TUNIC

Don't be put off by reviews that highlight the combat as a negative. It's quite fun, and even if it weren't, I'd still be recommending the game. Its presentation is really good. You'll be thinking about the game for months! Sounds pretty, looks pretty, nostalgic but also different.

Ok so this review is negative now because this game just becomes more and more of a chore the further you go. Painful screen effects, almost no save points in some areas disrespecting my time. Really disappointed. This game starts off really well, but I found it really loses its charm and becomes a bit of a drag about half way through. I feel like the game has a bit of an identity crisis, and the cute aesthetic is a bit at odds with its soulslike structure and difficulty. I would leave a negative review if it wasn't for the accessibility options, especially no fail mode, which mean my young son can play this even if I'm board with it.

Unlike any other game, even with its clear Zelda & Dark Souls inspirations. Cannot recommend this game enough And I would recommend playing this game without knowing much about it unless you're stuck in a level.

Amazing puzzle game, go in blindly and discover the world!

The review is Spoiler FREE. This is a beautiful game, both aesthetically, and in the way one means it when they say, "He played a beautiful game of chess." I came into the game completely blind, having no notion of what I was getting myself into. - The game is a Zelda-like puzzle game. It's NOT a Zelda-like game WITH puzzles. It is a Zelda-like PUZZLE game. Pay attention to everything. - Combat is a bit souls-like. Now, I'm not a souls-like player, and so maybe a true souls-like player will critique me, but the combat isn't easy. The game expects you to die a lot, and they do a good job not making it super punishing to die. It's a challenge, but not so hard as to make it not fun. - The music and artwork are fantastic. - If you want to REALLY know what's going on with the story, you will need either YouTube & Reddit, OR you are a cryptographer who loves sleuthing. There is no tutorial in the game, and no clear story to speak of. There IS absolutely a story, but it's hidden behind layers that are slowly peeled back one at a time, and never completely. - I almost gave up on the game partway through b/c of various reasons, but I'm really glad I stuck it out. Solving the puzzles w/o help definitely gave me a sense of pride and accomplishment, and the game really was fun to play, especially once I figured out how it all was supposed to work. - Controls are snappy, clean, intuitive, and very well polished. It's a great game, all around. Just go into it with the expectation that it won't be easy.

Avoiding spoilers but the big mystery puzzle at the end was just kind of eh... once you figured out what it was it was so repetitive and some parts required so many inputs and one wrong input/took too long due to a brainfart made you have to start over. I think they overdid the last puzzle hard. Could have been half as many inputs with the same level of challenge without the annoyance factor. Besides that combat was OK, many items were straight up kind of pointless. The world design was OK, kind of small with too many blind angles hiding where you needed to go. Overall I give the game a 3/10. The beginning was very combat focused in a game with 'meh' combat. The end was solve the one and only puzzle in the game then repeat it 1000x.

One of the best puzzle games I've ever played with more and more to discover every turn. Absolutely worth a shot to play blind but when stuck don't be afraid to consult the Manual or see what the community has found.

An incredible game! Clearly heavily inspired by Legend of Zelda [Suspicious design for the player] but filled with incredible mystery so deep you can't even read half the things said! Wonderful battle design, great explorable world and fun puzzles. I love the fantasy-futuristic feel of the world and the important in-game manual. I highly recommend this game, especially for those into mystery, puzzles and Legend of Zelda.

