TUNIC Review | GamersCast
19Everyone who has been following this channel knows I don’t make videos often, but every now and then a game comes along that I feel compelled to bring more attention to. One such game is Tunic. It was released just a couple of weeks ago, and I hadn’t heard of it (or just forgot about it) until it came out. But it is an absolute joy to play.
Right away, you’ll notice the game has a gorgeous simplistic art style, but the true beauty of the game comes from the way it conveys information to the player. At the start, you’re given no context and wake-up on a sandy beach. Go forth into the world! It is up to the player to explore and figure out their objectives, the lore of the world, and even how to play the game.
This is accomplished through collectible pages of the game’s instruction manual that are scattered throughout the world. Nothing is locked behind these pages, so it is possible to figure most things out by toying with the game, but finding a relevant page at the right time can definitely deliver a satisfying moment of clarity. The game’s world also has another layer of obfuscation, being that the local language is completely nondescript, so many events are left to context and inference.
The gameplay itself definitely takes a lot of inspiration from late 80s-era action/adventure puzzle games. I’ve heard a lot of comparisons between Tunic and early Zelda titles, but while that may be a good starting point for comparison, the combat gives the game its own feel. Some enemies attack in patterns while others telegraph their movements. Depending upon playstyle, you can employ dodge rolls, parries, shields, or whatever other tools you find along your adventure to gain an advantage.
The difficulty hits a nice balance, never feeling so difficult that it’s unfair, but also challenging enough to always have the player feeling engaged. You do leave behind a shade after death, but the penalty is just losing some gems and having to trek back from your last save point. Save points are also abundant enough that you never feel you’ll lose significant progress after a death. Every time you save, you replenish all of your HP and Mana, but all of the overworld monsters respawn, which will give you some pause to wonder if it’s worth the tradeoff.
My biggest complaint about Tunic, is unfortunately also the thing I love so much about it. Having freedom in exploration is great, but at times you can find yourself stuck and it leaves you wondering if you’re supposed to be able to do what you’re trying, or if you’re missing context in the form of a manual page or item you hadn’t found yet. The game also encourages you to go searching for secrets in corners of the map the camera can’t see, but in a couple of instances I found myself able to clip through walls, and falling through such a boundary is actually how the game presented me with my first death.
All and all, Tunic is a gem that managed to sneak under the radar of most people. Exploring and uncovering the secrets of the world is a joy to watch unfold, and it's an absolute delight for those who grew up on 2D Zelda titles. All and all, you can finish the game in a bit over 10 hours, but at a budget price of $30, I’d say it’s well worth it. Tunic is available on Xbox One, Series X, Gamepass, Windows, and Mac.
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