play it blind.

Don't be like me. Don't make this game one you would never play without knowledge of it but could never play with knowledge of it.

I originally got this game because it seemed like an interesting Zelda-like game, and I wanted to play it as a Zelda fan, but I ended up with so much more. The entire game was amazing and wonderful in all sorts of ways, and this is a game for which I wish I could have the magic of going in blind again.

I can't go too in depth without revealing things, but in short this game is amazing in terms of puzzles, adventure, combat, and also atmosphere too.

10/10 game would recommend
if you want a unique experience with a beautiful art style and actually interesting and challenging puzzles, this game is for you.

This game is short, fun, and so beautifully put together. If you'd like the sensation of decoding puzzles in a game manual again, play this game!

A Zelda-like with a lot of flexibility to play the way you want to.

For example, combat can challenging (especially against bosses), but with a flip of a switch in the pause screen you can become invincible if the fight is too hard. And if the puzzles get too challenging, online resources are there to help you.

The world is beautiful and interesting. I enjoyed the exploration as much as anything else.

One of the better adventure games on Steam. Absolutely worth your time. The story is great and follows the soulslike pattern of allowing you to unravel it yourself.

It's pretty hard to explain why the game is good without spoiling it for others.
It's pretty impressive to create a Metroidvania where instead of unlocking new objects that open new paths for you in places you've already visited before, it's just knowledge that wil make you revisit places you've already seen with a new eye.

Developer Andrew Shouldice has called TUNIC "a game about secrets", and while there is truth in there, I'd say the true joy of TUNIC is that it is a game about DISCOVERY. TUNIC is a game all about that thrill, that rush of excitement of finding and learning new things. There is much I could try to say about TUNIC, about its colorful inviting art and dreamy soundtrack, but the more I say, the more I feel like I might chip away at that sense of discovery that the game does so wonderfully. If you're willing to indulge a game that asks you to come with a sense of wonder and curiosity, TUNIC is a near-peerless experience.

"I could do that the entire time?!" the game. Don't be afraid to turn down the difficulty in settings if the combat isn't fun for you.

great combat, great metroid-vania, great soundtrack, good art style, cool secrets. highly recommend

A fantastic game, I would highly recommend if you are into Zelda and puzzle games (Fez, in particular).

Probably the most underrated game in my opinion. This game doesn't get as much love as it should. Both the exploration/ combat and the puzzles are top tier.

Absolute gem of a game, worth every penny. Gorgeous visuals and sound design, lovely gameplay reminiscent of old school isometric adventure games. Can't describe it any other way than dopamine in a video game format.

This game was absolutely gorgeous and so so much fun, the puzzles were so cool and the art style was super unique.

Games nowadays are increasingly formulaic, we all know this. This game, however, is the exact opposite. I haven't seen this amount of "soul" (for the lack of a better term) passionately packed into a digital medium like this in a very long time. This game made me use a notepad to try to piece together a specific, amazing game-long puzzle. Let me make this clear: I do not do that. I have never done that. Puzzles aren't normally something that interest me, but this game moved me enough to do so. This is easily one of the top 5 games I've ever played. Please do yourself the favor of following in my footsteps. You won't regret it.

Small rant time.

2 years. I bought this game as part of a bundle, was not impressed by the other game in said bundle, and then proceeded to file away and forget about this masterpiece for 2 YEARS, and the ONLY reason I even played this game in the first place was because I got bored of Trepang2 and Rain world.

I slept on this for 2 years, I almost missed out on so much and I will never forgive myself for that.
I also resent that I wasn't smart enough or patient enough to figure out the true ending by myself but that's neither here nor there, The puzzles in this game are so masterfully crafted and make you feel like a genius for solving them. Apparently the guide is even written in its OWN GODDAMN LANGUAGE and can be translated.

This game is a labour of love that has had so much effort put into it. Please, for the love of god, buy this game. It's worth it.

Words can't do justice here.
Polished, great looking game with some unusual settings and game play.
I have noticed that some people are complaining how they are stuck at some point... well this is one of few great aspects about this game, exploration and thinking. It's impressive how story can be told in this way that Tunic does.
I recommend this game to people who want to relax, solve puzzles and enjoy in this vibrant world of Tunic.

Order in chaos is a paradoxical and yet natural phenomenon. An exemplary reference of this would be amongst schools of fish whom form tidy queues in emergencies. In the words of Jung, "In all chaos there is a cosmos, in all disorder a secret order."

Tunic is a beautiful marriage of these juxtaposing elements. It draws the player into a non-linear world, gives them a stick and an unreadable manual with no pages and leaves them to it. Yet, what appears as chaos to an external observer has an inner structure and that once the player properly understands the sorting mechanism of said chaos, they'll come to the conclusion that it isn't chaotic at all.

This game is layer upon layer of pure form and composition. A deliberate and intricate matrix that unveils itself with every discovery. Tunic is a rare diamond in the gaming industry, where passion and vision are rewarded with brilliant execution. It is so clear that the developer of Tunic had a clear goal in mind when creating the game, and has presented a project of love and attention.

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Tunic is a game of exploration and puzzle solving at its core. It has moments of tension, moments of calm, but where it shines is the abundance of wonderment it provides. Discovery at its best. The world itself is an absolute gem to explore, from visual design, atmosphere, sound design and music; through to the incredible level design and myriad of secrets and paths to discover.

The mechanics are simple and uncomplicated, which for a game like this is a boon. It puts priority on the player using their eyes, ears and mind to progress the game rather than the deftness of their fingers. As such, the game is unbound by difficulty. It's a game of knowing.

And that's all you need to know.

Don't watch reviews, don't watch gameplay. The trailer on the store page is enough to determine whether it's your style of game (and even then it's better not to watch it). Don't let anything spoil the experience, because there is no way of getting that sense of discovery back.

One of the most clever games I have ever experienced.

It can be as easy as completing Link's Awakening. If you only want the bad ending.
Or as complex as Riven. If you want the good ending.

Simply fantastic.

there are so many secrets you don't even have to forget how to play the game to relive it and so much more. can't recommend enough!

This is an amazing game. Haven't play a game this fun in years. Challenging but not impossible hard. Bosses took a few tries to each of them, but all were fun to fight. Even the mini bosses were challenging fun. Now the puzzles in this game are some of the best in a video game in last decade. My favorite part of the games puzzles were the fact the game tells you the answers you just have to fidget out the solutions. I would give this game a 9.5 out 10