With near-perfect execution, Tunic is a must-play for any action fan.
90
Verdict
91%
Steam
89
IGDB
Verdict score based on confidence-adjusted Steam reviews?
Very Positive on Steam (91% positive from 17K reviews)
Critically acclaimed (89/100 critic average)
Standout indie gem
No significant drawbacks reported
Tunic is a 2022 action-adventure game developed by Isometricorp Games and published by Finji. It is set in a ruined fantasy world, where the player controls an anthropomorphic fox on a journey to free a fox spirit trapped in a crystal. The player discovers the gameplay and setting by exploring and finding in-game pages of a manual that offers clues, drawings, and notes. The backstory is obscured; most text is given in a constructed writing system that the player is not expected to decipher. Tunic's isometric perspective hides numerous pathways and secrets.
Runs well on modern hardware.
Last updated 10d ago
A very very unique Game. The "lack" of Guidance this game has felt amazing, and at times I honestly felt like I was 9 again playing a Zelda game for the First Time. The Visuals & the Music are absolutely Sublime! I like to think I understood the plot, but I'd say that it is the least important part of the game. The feeling of Adventure, of finding a Shortcut that was always avaliable and just "hidden", the joy of Unlocking new Pages of the Manual (more on that further down), it felt sooo amazing. The Game has a "Manual" like those that used to come with Games before, what 2016?2018? And it has Clues or Straight up tell you what does what, where to go. BUT It is 20% in [The Language you play in] & 80% in the Games own language, so you have to Guide yourself through the Few words you understant & images, or try to decypher the Tunic Language. I really loved this because it felt like I was (as a said before) a kid playing a game for the first time in a Language I didn't master, so I had to guess what was written. The "I get it now" moments felt so good, this Game is Truly an Amazing Gem, and it now seats among my Favorites of all Time. I Sincerly hope, from the Bottom of my Heart that this Team continues making more games, because we need more games with this Quantity of Love for the Genre !
I loved the exploration and the art style of the game, and the story seems fun - but it’s so cryptic that fully understanding it basically requires 100% completion (I guess), and I didn’t have the patience for that. The idea of the in‑game guidebook that you slowly recover page by page is genuinely brilliant and one of my favourite parts. What ruined the game for me: [list] [*] [b]Level design:[/b] I enjoy hidden secrets and invisible paths, but when the main progression path is also hidden to the point where you can simply miss it and end up running in circles, it becomes more frustrating than rewarding. [*] [b]Enemy design:[/b] Some enemies don’t just deal damage but also [spoiler]reduce your max HP until the next rest point[/spoiler], which feels more punishing than engaging. [*] [b]A cardinal sin of progression-based games:[/b] [spoiler]being stripped of all your upgrades for a big chunk of the game and becoming powerless again — and for no clear narrative or gameplay payoff[/spoiler]. [*] My biggest issue: [b]the mismatch between how demanding the combat is and how limited the controls feel.[/b] The controls are clunky; I never felt like I had the precision or responsiveness needed for the tougher fights. The camera zooms and shifts unpredictably in some encounters, which makes things worse. I played most of the game on normal difficulty simply because I forgot reduced combat difficulty existed — until the final boss annoyed the hell out of me. [spoiler]Losing all HP and then entering phase two with full HP again? Get the hell outta here…[/spoiler] [/list]
[h3] An incredibly rewarding experience with TONS of Secrets hidden in plain sight! [/h3] The game loves to play with your preconceived knowledge of games and isometric camera angles to hide secrets. Even when I find secret areas or discover new gameplay mechanics that were always there hidden in plain sight, it keeps blowing me away with something new to discover. The exploration in this game is top-notch. My entire experience can be summerized by me saying "I could do that?", "That shortcut was always there?!", "OMG, You could do that!????" every 10 minutes. The game is admittingly hard in the beginning and does not pull any punches, but if you stick with it then it will reward you for your hardships and your willingness to explore every nook and cranny.
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Data sourced from RAWG, Steam, IGDB, CheapShark, Wikipedia, HLTB, and GX Corner. Sources: rawg, steam, cheapshark, igdb, wikipedia.
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