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I recently finished the game Tunic, which is sort of like A Link to the Past + Fez + Dark Souls... And it's amazing!

Tunic screenshot

I actually owned the game soon after release but bounced off of it due to being busy with work, picked it back up the past few weeks and finally sat down and enjoyed it. Despite looking like a straightforward and cute adventure game, it gets REALLY deep the further you go in. There's so much to discover and the game gives you just enough hints on what to do and where to go.

Tunic ticks all the boxes for me. The graphics are gorgeous, the combat is fun, the world is fun to explore and rich with secrets, and progression was very satisfying.

The most unique part of the game is that you slowly find pages of an instruction manual containing maps of areas and secrets, explanation of mechanics, and guides on how to play... except it's all written in an alien language, so you have to figure out what it's telling you by paying attention to all the pictures and context clues.

Picture of the manual

Understanding the manual is a bit rough at first but lead to so many "A-ha!" moments when you try something and it actually works. It even foreshadows future bosses and things you'll encounter before they happen which is brilliant. My best advice to someone just trying the game: Pay attention to the manual, seriously!


I won't spoil any more than that, but I really wish more people talked about this game. It's not for everybody, the game is intentionally vague and needs some critical thinking if you're not following a guide, but I think it's absolutely brilliant if you're into exploration and discovery. One of the most unique games I've played in ages.

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[-] 01011@monero.town 1 points 1 hour ago

No link to said game?

[-] the_crotch@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 hours ago

It's also one of the best sonic youth songs

[-] Blackmist@feddit.uk 4 points 7 hours ago

I really liked the puzzle elements, but the combat was way too hard in places. I didn't feel bad about turning that down.

[-] chunkystyles@sopuli.xyz 2 points 2 hours ago

You should never feel bad for turning difficulty down.

[-] moakley@lemmy.world 9 points 11 hours ago

I've heard people describe games like this as "Metroidbrainias", which is the dumbest name ever, but the point is that it's a game where progress is blocked not just by obtaining in-game power-ups, but by learning how to use abilities that you already possess at the beginning of the game. The player is the one who levels up. I love that.

[-] chunkystyles@sopuli.xyz 3 points 2 hours ago

I have heard them called "knowledge-based games". While not catchy, I think it's accurate.

[-] kuberoot@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 2 hours ago

I will point out that (IIRC) Tunic does have significantly more mechanical progression than some other examples, like Outer Wilds or Toki Tori 2, but they're all lovely games

[-] azertyfun@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 hour ago

It's more of a "souls-lite" meets Outer Wilds for sure. You gotta be relatively on top of things mechanically to beat it, and on top of that in the second half of the game it switches to puzzles that are (IMO) infuriatingly grindy and will take hours to complete after you've figured out the mechanic.

Which is perfectly fine for those who like that, but I was sold "knowledge base game like Outer Wilds" which doesn't accurately capture how disgustingly grindy Tunic really is IMO. That's like saying Elden Ring is an "open world walking simulator with gorgeous graphics and compelling combat". I mean, yeah, it's all that and it's a great game. But that's kind of underselling the fact that if it's your first Souls you'll probably break a couple keyboards after meeting Margit.

[-] Computerchairgeneral@fedia.io 4 points 13 hours ago

Tunic is a great little game. I can't think of any other game that captures that feeling of playing a game for the first time and slowly testing the boundaries of what you can and cannot do. Definitely one of the better love letters to the old Zelda games out there. My main issue with it was the fact that the end-game is mostly just puzzle-solving. It kind of felt like the game had changed genres on me, especially since I had seen it recommended so many times as "Zelda meets Dark Souls".

[-] LandedGentry@lemmy.zip 76 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

FWIW the game came out over 3 years ago, made a shit ton, was incredibly well received across the board, and was everywhere online. It was talked about incredibly extensively and beloved, even with the pretty high difficulty ceiling (especially if you want to actually complete the game). So be thrilled to know that your concern about its reception/discussion is misplaced!

For those of you curious about it, trust me. This is no simple Zelda like. There is a lot beneath the surface…

[-] popcar2@programming.dev 22 points 1 day ago

I guess it just wasn't in my circle because I haven't heard much about it since release, but good to know it's more popular than I thought

[-] Secret_Music@crazypeople.online 12 points 1 day ago

This is my first time hearing about it personally. But I don't watch streamers personally. Sounds just like my kind of game, honestly, so thanks for mentioning it. I'll definitely check it out.

[-] M137@lemmy.world 2 points 18 hours ago

I don't watch streamers either but have known about it since before it released. I suggest finding places that recommend indie games, and just looking at steam to see what's new and popular. There are lots of websites, youtube channels etc. that make stuff like most exciting upcoming, best of (year/month), best (category) indie games of (year/decade) and so on. I can add some later when I have time, if I remember.

