As dungeons e a exploração dos cenários tem uma pegada bem TLOZ, e cada boss tem um design e mecânica únicos, numa pegada bem souls-like mesmo. O que me encantou totalmente foi a implementação de um manual in-game, sendo responsabilidade do jogador encontrar as páginas e decifrar o que está escrito naquela língua única - duas atividades essenciais para a progressão e imersão no jogo. A única coisa que me chateou um pouco foram os lags que a versão do Switch tem, mas mesmo com isso, a nota continua 10

On the surface this looks like a typical Zelda-like, and in some ways it is very reminiscent of older Zelda titles like A Link to the Past. What makes this game stand out however isn't in it's similarities to Zelda games, but rather in it's differences.

Much like Outer Wilds, this is one of those games where I can't give you too much information without spoiling major aspects of the game. In fact, that is the very premise the game is built around. Despite the Zelda-like layout and Souls-like combat, the core of this game revolves around information. Everything in this game is written in an undecipherable wingding language, leaving the player guessing as to what signs mean throughout the world. More importantly though, as you go through the game, you'll find pages of the game's "instruction manual", being very reminiscent of the manuals in older NES/SNES titles. This manual is also mostly in this wingding language, forcing the player to decipher meanings from the pictures, other pages, and context clues. While you may think this sounds annoying upon reading this review, let me assure you that this is excellently pulled off, making you want to find these manual pages and keeping you thinking about what some enigmatic riddle could mean long after you've put the game down. When you do figure something new out, the "Ah-Ha!" moment is unparalleled and you feel like a genius.
The only time these manual puzzles become really over the top to solve is in the post-game for the "good" ending. I did not actually manage to solve all of these, but despite it, I never found it too frustrating to go on, and if anything makes me even more determined to eventually go back and solve that mystery.

Beyond that, I can tell you that while there aren't that many boss fights, they are quite enjoyable and visually pleasing. The exploration in this game is top notch. The items are very fun to use, and combat in general is fun. The skills you get as you go through the game, as well as how you get them, are also a blast. I will say, while the story is pretty decent, it's probably the weakest part of the game overall.

Truly this is a game I would recommend to nearly everyone. One of the best games in every genre it falls into.

This game absolutely shocked me. I didn't know what to expect but it looked cute with some interesting mechanics. It's gameplay and mechanics are solid with some very fun combat that you can really get into a rhythm with. The progression and upgrades are fantastic and you really feel yourself getting stronger.

Oh and the lore. The LORE. So good, I did have to look it up but it's pretty cool. The handbook that you get in the game is one of the most interesting and fun idea's I've seen in a game in ages and it works perfectly. The alternate ending and following the golden path will always be one of my fondest memories in gaming that you can only really do once. Even with some help from a walkthrough I felt like I figured so much by myself and it was so rewarding.

I wish there was another boss fight or two but the one's we got were so well done and so gratifying to beat. I will likely revisit it, just for the boss fights alone.

I struggled occasionally knowing where to go, though that could also be because I'm dumb. I highly recommend the game but I understand it's not for everyone.

Pros:
+ the art style, visual direction, blur, and lightning effects are outstanding
+ the cutesy look serves as a perfect counterpoint to the complexity of the design
+ overworld and dungeons are smartly and efficiently designed
+ the camera is intelligently used to emphasize and hide elements in the world
+ short cuts at every corner lead to frequent moments of surprise
+ most of the game is designed around invisible systems of interlocking puzzle systems
+ a wide range of puzzles can be solved solely by observation and deduction
+ the in-game manual simultaneously serves as a guide, hint, reward, and storytelling device
+ the retro screen in the background when opening the manual is a really nice touch
+ combat and controls are simple but effective and fit the look and general design
+ enemy attacks are telegraphed well and failure is usually one's own fault
+ bomb reward and piggy bank system minimize grinding for resources
+ the checkpoint system is always fair and restarts are quick and easy
+ every area offers new enemies and requires new combat tactics
+ an integrated hint system helps to find the most obscure collectables
+ sequence breaking is very much possible and encouraged
+ the bosses are actual tests of skill but never unfair and fun to fight
+ the final boss is available very early on and not gated off behind progress
+ accessability options are plentiful and include anti-frustration features
+ the soundtrack is mysteriously introspective and part of the puzzle design
+ so many caves behind waterfalls

