TUNIC

Tunic is an excellent action game and also an adventure-puzzle game, with the latter being optional to finish the game, but necessary to complete it and understand the story. The setting is both fantasy and post-apocalypse, despite the colourful cartoon-like visual style. The world offers engaging exploration and a lot of secrets to discover, even on the main path. The fixed isometric camera is among the tools used to hide the rewards. Some things are completely optional (e.g. the golden treasures), some affect the story, and some affect the other aspects of gameplay. As one progresses through the world, there are pages of the in-game game manual scattered around. It is a brilliant addition, both reminding of the old physical media and providing crucial plot details and gameplay systems. Another part of the manual is one of the main, though optional, aspects of the game - the manual is not fully in English, but in an in-universe language, with the translation possible as more information is discovered. The optional puzzle system is reasonably straightforward, increasing in difficulty quite gradually. The combat is functional, with very few weapons and combinations. The variety of foes is quite decent and there are several diverse and challenging bosses. The character development system is present and bound to the exploration. The visual customisation options can be accessed quite early (if one knows where to look). The keyboard controls are fully rebindable. There are several accessibility settings that offer a more approachable experience. The game auto-saves frequently, with the protagonist respawning at the checkpoint statues. The visual style is minimalistic, expressive, and easy to read. The 3D models and animations are very well done, while the 2D art is absolutely delightful. The music is present and generally fitting, though not memorable. The system requirements are very reasonable and the game is VA-free.

If you like old-school Zelda games, this is a must buy. Simple as that.

You figure out the linguistic puzzle 10 minutes into the game. I'm not painstalkingly translating every single letter while you throw me hordes of enemies that kill me in 3 hits with a stamina system and not even letting me explore to understand.

I was going to wait to buy this game, but eventually just decided to buy it anyways. It is really fun, and it does enough to be distinct from it's inspiration. I only have a few gripes with the game: 1. Dodging feels a bit sluggish, which isn't the best in a Soulslike/Soulslite. I'm sure with time, I could get used to the dodging, but coming from Dark Souls, it just feels off. 2. Lack of achievements on GoG. This isn't a make or break for me, but Steam has achievements, so the developers have already defined them, they just need to implement them on GoG. I'm not going to pretend to know how that works on both Steam and GoG, but I can't imagine the implementation of achievements is too different. 3. I wish we could rotate the camera. I know that this might "break" the game, but it would make finding hidden chests a bit easier/convenient.

TL DR : Beautiful visuals. Smooth game play. No hand holding or way points. Very good and well worth the money. Visually the game is great. Simple and smooth, vibrant and intriguing. Everything from the world to the amazing old school Game Informer style game manual that has a level of polish that is just so endearing. The world building is phenomenal with a strong focus on SHOW don’t TELL. With text being mostly made up of odd runes that seemingly make no sense. I loved this in the early game, trying to uncover the mystery text, in the later game I found it annoying. Not because it was bad… but because I’d become so interested in the world that I just wanted to read everything! I really hope that the text is actually readable and not just some random runes. Someone smarter than me can hopefully figure it out. I need to know more! Speaking of more, the game is on the shorter side. Took me 11 hours with some stumbles at 4 a.m. I really wish there had been 1 more act in the middle. I have so many more questions then answers… But it is a very polished and fun experience. A great 10 hours is worth more to me then a drawn-out 60+ hour game. The sound design is also good. Music going from whimsical to soothing, all the way down to some downright chilling scores in certain areas. While the game itself isn’t super hard, some difficulty comes from the lack of hand holding. “You’re in a new world, figure it out. Here are some clues and some basics, now put it all together.” Most things are easy enough to piece together with the in-game manual as a visual aid, at least to get you through the story. There are some that will challenge the more dedicated. Controls are simple and smooth, I played with an Xbox controller. Everything responds well and just works, he parry can be a bit finicky to me, but other than that, it’s great. Over all it’s a great game that is well worth the price. It’s sadly hard to find a well-polished game like this now-a-days.