[-] LandedGentry@lemmy.zip 9 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Just give it a search. You’ll find thousands of posts, articles, blogs, etc. It made quite a splash and rightfully so. Not my kind of game but mad respect for what they did.

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[-] Crankenstein@lemmy.world 2 points 13 hours ago

Tunic is one of my absolute favorite games. An absolute joy to play and the sheer whimsy that the game exudes is refreshing.

[-] SitD@lemy.lol 10 points 19 hours ago

If you liked this game or miss it, there's another really great game with some similarities out there: Death's Door

[-] tiramichu@sh.itjust.works 39 points 1 day ago* (last edited 16 hours ago)

To me, the unspoken premise of the game is that you're a kid in 1986 with a parent or cool uncle who went on a business trip to Japan and brought you home a Famicom and a copy of the original Zelda - months before the console even launched outside Japan.

The whole game is about replicating that sense of childish fascination and wonder.

The 'Alien Language' game manual is supposed to mimic the feeling of trying to read the Japanese manual that came with the game, muddling through as best you can with the pictures, and a few random English words they included just because English is 'cool' in a gaming context.

It's a very fun mechanic, and my favourite thing about the game.

[-] AdamBomb@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 12 hours ago

That’s the feeling it evoked in me: a childlike sense of wonder and discovery.

[-] Damage@feddit.it 5 points 20 hours ago

Eh that was me playing games in English before understanding a single word. Sooo many Amiga games where I went forward just by choosing stuff at random.

[-] criticon@lemmy.ca 3 points 21 hours ago

That was me playing Pokemon red. Got it without knowing a bit of English, took me a lot to realize that dialog was important sometimes and it took me several days to figure out how to teach and use the HMs. Later my dad got me the official guide so I could follow the pictures and use a dictionary to figure out some words

[-] disco@lemdro.id 2 points 14 hours ago

Spent a lot of time with this game on the steam deck traveling. Great game.

[-] Widdershins@lemmy.world 8 points 20 hours ago

I got stuck at either a boss or miniboss. Game's a lot of fun and has good spirit but I didn't have enough mana to fight a flying wizard. I don't think that's too much of a spoiler. This Zelda-like game has flying wizards and you can cast magic spells.

I either couldn't backtrack or didnt trust my ability to return to that arena to advance the game. Whatever the case was after stalling out and putting it down I have found it difficult to get my head back in the game. At this point I'm waiting until I forget more of the game so I can start fresh again one day.

There are accessibility options now because the flights can be really hard.

You can have infinite stamina or infinite life if you just want to figure out the manual.

[-] frank@sopuli.xyz 6 points 19 hours ago

There's a LOT of toggles for difficulty/accessibility in there in case you get stuck and don't wanna grind, just fyi

[-] Widdershins@lemmy.world 2 points 14 hours ago

Thanks. I'll have to try my hand at it with cakewalk settings and see if I can make any progress. Now I'm hoping my game saved before that fight and I don't have to find my way back to where it is. No difficulty slider can make that easier.

[-] moakley@lemmy.world 2 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

Also consider trying it again, but use items. The items completely break most of the fights if you just use them.

I know that sounds like obvious advice, but my personal inclination is to never use items, and usually items aren't that great, so it was novel to me that when I got stuck, the answer was just: use items.

[-] Chozo@fedia.io 21 points 1 day ago

It's an absolutely beautiful love letter to Zelda, and I wish I finished it while it was still free on PSN. So much thought and attention went into every little detail you see and hear. Tunic teaches so many lessons about game design that I wish AAA studios would hear.

[-] W3dd1e@lemmy.zip 12 points 23 hours ago

I loved this game too! I haven’t finished it yet. I get distracted sometimes but I really do love it. It’s so unique but also kept the right tropes in the genre. Plus it’s cute.

[-] addie@feddit.uk 10 points 22 hours ago

Loved it, but absolutely hit a wall with it until they released the "take half damage" difficulty patch. Then I found it fun again. I love a challenging video game, but the "slightly loose dodging controls" and the requirement for basically perfect execution to defeat the bosses didn't sit well with me. The Garden Knight was bad enough, the ones that come after it were just silly.

[-] TheFinn@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 1 hour ago

I have it on humble, is there a way to know if they've updated my copy to the latest version?

[-] lime@feddit.nu 8 points 22 hours ago

i've said it before but i don't think i've ever bounced so hard off of something i thought i would love.

i love cryptic, deep worlds, deciphering languages, discovery and exploration. but the combat blocked me from doing any of it.

i died to the first larger enemy (a white blob thing) like five times. i switched the combat to easy mode, and subsequently died five more times, just slower. then i looked up if here was something obvious that i was missing, but no. people were basically describing what i was already doing. dodging, rolling, watching for tells. only there are no tells on those first blob enemies. they just attack. later enemies, like the big spiders, have tells, and those i can sort of do. but the first guys just maul you.

the combat is honestly ass, at least as far as i got. its difficulty is not in line with the theme of the game, and it adds very little to it other than being a roadblock for the puzzles.