[i]Notice: Some parts of the review has been crypted to not spoil anything.[/i] Depending on which decade you have born, [b]TUNIC[/b] is the one game which hits hardest to nostalgia nerve to us who played [b]Legend of Zelda (NES)[/b] before early 2000’s. Especially if you were a young child with little of knowledge about English language, Internet as these days or understanding the “basic” game mechanics. From the beginning of the game, you are a new character in a newly seen world, with little to no dialogue, you should be able to decipher the necessary details to continue your journey. The [i]6d616e75616c[/i] will be the success to proceed, collecting [i]7061676573[/i] will come in handy, until reaching the point of no clear way to continue. Then it’s time to pause for a moment and begin to process the [i]696e666f726d6174696f6e[/i] collected so far. Being a cutesy, little foxy, you’ll eventually come to your senses and find the [i]676f6c64656e[/i] path. The game is full of hidden [i]73656372657473[/i], finding all of them is not necessary but still rewarding and highly recommend pushing for it. Varying enemy types with different tools + weapons will keep combat as versatile and enjoyable experience. [i]426f737320666967687473[/i] are challenging but not requiring a linear completion to continue journey. [i]Personal note: I really liked the [b]TUNIC[/b] of support of the original games from the past years and implementing them to this day’s standards. It is one of the games, which I highly recommend everyone to play it, if interested in touching and unique gaming experiences. There’s only one other game so far, which can reach to same level of in my eyes and that is [spoiler]The Outer Wilds[/spoiler][/i]. [h2]Final score: 10/10[/h2]

I went into Tunic knowing almost nothing, except for vaguely how to achieve a certain ending to the game. The puzzles were good and very clever, without ever feeling super frustrating (save for a couple of very unintuitive exceptions). The premise of understanding nothing reminded me of Chants of Sennaar, and the feeling of learning something that you had the capability to do something that you just didn't try or think about until being told about it is so satisfying. Much like with Chants of Sennaar, Outer Wilds, and other immersive puzzle games, I wish I could forget everything I knew and play it blind again!

Cryptic, magical and absolutely unforgettable journey. I do wish I could clear it from my memory and replay again!

Excellent action-adventure game. The combat is challenging, the puzzles are interesting, and the slow build up of the story is rewarding. I found the lack of information at the beginning to be frustrating, and the final boss was too much for me, but overall it is an enjoyable game.

This game is a masterpiece, the level of depth and detail is mind blowing, the art design , the combat... I cannot recomend this game enough.

A rare game where the puzzles are actually challenging and coming up with a solution you've been chasing for hours feels extremely rewarding. Surprisingly lenghty too. 5/5

This game is amazing till you find out what the cross is If you're a LoZ fan like me, you'll enjoy all the bits that is playing the game and the struggle it is to get used to the mechanics, but after doing so There's not much holding it back from being enjoyable! Except for that cross, if you want to have fun, do not the cross without some sort of external hand. Down right the cross was one of the few things I hated and nearly wanted to "not recommend" this game for. To wrap this up? 5/10, Any devs that see this, This game has all of the positives of being a good adventure game while being the most criptic of them all, but for gods sake, do not make your own painstakingly bad version of the cross I am begging you

This gem of a game is an underrated masterpiece. If you like the environmental storytelling and knowledge-based progression of games like Outer Wilds, this is simply a must-play. The combat can be a little clunky, but that's really its only shortcoming. The music, art, level design (some of the best in the industry)... top to bottom, this game is phenomenal. Go into it blind, don't look anything up, READ THE MANUAL, and enjoy 2022's criminally overlooked indie of the year.

Incredible game. Charming all the way through and exceedingly clever in the delivery of its puzzles. I would recommend this to just about anybody (and have!).

Absolutely not recommend. Game is okay-ish as a meta-puzzle game but becaues you have to expirience atrocious combat and very mediocre traversal/exploration (which is like 85% of the game) you wil not have a good time

You know a puzzle game is serious when you resort to pulling out pen and paper Playing this game is the closest I've felt to the excitement and joy of exploring Outer Wilds in a long time. Tunic not only compares to that game for me, but does it in such a unique and cool way that it's hard to put it into words. The final endgame puzzle of this game might honestly be my favorite puzzle ever made. The art is incredible, the music is perfect and the combat was fun. The fact that most of the entire game hinges around you finding pages for a fictional instruction booklet about the game itself is such a cool idea that I can't help not mention it.