Cons:
- the game not pausing in the item menu is unnecessary and makes some tactics unviable
- combat options are basic and lack the freshness of the puzzles
- some puzzles are so obscure that most playery will never see or solve them
- important elements such as the items and cards are never explained
- card effects are mostly useless and their pictures seem random (tincture?)
- invisible enemies and permanently limited health points are frustrating
- the dash mechanic is buggy and can lead to a lot of cheap deaths
- manual pickups do not indicate their respective numbers in the manual
- the final boss cannot be easily restarted and takes some time to reach
- the final boss will test your patience and requires rote memorization
- story beats are barebones and the endings feel abridged

Magic Moments: Too many to count. Finding a treasure room by observing the dungeon architecture and hitting a wall for a real "eureka" moment. Going underground for the last key and wondering how much backstory is never made explicit. Finding a key item twice?!

Best Manual page: The story reveal on pages 7 and 8 is absolutely perfectly executed.


Verdict:
Let me come right out and say it: Tunic is a masterpiece. It's no surprise that Andrew Shuldice and his team had to delay the game various times, even after working on it for over seven years, as the sheer work required to create a game at this level of quality is felt from the very first, somber moments. The creators proudely wear the influence of modern classics such as Fez, The Witness, and the Zelda series on their sleeves, while producing a game that easily stands proudly among them. Behind the perfectly executed facade of cutesy characters, a simple but intricately designed audio-visual presentation, and familiar combat options lies a complex, interlocking grid of secret mechanics that require intelligence, patience, spatial awareness, and willingness to experiment to fully uncover - even the "load game" screen will take you by surprise. At the same time, players who just want to cut some shrubs, collect some loot or grind their teeth on the difficult but fair bosses will find plenty to enjoy here, although not giving explanations for even the most basic items or combat mechanics may be considered a step to far into obscurity. But for everyone willing to really invest time and effort in the world of Tunic, this is one of those gems that will keep you up all night, trying to see where it takes you while hoping the rabbit hole would never end.

Buy it, play it, uncover the manual, read the margins, wonder how they ever came up with those puzzles, play it some more and be glad you got to experience this. Andrew Shuldice's next game cannot come some enough.

Eng/Rus
Charming visual style, beautiful soundtrack, and the spirit of exploration are interrupted every 10 seconds by combat encounters, which are well executed but struggle with larger numbers of enemies. You can only focus on one enemy at a time and have to exit target mode and re-enter it to switch targets, making accuracy difficult. This is especially frustrating when there is a turret and enemies in the same location.
The game does not clearly indicate where to go next. The level design is poorly executed, resulting in aimless wandering through locations in hopes of finding the right path.
Очаровательный визуальный стиль, красивый саундтрек и дух исследования прерывается каждые 10 секунд боевыми схватками, которые здесь сделаны хорошо, проблема только в том, что они не работают должным образом c большим количеством врагов. Здесь можно нацелиться только на одного врага одновременно, а чтобы нацелиться на другого, нужно выйти из режима цели и снова попасть в него, шанс того что вы нацелитесь на него мал. Это особенно раздражает когда в одном месте есть турель и враги.
Игра не очень ясно указывает, куда идти дальше. Дизайн уровней выполнен неудачно, поэтому игра выглядит как бесцельное блуждание по локациям в надежде найти нужное и пройти по правильному пути.

Confession moment: the Zelda games I have finished can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Their structure, at least when I was younger, sometimes confused me and, a mix of not reading where I had to go and inexperience, made me abandon them.

