I added Tunic to my backlog after hearing that it was a fun adventure game harkening back to the old Zelda games of my childhood. It took me a while but I finally got around to playing Tunic and holy crap, what an amazing experience this game was.
The awesome thing about Tunic is that instead of unlocking abilities throughout the game, most of your abilities are available to you as soon as the game starts you just don't know any of the mechanics until you find the right in-game manual page. This concept where your knowledge of the game is the only thing holding you back reminded me of Outer Wilds in a way, and any comparison to that game is a good thing in my book.
I found a couple of these hidden mechanics by experimenting and even once by accident in what was one of the most memorable experiences I had in the game. After a number of tries on a tough boss I fight him one final time. Right at the end of this challenging boss fight I had no potions remaining, hardly any stamina, and the boss and I both had a single sliver of health left so the next person to land a blow wins. The boss begins an attack, I misread the type of attack and dodge too early, I realize I have screwed up and am now out of position and about to take a hit. I begin to spam dodge and block in hopes of avoiding damage and in my fit of panicked button mashing I accidentally tapped the block button at the exact right time and based purely on luck performed a perfect parry of the boss allowing me to get the killing blow without even knowing that parry was a mechanic available to me. This was one of those pure gamer moments that sticks with you for a while.
The level design is great and has that Metroidvania feel where you are constantly taking mental notes of blocked pathways and chests just out of reach and will want to revisit them once you get the right piece of equipment or shred of knowledge that lets you know how to progress. Not only this but the art design is beautiful and the map is full of hidden pathways and secrets to find behind every corner. Every time you think you have the game figured out a new twist appears which really keeps you guessing and makes the world feel alive and mysterious. Simply great design.
This game is so astoundingly deep, but cleverly designed to where you only have to dig as deep as you feel comfortable. Some people will be happy with just the main game that has plenty of those "Aha!" puzzle solving moments and challenging boss fights providing plenty of fun for the average gamer. Others wanting to go a layer or two deeper will dive in to the more well hidden secrets that are required to unlock the secret ending. Going this route the game becomes more akin to Jonathan Blow's "The Witness" than a game inspired by old Zelda titles. This is as deep as I felt like going and was perfectly happy to stop there as I had tons of fun figuring out solutions in my little notepad, finally cracking that mountain door puzzle, and getting the secret ending. I knew there were still a number of puzzles I could solve and secret trophies to unlock, however I have never really been a completionist type so I was happy to stop there.
However, after reading about the game online after finishing the normal and secret ending, I find out that not only were there plenty of hidden secrets and trophies still waiting to be solved but all that gibberish that filled up the in-game booklet is actually a functional language that the developers created and you can decipher it and get tons of backstory, lore, and even more secrets! So for all you Cryptologists out there, fill your boots. I find this level of detail simply amazing and while I don't have the dedication or knowledge of how to decipher a made up language, I am simply in awe of the palpable passion and love put into this game. Why is this game so relatively unknown? It clearly deserves to be up there in popularity and prestige with the Indie greats like Hollow Knight, Outer Wilds, and the Ori games.
The awesome thing about Tunic is that instead of unlocking abilities throughout the game, most of your abilities are available to you as soon as the game starts you just don't know any of the mechanics until you find the right in-game manual page. This concept where your knowledge of the game is the only thing holding you back reminded me of Outer Wilds in a way, and any comparison to that game is a good thing in my book.
I found a couple of these hidden mechanics by experimenting and even once by accident in what was one of the most memorable experiences I had in the game. After a number of tries on a tough boss I fight him one final time. Right at the end of this challenging boss fight I had no potions remaining, hardly any stamina, and the boss and I both had a single sliver of health left so the next person to land a blow wins. The boss begins an attack, I misread the type of attack and dodge too early, I realize I have screwed up and am now out of position and about to take a hit. I begin to spam dodge and block in hopes of avoiding damage and in my fit of panicked button mashing I accidentally tapped the block button at the exact right time and based purely on luck performed a perfect parry of the boss allowing me to get the killing blow without even knowing that parry was a mechanic available to me. This was one of those pure gamer moments that sticks with you for a while.
The level design is great and has that Metroidvania feel where you are constantly taking mental notes of blocked pathways and chests just out of reach and will want to revisit them once you get the right piece of equipment or shred of knowledge that lets you know how to progress. Not only this but the art design is beautiful and the map is full of hidden pathways and secrets to find behind every corner. Every time you think you have the game figured out a new twist appears which really keeps you guessing and makes the world feel alive and mysterious. Simply great design.
This game is so astoundingly deep, but cleverly designed to where you only have to dig as deep as you feel comfortable. Some people will be happy with just the main game that has plenty of those "Aha!" puzzle solving moments and challenging boss fights providing plenty of fun for the average gamer. Others wanting to go a layer or two deeper will dive in to the more well hidden secrets that are required to unlock the secret ending. Going this route the game becomes more akin to Jonathan Blow's "The Witness" than a game inspired by old Zelda titles. This is as deep as I felt like going and was perfectly happy to stop there as I had tons of fun figuring out solutions in my little notepad, finally cracking that mountain door puzzle, and getting the secret ending. I knew there were still a number of puzzles I could solve and secret trophies to unlock, however I have never really been a completionist type so I was happy to stop there.
However, after reading about the game online after finishing the normal and secret ending, I find out that not only were there plenty of hidden secrets and trophies still waiting to be solved but all that gibberish that filled up the in-game booklet is actually a functional language that the developers created and you can decipher it and get tons of backstory, lore, and even more secrets! So for all you Cryptologists out there, fill your boots. I find this level of detail simply amazing and while I don't have the dedication or knowledge of how to decipher a made up language, I am simply in awe of the palpable passion and love put into this game. Why is this game so relatively unknown? It clearly deserves to be up there in popularity and prestige with the Indie greats like Hollow Knight, Outer Wilds, and the Ori games.