I'll start by saying that the manual mechanic is by far my favourite thing in this game. It so effectively replicates that feeling of reading something in a different language, having to make your own connections and discoveries. I love the games commitment to having even basic game mechanics like upgrading being inputs you have to 'discover'. The golden path was one of the most enjoyable puzzles to put together in a game in recent memory, it was pretty great.
The aesthetics are very on point too. The artstyle is unique and great, the music is great too.

The big issue here is almost entirely due to the combat. I will preface this by saying that some of the bosses are actually quite good and are a fun challenge, Scavenger Boss and the Heir, for example, have that fun fast-paced feel of a Souls boss.
Having said that, this game feels stuck between two masters in terms of combat design - those being Soulslikes and Zelda. One of the reasons soulslike combat is so successful is because it gives a lot of options to the player - jumping attacks, running attacks, rolling attacks, plunging attacks, and most of these double as there are light and heavy versions of each. Tunic, however, has one combo. One sword, one combo with three hits. The. Entire. Game. With a game with so much time dedicated to combat I do not understand why it has so few options on the player end. The answer, I think, is because it is trying to emulate Zelda, where link only has one sword and one combo. The combat is far too simplistic as a result, and it brings down what could have been an incredible game into something which is just a solid game.