Tunic stands as a Zelda-like game but with a twist that everyone knows by now: the game starts very much like the very first Zelda, but gives the player no objective, no instructions. Instructions are provided to the player with pages from a game manual of the game itself, a meta idea that really made me smile and created that sense of 'let me check the instruction booklet' in me that I haven't had in a long time. The game is fluid, fun and a real pleasure to explore, precisely because it doesn't tell the player much about what to do. The story, despite not having ONE line of dialogue, is perfectly expressed with the environment and the short videos, which never cut through the action.

The game is a treat for those who like to find hidden secrets that require pen and paper to find. Without making spoilers, you'll reach the end of the game wanting to find every secret and, as mentioned, you'll have to take notes to do so, much like FEZ players did at the time.

Absolutely recommended game to generate in everyone that sense of passion for discovery that few games give us anymore!

I am very conflicted with this game. I appreciate the art style, diagetic manual, and somewhat the secret design, but I think it is trying to be clever than meaningful. At its heart, this is a knowledge-based game where discovering mechanics and secrets is the real game. The game can be divided into two halves or genres: action and puzzle.

The action is a mediocre stamina-based hack-and-slash combat system. Case in point is the combat gauntlet that transitions to the puzzle half where it peaks in enemy challenge and shows its lack of depth and variety. In a way, mastery over the combat system is not rewarding despite the offering of items and abilities. The metroidvania map design is almost good if not the obscure paths hidden by the camera. If the game was more about discovery, the stamina-based combat is weighing it down.

To understand the story and lore, solving the hardest puzzle and its associated puzzles, secrets and language. I think this is the best and worst part of the game since the main puzzle mechanic lacks feedback and error prone. Solving the puzzle is one half, finding them sometimes is also the challenge where it can be placed in obscure locations. I feel that whenever I found and solved a puzzle, I felt more annoyed rather than satisfied. I do like that some puzzles require me to bring out pen and paper to solve them, but I think more immersive sim elements would have added more variety and depth to the puzzles instead of being coy.

I think this is a good game, but I found the puzzle and obscurity more harmful than charming which is why it is at tier 2. Still, I recognize this as a niche appeal but get it with warnings in mind.

Tunic is a very unique experience, that almost felt like two different games packed together. The first game is a loose adventure game, that lets you figure out everything on your own and has some really satisfying exploration and combat. The manual system is great as well. On top of a wonderful atmospheric soundtrack and a memorable visual style, it's a great game.

The second is a complex puzzle game that requires a lot more brain power than I have to offer. There were certainly moments of this section I was able to solve, although to see the true ending required an unfortunate amount of looking stuff up. Through this and Obra Dinn I've learned that cryptic games that require scouring a lot of information aren't exactly my thing, even if I can appreciate them.

It was a smart call to put the cryptic stuff after being able to get an ending, since dumb idiots like myself can at least get some closure. Anyways, cool game.

Time Played: 24h 51m

The early stages of gaming is one I like to refer to as the era of “notebooks & secrets”. A time where people would get together and share tidbits of information with one another. Information that came in the forms of either a cool easter egg, an exploit of some kind or general tips. It was this sense of community that has unfortunately been lost with the rise of the internet. Long gone are the days of getting the latest issue of a game magazine to read on a game’s secrets, or sneaking a pen & paper into a book fair to quickly note some cheats codes from strategy guides. No more were people naive enough to take rumors at face value and attempt out ordinary secrets like the likes of unlocking Luigi in Super Mario 64 by running around a statue several hundreds of times. In the past, a game’s secrets could be kept hidden for years, only for those willing to go the extra mile to uncover them.

Nowadays, with the internet and the rise of data miners. Game secrets are often revealed within days, sometimes even hours, after being released, leaving no room for long-lasting mysteries to discover. This has made it increasingly harder for developers to include cool secrets or easter eggs that are reminiscent of old school games. This is particularly frustrating for developers who put a lot of effort into creating secret content, only to have it immediately revealed to the public. Many developers have given up on hiding secrets altogether, instead opting to sell extra content as DLC. Stuff like additional characters, alternative outfits and even entire modes have been repackaged just to get some quick extra bucks, selling content that at one point was simply a neat little bonus for anyone spending time playing the game. A practice that has unfortunately plagued the industry with no signs of stopping anytime soon.

