Tunic

 

Release: 2022

Developer: TUNIC Team

Publisher: Finji

Gameplay Stats: 20 hours 36/36 achievements

I'm not super sure what to say here. If for some reason someone comes to this blog looking for whether or not they should play this game, I would say yes. I think it is best enjoyed with only minimal spoilers, the puzzling is a large part of the appeal of this game. And how you do the puzzles might be considered a spoiler. This game is equal parts original Legend of Zelda (NES) and Fez. Read the manual that you pick up in the game as you pick it up, that is all you need to finish the game. After that you can start looking at spoilers if you're stuck. I wholeheartedly recommend this game, I thought it was brilliant. My review is a bit lower, so proceed with caution if you'd like.

Graphics: This game is pretty cute, has a bit of a low poly aesthetic but with more detail than is normally included in those kinds of games. The camera is fixed which is a little annoying, but I think it's necessary for hiding a lot of the little secrets. It kinda reminded me of the first couple God of War games in this way. There are a few enemy types for each biome but they do get a little same-y. The game isn't too big so it doesn't matter too terrible much, but it is a bit annoying when you are running around looking for secrets. Some of the important environmental cues kind of blended into the background for some of the secrets, but once I knew what I was looking for it was good.

Audio: The sound effects are definitely a bit grating here, but the background music is so lovely. It's some nice lofi music that I think works really well. It's chill enough to encourage thoroughly exploring the game. I wanted to explore the game thoroughly even before I realized how deep and rich it was. I turned down the sound effects immediately when I got a dash ability with a super annoying noise though, very grateful that was an option because that was the fastest way to move around. Turning down sound effects did hide one of the puzzles though that I ended up spoiling for myself.

Gameplay: You've got Zelda like combat and exploration with an added lock on and dodge roll that are really helpful. And then there are puzzles that are more d-pad focused. I really think that both parts of the game can stand on their own but I'm glad that they don't. There was a bit of variation that I find myself craving in games these days. I do think that playing The Witness before this helped me understand some of the puzzles easier than I might've otherwise, they have a similar language.

Plot: Kind of Hollow Knight but very simplified. I never translated the language in the game, so I didn't really understand the subtlety of the story to be honest, but I think this game was intended to be more about the gameplay than the story.

Holy shit I loved this game. I am really excited to see what this team does next!