Tunic | Xbox/PC/Game Pass/Switch/PS | Fantastic Mr Fox. Action-Adventure. IGN 9.

The mystery element of this game has pushed things way beyond the point of intrigue to almost boredom. I almost don’t give a single gooseberry fool about what’s going on in the world and all the language because the game has so steadfastly refused to attempt to engage me on any of it. If there was any part of the playthrough so far that gave me breadcrumbs for the language or any mechanic to acknowledge it as a gameplay element I think this would be a 10/10 game. As it is it just feels like a massive missed opportunity and though my time with the game has been delightful there’s just something hollow and missing from it.

Becoming increasingly a drag to get through this I want to see the end but I feel like the more I play the lower my final score gets.

Done, had to notch the difficulty down a level as couldn’t be arsed to bang my head against a wall for hours. Very disappointing ending which capped off a pretty clumsy final few hours. I’d be tempted to go back and collect stuff but because nothing is explained I don’t know why I’d be doing it and the state the world is in is not particularly enjoyable to traverse.

While it’s a really quality game I ultimately found it tried to be too clever for its own good and that caused it to reach for things that just end up making it a weaker experience.

8/10

Captain Kinopio wrote:Done, had to notch the difficulty down a level as couldn’t be arsed to bang my head against a wall for hours. Very disappointing ending which capped off a pretty clumsy final few hours. I’d be tempted to go back and collect stuff but because nothing is explained I don’t know why I’d be doing it and the state the world is in is not particularly enjoyable to traverse.

While it’s a really quality game I ultimately found it tried to be too clever for its own good and that caused it to reach for things that just end up making it a weaker experience.

8/10

I take it you didn’t get the full manual? and by extension the bad ending

No I didn’t, I think I was missing 6 pages. It just stopped being fun to play. The game doesn’t reward you enough for exploration. In the early game each manual page feels like it’s helping to build to something, but by about mid way through I practically stopped reading them as I was picking them up as they added nothing. Maybe I should have found a translation page early on but as I didn’t that whole aspect of the game was a complete non starter and what should have been the games best element ended up as it’s biggest negative for me.

Captain Kinopio wrote:No I didn’t, I think I was missing 6 pages. It just stopped being fun to play. The game doesn’t reward you enough for exploration. In the early game each manual page feels like it’s helping to build to something, but by about mid way through I practically stopped reading them as I was picking them up as they added nothing. Maybe I should have found a translation page early on but as I didn’t that whole aspect of the game was a complete non starter and what should have been the games best element ended up as it’s biggest negative for me.

The pages add a lot even without translating anything. Figuring out the language is necessary for like one puzzle in the game. There are so many things you can infer from the english text that is there, as well as the pictures and various notes.

I got all pages and most of the secret objects, and I don't remember needing to translate anything. I assumed everything was inferred by pictures and the translating part was just if you wanted to go mental and do that after as some people have done by putting translated pdfs up. I read one after and there's nothing in there that would have been beneficial in game. The real point of the full manual is so you can solve the big door puzzle.

Well that's part of the problem isn't it. If getting the manual pages doesn't give me anything worthwhile why would I bother going round to collect them all.

Well I enjoyed it anyway.

As did I. I don't generally get on too well with isometric games but the simplicity and charm of this really captured me. It has some fun combat and several cool adventure mechanics that are really unique plus a smashing art style. Definitely preferred it to Deaths Door last year.

For this year though I think Sifu pips it to be my indie GOTY. Found they both stumbled at the end but Sifu on the whole was a more unique and rewarding playthrough.

I'd like to try something else as well but no other Indies this year really appeal.

Captain Kinopio wrote:Well that's part of the problem isn't it. If getting the manual pages doesn't give me anything worthwhile why would I bother going round to collect them all.

One question: Does the phrase Holy Cross mean anything to you now that you've beaten the game?

Nope. Though maybe I remember seeing it come up, just not in a way I felt I could do anything with.

Don't get me wrong I enjoyed collecting the pages in the early game and think it has the potential to be a truly brilliant mechanic it just never came off in the way I wanted it too. I looked through it a lot for clues and help but there is a high possibility I was being stupid.

So, I still love to listen to the soundtrack of this, such a great vibe. I think I might give this another try one day, I feel like I should have loved it but I came away not feeling that at all.

I've been playing this a bit but I've hit a bit of a wall. Is it worth just looking up some hints or should I solider through?

Lex-Man wrote:I've been playing this a bit but I've hit a bit of a wall. Is it worth just looking up some hints or should I solider through?

I looked up plenty of them, go for it

I managed to work some stuff up.

https://www.fangamer.com/products/tunic-deluxe-edition-game

If you liked the sound design of Tunic and can find an hour to spare, this GDC talk by Kevin Regamey (lead sound designer or somesuch) is fantastic. Towards the end it goes pretty in-depth into the game's secrets and languages/ciphers, and that at least is worth your time. Skip to 35:25 if that's all you're interested in.

twitter.com/FinjiCo/status/1734326106918903831

I started this a few days ago and feel like I'm near the end just got the three keys and died to the next boss. It's been fantastic so far! I love how it has so many secrets and never explicitly tells you how to do something you have to figure it out yourself or explore the bits of manual that you've collected.

Combat is a bit clunky, and some of the bosses are a pain, but not enough to spoil it.

I'm still wondering about the weather vane puzzle. It has what looks to be four words each with the same four letters. Words 2 and 4 are identical and the others are just shifted slightly. Could be button presses rather than words it keeps bugging me every time I walk past, but in a good way.

Tunic | Xbox/PC/Game Pass/Switch/PS | Fantastic Mr Fox. Action-Adventure. IGN 9.

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