So far, I have played for something like 2 or 3 hours, I have collected one of the three big souls and am on my way to the second. First I will say, this game has a neat atmosphere with some fun characters and a great soundtrack. I was under the impression that this game was very Zelda-like with some souls-inspired combat. As I had recently completed Tunic, this looked like it might be very similar with a possible emphasis on the combat side of gameplay. So far, I am really getting frustrated with the combat. Enemies do not stagger save for the "not-wizzrobe"s. When traversing the different areas, you almost always encounter groups of enemies that swarm you upon approaching them. Once in the dungeons, combat becomes much more claustrophobic as the dungeons are fairly labyrinthine with lots of narrow, winding pathways littered with clumps of enemies. Then come the combat arenas. Small locked rooms or enclosed spaces often leading to a key item for completing the area. These arenas are like a gauntlet of wave after wave of enemies, some small and some unfairly large or strong. No one of the common enemies on its own would pose much of a threat, but a room full of them becomes hard in a bad way. Keyword: RELENTLESS. This is all hurt by the fact that you have four total health points until I assume you collect enough shards from exploration. Every enemy in the game deals the same amount of damage to you, including bosses, which seems like a very strange choice to me, as it really pushes you to try to never get hit. For an arcade style shoot-'em-up, this works. For a Zelda-like exploration/adventure game with Souls-like combat, it feels bad. There are moments that can be quite like a bullet-hell all while a boss or other large enemy is charging you or throwing out an additional attack. And OH MY GOODNESS, some of the attacks seem way too fast. Huge, hulking enemies have attacks that happen almost the very instant you are in range with no telegraph. I remember the first mini boss I encountered in the urn witch's estate. This massive unit of a knight with a huge mace would just instantly smash your character even when you are directly behind it. It felt like aimbot. now in the mushroom dungeon, there are these hammer knights that have so much health and do the same thing. Combat becomes a chore of, roll in slash once or maybe twice, roll out. I would not say that the combat is not particularly challenging in that sense, it just is very drawn out, imbalanced and not very fun.

"A Zelda-like open world action-adventure game that pays homage to a nearly lost era of video game history when games came with a manual, and you find pages of the manual in the game, so that's pretty cool... "

This was about the extent of my knowledge of Tunic, aside from one person's exhortation to go in blind. Boy, was I unprepared for the depth and creativity of what I understand is a really small indie team. I cannot stress to you how amazing it feels to complete this game. As a fanatic for the Legend of Zelda series of video games, I love each and every individual title for what it brings to the franchise. However, as someone who started their journey after the release of the 3D games, I didn't really have a chance to appreciate the first two games in the series. From what I understood, Tunic was supposed to be a sort of love letter to the original Legend of Zelda game on the NES that it would evoke similar feelings to playing that game. It is so much more than that, and in my opinion, it blows Zelda 1 out of the water. Tunic has become one of my favorite video games of all time. I truly cannot describe the feeling I had as with each successive discovery, more and more of the game began to open up as I learned ways to interact with the world. It is just so satisfying. I always cherished the idea of taking notes for a video game, drawing your own maps, and working out solutions to a puzzle, and this game will get you to do just that in a very real and effective way. And when the final lightbulb lit up and I finally put all the pieces together, I cannot tell you just how excited I was, hastily looking for a pen and paper. I do not think I have ever lost my mind to the extend that I did while playing this game, nor do I think many games have ever been as exciting to me as this one. Over and over, I was floored with the creativity of the developers and I will probably never forget how I felt as I uncovered the various secrets in this game. Tunic rules school in a big way.

Now, I know that no one person's opinion is the rule and not everyone might have the same experience or joy while playing this game. The combat can be quite difficult at times, and the game is also designed with a learning curve built in, as you must play the game to get the instructions, and I could understand how some might not be into that. While I personally enjoyed figuring everything out myself and I am glad that I forced myself not use a guide, there are certain things that I would understand being too obtuse for some gamers who may not want to pour over an in-game manual looking for answers. After completing the game for the first time, I caved and learned online how to translate the mysterious language that you will discover throughout the game, and while there is almost no way players would be able to learn to do so given the information in the game, it does not prevent you from being able to figure anything out.

All in all, Tunic is an absolute must-play for me, and I would recommend anyone try this game. The combat was a satisfying challenge with a tangible sense of progression, the puzzles were unique and an absolute joy to discover and solve, it is awesome to explore the world and continue to discover new areas and hidden paths, the soundtrack is amazing, and I am astounded by the creativity and implementation of ideas throughout the entirety of the game. I love this game!

Very good precision platformer. You can tell a ton of work and creativity went into the creation of this game, with fresh mechanics and incredible implementation in the design of each level. There is an abundance of quality gameplay here with just the sheer quantity of levels, and bonuses. It should be well understood at this point that if you are looking for a challenge, this game will provide it. As you gain mastery of the mechanics and movement, you will be rewarded with the knowledge that you can overcome the challenge, and the game's theming is also pretty on the nose with this core concept. Characters are quirky and charming, and you will get to see the characters grow through their own challenges so that is also a side benefit in this game. All in all, one of the most challenging platformers I have played, but well worth playing as you learn to accept failures and get back up to try again.