Despite this, there are still developers who strive to create games with a sense of mystery and discovery. Where triple A companies have lost touch with their roots, indie devs are there to pick up the slack, taking up the mantle of preserving the integrity of what it meant to create a video game back in the day. As one of the lead developers of “Binding of Isaac” states, “I’ve learned there is no point in doing that stuff. And the best way to hide a secret is to just lock it in a challenging area”. And that’s exactly what many modern indie games ended up doing. Celeste, Hades, and Hollow Knight being some prime examples. While it doesn’t completely repel data miners to go digging around, it’s by far a much better solution than selling it additionally while maintaining its roots to past games. However, in the case of Tunic, instead of hiding its secrets behind a challenging area, it decides to hide behind a set of difficult puzzles.

At a glance, Tunic looks like another Zelda clone, and while it wears its influence on its sleeve, it’s anything but that. Sure, the early hours may follow familiar traditional Zelda beats, with players navigating dungeons, collecting items and finding the magical macguffins to progress through the story. However, it’s in the second act of the game where Tunic really starts to set its own unique identity.

Throughout the game, players come across scattered pages that form a manual for the game, gradually providing hints to some of its hidden mechanics. Using illustration and cryptic hieroglyphics, the manual teaches players about the game’s world and its inner workings. What was once a jumble of nonsensical symbols progressively starts to make sense as the player uncovers the truth one page at a time. And that’s the beauty of this game, its secrets aren’t locked behind challenging obstacles, but rather hidden within an encrypted fictional language that is spread across the entire map.

As players learn more about its language, symbols and its meaning, they begin to realize just how cleverly the game’s secrets are hidden in plain sight. The world itself becomes one massive puzzle that the player must piece together through their own knowledge and exploration. No amount of data mining will be able to reveal Tunic’s secrets by digging around. The only way to uncover its mysteries is to simply sit down, grab a controller and play the game the good old fashioned way.

It’s been a long time since I’ve felt such a great sense of mystery in a game. Tunic successfully captures that nostalgic feeling of being completely immersed in a game where you feel utterly completely lost, something that many modern games fail to deliver. I often found myself reaching for a pen and paper to decipher its secrets. While I managed to figure out some of its puzzles on my own, it was the endgame puzzles that really left a lasting impression on me. The complexity of the final puzzles pushed the limits of one’s knowledge and understanding of the game’s mechanics, to the point that the fanbase had to come together as a collective force to share information in order to fully unravel the final puzzles that no one sane person could ever do on their own. Seeing the collaborative efforts of the community reminded me of the days of “notebook & secrets”, where people would get together, driven by their passion for discovery, to complete a game. It reminded me of the joy and euphoria that came from solving a mystery either alone or as a group, and the craziest part is that after everyone’s efforts to solve the final puzzles, we’re not entirely sure if we’ve even discovered everything the game has to offer. There’s still countless unanswered questions that continue to drive the community to this day

Tunic is a one of a kind experience, a rare gem that is hard to come by within modern gaming. It stands out as a shining example of what games can achieve, and I can only hope that future devs take note and learn from its uniqueness. Tunic pushes the boundaries of what a game can truly offer and that there is so much untapped potential waiting to be explored and expanded on.

"Ohhhh woooow, that really is a puzzle huh? Hidden in plain sight. That's neat."

"..."

"Yeah. No way in hell I'm doing all that."

A charming zelda-like that really captures the classical fantasy adventure RPG while also serving as a masterclass example of knowledge based unlocks with its secrets upon secrets.

It's actually tough to talk about the game without spoiling things so all I can really do is comment on how excellently designed it is, providing new twists on old tropes and managing to completely change your perspective on things at several points. The method used is nostalgic and it ends up re-creating experiences that older gamers will appreciate.

The art and music are beautiful and really encapsulate the retro feel without actually being retro. The only things I complain about are boss fights having massive difficulty spikes and the souls-like combat feels very out of place.

Overall a creative, wholesome, and clever game that takes you on a surprising journey with a lot of unexpected turns.