I'm sad that it took me so long to play this since I know I'd have enjoyed this game much more back in the day but, despite this, it's easy to see why many consider this to be a masterpiece for its time. The dark, sinister and gloomy, sometimes lifeless atmosphere is shockingly beautiful, and out of every Zelda game I've played this one may have the best dungeons so far, all of them are greatly related to where the story wants to take you, and never feel like a random location in the middle of nowhere. Wolf Link doesn't just offer a new approach to the game's glorious combat, but is also well-implemented and it makes sense whenever the game forces you to use it. Story, lore, characters and worldbuilding are simply epic as usual from the franchise. Midna has to be one of my favourite companions so far, if not my favourite, the shadow gremlin must be protected at all costs.

On the other hand, while exploring the dungeons was tons of fun, I wish I could say the same about the outside world... it is HUGE but sometimes it feels like it's big just to be big, as there are a lot of empty areas that, given the very low amount of teleportation points, make going from point A to point B a chore sometimes. Wii U controls weren't the best sometimes but they were mostly fine... except when you were riding Epona, especially during THAT ONE battle in the middle of the game. You know what I'm talking about, most painful part of the game. Those two aspects sometimes took away part of my enjoyment but, in the end, I regret nothing about this journey through Hyrule and the Twilight Realms... it feels special, even, considering it's unlikely that we'll ever again get another Zelda game which looks like this.

My opinion of Tunic has wavered drastically over the course of my multiple playthroughs.

One half of the game, centered around secrets and discovery, had my heart from the moment that I started. The lack of information provided lead to me question every minute detail, all the way down to the pause menu. And that type of behavior is consistently rewarded! The layers beg to be peeled back, each revealing an unpredictably complex mystery that had me saying "Surely this is it". It never is! This sucker just keeps on going!

Unfortunately, the other half of the game is a frustrating combat focused experience that only works in smaller instances. The combat isn't necessarily bad, it's just that it stands in the way of the core appeal of the game. Areas that bring serious difficulty could easily turn many players away and lock them out of the incredible web of puzzle solving that the game is hiding. I know that there is a no fail mode in the settings but that also sucks the fun out of a lot of the mechanics, and even some of the late game secrets. A more simplistic style of a combat similar to Link's Awakening could have benefited the overall experience.

The former half rules out in the end though. When I started to really grasp how intricate the puzzles became toward the end of Tunic, I decided to ask my wonderful gf if she wanted to help me break this thing down. I watched her play the entire game just to catch up t the point I had reached. Then, we busted out the pen and paper and went totally apeshit. No experience in any game last year is as personal and rewarding as getting cozy and solving what felt like an actual real world ancient mystery with the love of my life Casey Mellon <3. Not my fav game of the year, but definitely my fav experience.