It now has two options that make it a lot easier (at least on Steam)

  • infinite stamina (Dodge all you want)
  • infinite life (just enjoy the world and puzzles)
[-] lime@feddit.nu 1 points 7 hours ago

yeah but i'm no longer interested. the mismatch between the world and the combat made me feel like the game was built as a trap, the cute visuals luring people in to punish them. it left a bad taste in my mouth.

[-] jacksilver@lemmy.world 4 points 20 hours ago

Yeah, combat is it's weakest point. I'm sorry that held the game back from you, because the overall "puzzle" of the world/game is very rewarding.

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[-] MudMan@fedia.io 14 points 1 day ago

I wanted to like it, couldn't really get into it.

I see what it's going for, it's just... not my thing. It never clikced with me moment to moment and the self-congratulatory aren't-we-smart information discovery stuff just doesn't work for me in most cases (this applies to Fez and The Witness, too).

I'm not mad that people do like it, though. There's nothing in there I find... objectionable, or poorly designed. I just didn't get into it and that's alright.

[-] azertyfun@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 hour ago

For me the end-game was the wrong ratio of grind-to-payoff. Everything after unlocking that one secret ability got quite repetitive. I watched a video essay from someone who praised it specifically because they're a hardcore gamer who loves the grind and pouring sweat into it and the accompanying feeling of accomplishment, but after I discovered 90 % of the secrets of the world it felt really annoying to spend the second half of the game scouring every nook and cranny of the game for the remaining 10 %. Some of these puzzle have very long solutions with absolutely zero feedback if you do even one tiny thing wrong and that's absolutely infuriating. I think I would have preferred it if credits had rolled at the halfway point.

However I loved Outer Wilds because while it's huge and full of sometimes very difficult puzzles, it never gets grindy. Either you get it or you don't, the game never presents you with a "congratulations you understand the mechanic, now go stare at every wall in the game for the next 3 hours". I get that some people love that but it clearly wasn't for me.

[-] masterspace@lemmy.ca 15 points 1 day ago

It never clikced with me moment to moment and the self-congratulatory aren't-we-smart information discovery stuff just doesn't work for me in most cases (this applies to Fez and The Witness, too).

I think the word you're looking for is "puzzle".

[-] MudMan@fedia.io 11 points 1 day ago

No, I don't think so. I love puzzles. Hard puzzles, even. I really, really like Return of the Obra Dinn, I spent the 90s fawning over point and click adventures. I have zero problems blasting through the Portal games and a bunch of their derivatives.

For some reason it's specifically this setup of "figure out the rules of the world and peel off the layers of the game" thing that misses me. I don't know what to tell you there.

[-] masterspace@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

You don't have to like it, but out of curiosity, why is this different from a 90s point and click adventure? Isn't Myst and Riven and stuff basically this, but first person and without combat?

Because I was thinking of being a mystified child staring at Myst on my friend's computer more than once while playing Tunic.

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[-] Kolanaki@pawb.social 7 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

I might have been too autistic for it, cuz I 100%d the game in ~~5~~ 18 hours total without using any guides. Absolutely loved those ~~5~~ 18 hours tho.

[-] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 5 points 22 hours ago

That's pretty impressive, since HLTB puts it at more than twice that to roll credits.

[-] Kolanaki@pawb.social 7 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

No you're right. Tunic took me 18h. It was Lil' Gator Game that only took 5. 🤣

[-] jacksilver@lemmy.world 3 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago)

Lil Gator is also a great game!!

Edit: There is a "sequel" dlc being released soonish - https://store.steampowered.com/app/3205060/Lil_Gator_Game_In_the_Dark/

[-] victorz@lemmy.world 4 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

Holy shooite. I can't even get through a screen without following a walkthrough guide. I don't fuck with games that I can't figure out where to go after more than an hour of playing. That's simply not fun for me. 😅

[-] shadshack@sh.itjust.works 10 points 1 day ago

The soundtrack is also amazing. Lifeformed did a great job with it, just as they did with Dustforce.

[-] chunkystyles@sopuli.xyz 1 points 2 hours ago

I emailed Lifeformed back in 2020 to ask permission to use their music in a video and they were so nice.

The Dustforce soundtrack is so good, and the Tunic soundtrack does such an amazing job at elevating the game.

[-] BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz 6 points 1 day ago

Have you "finished it" or finished it ?

[-] popcar2@programming.dev 6 points 1 day ago

I've gotten as far as I could, but didn't do everything.

spoilerI did most of the fairy puzzles but didn't do the golden path; I ended up looking up how it's done on Youtube since it sounds like a huge investment. As much as I liked the puzzles, I'm good with the regular ending.

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this post was submitted on 15 Jun 2025
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