Does not works on Mac even tho the specifications says it does

Started out fun, but the more I played it the less I liked it. The gameplay itself is solid. It is just that the story of the game is locked behind a secret language, obscure puzzles, and an instruction manual you need instructions to interpret (and that is after you track down the pages to begin with). Do you like having to look up a guide and painstakingly translated everything manually in order to understand the story? Do you like combing through guides, videos, and forums to find the secrets? Because over half the "fun" of this game is research. I don't mind a bit of digging if it is worth it, but needing to translate every single thing is a waste of time. Most of the easter eggs you unlock are as well. Don't get me started on the fandom either. More than half of them are "If you haven't 100% completed the game and memorized the secret language don't even talk to me. I don't want to spoil things for you" tier of unhelpful. There are only so many hours of the day and everything on the internet is screaming for your time and attention. If you like deciphering languages and consider trawling the internet for guides and hints as "part of the experience" good for you. As for me this isn't worth the time. I like the style and the gameplay is good, but the lore and puzzles are such a annoying timesink that it detracts from the experience rather than adds to it.

Awesome game. Beautiful world to explore and get lost in for many hours. If you loved the top-down 2D RPGs of old and that feeling you get when you discover a secret all on your own, then you will love this game. Secrets are everywhere, literally everywhere. Progression is smooth and up until the end, there is always another secret to be found. It's difficult to review this game without spoiling anything, but rest assured that the less you know when you begin Tunic, the more you will enjoy the journey it offers.

Be patient with this game, it undoubtedly deserves the "overwhelmingly positive" tag on steam. I can see where some might struggle to get into it or recommend it, and I feel they may misunderstand one of its greatest strengths. One of the best aspects of Tunic is the mystery, and it's so fun as you put things together naturally and learn more about how the game functions/works. Imo Tunic is a masterpiece and a must-play, but it's a game that requires patience. If you go into it with an open mind, wanting to experience the fun of figuring the game and its world out for yourself; then I can guarantee you'll have a blast playing it!

Excellent. Start with a base of old school Zelda. Then add FEZ until the desired texture is achieved. Add a dollop of Hyper Light Drifter and a dash of souls-like to taste.

Great art, music, environment, and an interesting gimmick that withholds information about mechanics and story from the player through the instruction manual. General enemy combat is just tough enough. Bosses are maybe a LITTLE too tough, but if you're used to souls games, you'll overcome them... Eventually. The game doesn't hold your hand and you're likely to get lost a few times. Embrace this and check your manual for hints. Just a few issues getting stuck on terrain during certain encounters but no technical glitches and bugs that I've noticed. Highly recommend. 8/10.

I love it! The OST is amazing, I love getting lost, and miss things because I didn't pay enough attention to the pages of the manual, solving the Golden Path was really really hard. I have to fight until the second boss with the base stats, because I didn't know how to upload them hahaha. But I love it. The ambiance, the design of the characters, the language that you can't understand it makes me nostalgic when I have to use a dictionary so I can understand what I was doing c: . It's hard, it's not for everyone, but it's worth it

I have experienced this game spoiler free and i have to say its absolutely incredible. I only really wanted to get it because i wanted a Zelda like experience but wasn't expecting retro difficulty game with a NES manual as your guide to the world along with understanding the twists and turns brought to you by piecing it together. As of writing this i'm stuck at the final boss but despite this i'm having fun as i know that its compleatly a skill issue on my part and nothing to do with the game, and i'm sure that beating [spoiler] The Heir [/spoiler] will be satisfying as fuck.

cool game, good rough 20 hours to beat, easy to find secrets, fun combat system

Engrossing game. Clever gamification of manuals. Very nostalgic as an added bonus.

The cute exterior made me not give this game a chance until 3 years later. And was I wrong! What an amazing game! Among my top game experiences of all time.

I'm not even done the game yet, on the last puzzle/last boss and this game has absolutely just blown me away. Secrets are hidden in plain sight so when you find them you are just shocked you never came across them. The fact that all these secrets are just so well hidden waiting for you to find them is just crazy. And now that im on [spoiler] The Golden Path [/spoiler] this game went from like a 9/10 to like a 11/10. This is probably the only game that made me physically write down a whole map to figure out one puzzle, and i'm having so much damn fun. Pick it up if you get the chance, its so worth it. Gives me major DS1 exploration vibes too, with a cool Zelda twist to it

What a wonderfully charming and engrossing game. I felt like a kid again uncovering all the secrets this game had to offer (thought I did have to use a spoiler free hint guide to get me on the correct path...). One of the few must plays that I can recommend - amazing game.

