Tunic is really just hiding behind the facade of a 2D Zeldalike, but it's actually one of the most innovative puzzle games I've ever played.

With the green tunic and the red and blue shield, everything in this game screams Zelda and a lot of it plays like it. But the actual gameplay with the dungeons and enemies is just the superficial part. It works well for the most part, but is dragged down far too much towards the end, in my opinion, by cheap gameplay decisions that are only meant to create difficulty. Which almost made me abandon the game.

But the real core of the game is the manual, or rather the pages of it that you find. They are written in an unknown language and you have to understand how the game works from the pictures and notes alone. I've never experienced a feature like this before and I'm amazed by it. But the best thing about it is that they fully utilise the potential of this idea. The way hints and information are hidden on the pages is so impressive. Piecing together the scraps of information and then coming up with the solutions on your own is hard to beat in terms of satisfaction.

Even when you think you've understood most of it, it still goes deeper. Far deeper than I would have the time to invest. So I can really only praise it.