No link to said game?
It's also one of the best sonic youth songs
I really liked the puzzle elements, but the combat was way too hard in places. I didn't feel bad about turning that down.
You should never feel bad for turning difficulty down.
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.
I have heard them called "knowledge-based games". While not catchy, I think it's accurate.
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
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.
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".
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…
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
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.
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.
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.
Tunic is one of my absolute favorite games. An absolute joy to play and the sheer whimsy that the game exudes is refreshing.
If you liked this game or miss it, there's another really great game with some similarities out there: Death's Door
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.
That’s the feeling it evoked in me: a childlike sense of wonder and discovery.
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.
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
Spent a lot of time with this game on the steam deck traveling. Great game.
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.
There's a LOT of toggles for difficulty/accessibility in there in case you get stuck and don't wanna grind, just fyi
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I have it on humble, is there a way to know if they've updated my copy to the latest version?
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)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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".
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.
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.
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.
That's pretty impressive, since HLTB puts it at more than twice that to roll credits.
No you're right. Tunic took me 18h. It was Lil' Gator Game that only took 5. 🤣
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/
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. 😅
The soundtrack is also amazing. Lifeformed did a great job with it, just as they did with Dustforce.
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.
Have you "finished it" or finished it ?
I've gotten as far as I could, but didn't do everything.
spoiler
I 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.
Patient Gamers
A gaming community free from the hype and oversaturation of current releases, catering to gamers who wait at least 12 months after release to play a game. Whether it's price, waiting for bugs/issues to be patched, DLC to be released, don't meet the system requirements, or just haven't had the time to keep up with the latest releases.
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