Game's main issue is that the combat design is terrible. You can circumvent this by using accessibility options which make it trivial, and then enjoy the rest of the game. Once this is done, game is great. However, if you want to play this game not for puzzles/discovery part but for the combat, avoid at all costs since almost every combat encounter including the bosses makes the experience less fun than it otherwise would be.

As someone who loves Link's Awakening and A Link to the Past, I'm having the time of my life playing this. It manages to evoke the same feeling but being its own thing entirely. Do yourself a favor and give Tunic a try if you like this kind of games! Can't recommend it enough!

very relaxing vibe to the game. sometimes it can be difficult to progress in the story as there is very little guidance so thats something to keep in mind but overall not a bad game to pick up on sale! i got this game as i was looking for something with a similar playstyle to Legend of Zelda (TOTK) and it surely scratched that itch, and at a reasonable price!

10/10 don't look stuff up, genuinely. spoiled my fun a good amount by just looking up one thing! excellent puzzles. if you're not looking forward to doing puzzles, it's enjoyable but it might not be the game for you. deep lore smooth movement. just gets better over time :3 fun boss fights, just-right difficulty on normal combat mode reasonable progression curve amazing music wonderful style and graphics. environment design, lighting are impeccable camera movement is fun i thought it was pretty well-established where to go next, and when a secret/item/location was gearlocked in metroidvania fashion. cute characters neat themes it runs super duper well. the bad: parry mechanic sucks awful so so bad. completely useless, sometimes impossible unless you're literally guessing when / which the next attack is before its cue has started. the window is both too short and too long; the windup is glacial and uncancellable. just dodge instead. i had recurring problems with white screen glitches, frozen camera, stuck UI requiring restarting the game. maybe once every hour to hour and a half.

dark souls for kindergarden kids xD graphics, music and overall gameplay is mega cool I strongly recommend this game

After 23 hours: i have gotten the true ending and Found some of the secret Treasures. One of the best games i've played in a long time. I played it blind and highly recommend you do the same. 9/10.

This game was so good I 100% on xbox then bought it on steam and did it again. Took 18 hours (On the first playthrough, 13 on this one because I wanted to do the puzzles by myself) to plat. Reminiscent of the first Zelda game and was fun messing with the secret D-pad codes. Metroidvania Mechanic: 10/10 The mapping is fantastic: it was excellent loopbacks and shortcuts, and the it exercises new-found items in a rewarding way. The 3D aspect gives an INSANE amount of secret areas and hidden chest and it's satisfying finding one of the many. This game has an unheard of amount of back tracking yet it feels like a new location every time you do with the various secrets to be discovered. This is like the 3D version of LoZ and it's executed perfectly. Bosses: 7/10 The boss fights are ok/good, nothing to write home about. It is exhilarating trying to switch items in the middle of the fight tho. Fighting Mechanic 8/10 Fighting wise, the abilities are limited. You can go the entire game (which I did) with just the sword, wand, and power orb in the 3 slots; maybe sprinkle in the gun/mana berry for some extra pizazz. In other words, against the average game, the fighting was alright, but it fit like a key in this Zelda-like—not to overbearing, and allows the player to focus on the mapping and secrets as intended. Story/Lore: 9/10 I barely understand the story and it was fire. I enjoyed slowly unraveling the state of the world and what had happened; the entire game being in a made-up language (that you can actually learn) was surreal. TLDR: Banger game modeled after early Zelda games. Extremely engaging and puzzle/secret focused; combat is simply a means to an end. 8.5/10

Furry and cute yet complicated game design that will keep you engaged. STORY One of the strengths of this game is the way you get to discover the story/lore, by exploring the world. You'll find ancient ruins or items that will complete the story more and more over time. Got a good plot twist too. GAMEPLAY It's a hack n slash with sword n shield, as well as "magical" weapons. It has some variability yet its combat system is rather simple. Personally i've found the game's combat system somewhat unintuitive, it feels like a small weakness, tho not a deal breaker by any means. CONTROLS They are even more unintuitive. I kept pressing the wrong buttons till the end after i've got all achievements. Don't you dare press B to exit the inventory! PUZZLES This is the game's main strength, together with the lore discoverability, which is often ingrained in puzzles. Puzzles will blow your mind how simple and sometimes hidden under your nose they can be. Yet they can be really hard to solve without any help. If you can't figure a solution out, try to leave it be for the time being and look for other stuff. You might get clues that will help you with the puzzle. These clues can be really anywhere, and help you with specific puzzles or for puzzles in general. So be patient and keep exploring, the most important thing in this game! Don't spoiler yourself anything, if you can. ART DESIGN The art design is awesome yet kind of deceiving. When i've seen the style of the game, i shrugged it off as a small and easy action game like many. Hooh i was wrong... SO? Absolutely play this game if you like puzzles and action games. If you hate puzzles, it's hard to recommend.

I loved this game. There are so many secrets to find, puzzles to solve, game mechanics to learn. If you like any of those things, you'll enjoy this game.

Tunic is, in a single word, charming. It's A Link To The Past by way of Dark Souls. The devs absolutely nailed the whimsy and wonder I had as a kid playing adventure games when I could barely read, and learning how to play as I went. I'm loving every minute of it, because Tunic brings me joy I haven't really felt since video games turned into a minmaxing exercise somewhere between the SNES and adulthood. You can't optimize Tunic. Well, I guess you can, but it would ruin the fun. Go in blind, and feel what it's like to be a kid again.

The puzzle design in this game is so incredible. It remains confusing while not being overly obtuse and frustratingly difficult to find solutions. Makes you want to actually solve the puzzles yourself instead of looking up the solutions online. You'll probably want a whole notebook just for this game, but that's the fun of it!

I loved Tunic! The art style is beautiful, the music is super relaxing, and the world is full of secrets and mysteries. It feels like you're slowly replaying an old game from your childhood and it feels very nostalgic. It's crazy how everything in the game is there but for you to learn. Only downside, the combat can be a little clunky at times and could use some tweaking in my opinion, but it doesn't ruin the game that much. It's definitely worth playing. One of the best niche indie games out there. Give it a try! Ps: Thanks to my friend Swits for having recommended me this game months, months ago. Merci :D

So basically its about this fox right, and hes tryna save his mother, or something like that.

this game is simply amazing. i love the aesthetic and the countless puzzles. i dont really like fighting, but its nice that you can toggle it on or off. if you like puzzles, if you like puzzle games, you NEED to try this.

I remember the days of studying the game manual for Super Mario Bros 3 like it was the bible. This is such an inspired return to that era of game design that I honestly don't know if younger players will really "get it". Hopefully they do! But if you're a gamer from the 90s or before, don't put off trying Tunic any longer.

You know a puzzle game is serious when you resort to pulling out pen and paper Playing this game is the closest I've felt to the excitement and joy of exploring Outer Wilds in a long time. Tunic not only compares to that game for me, but does it in such a unique and cool way that it's hard to put it into words. The final endgame puzzle of this game might honestly be my favorite puzzle ever made, it blew my entire mind when I started the 3 hour journey that was solving it. The art is incredible, the music is perfect, anddddd the combat was fun if a little boring (it was the weakest aspect of the game), but combat is not Tunic's focus anyway. The fact that most of the entire game hinges around you finding pages for a fictional instruction booklet about the game itself is such a cool idea that I can't help not mention it. I loved it :)

The most hardcore game of exploration and puzzles I’ve ever played. I couldn’t solve it all by myself, but I still enjoyed it a lot.

literally one of the best games i've ever played. an incredible execution of inspiration from souls, zelda, metroidvanias, and other titles like hyper light drifter. a homage to the included game manuals of old. go in as blind as possible and don't look ANYTHING up unless you're totally stumped. be perceptive, think long and hard. consider every detail. if i could get a lobotomy and play this for the first time again i totally would. a masterstroke of a game.