When I wrote my Tunic review, I was a fool, woefully shallow in the depths of the game. Now I beat it! It has a special place in my heart.
Here's a few things I'd like to say:
- Tunic is actually more like Zelda. I'm sorry to anyone who I mislead with the Metroidvania title.
- You will need a lot of Gamer Intuition^TM to get ahead here. Much of the game involves finding hidden paths. Luckily, the world is very dense, and backtracking is not a chore. I wouldn't recommend this to someone who doesn't have a lot of game experience!
- You might be tempted to grind a little for coins. If you hate grinding like me, there is a glitch. It hasn't been patched out, and it's very fitting with the kind of game this wants to be.
- The combat is hard and it'd be a shame for someone to miss out on this game because of that. Accessibilty gives you a "reduce difficulty", "infinite stamina", and "no fail mode". Use them! You can do it! The game encourages you to!
- I previously recommended Outer Wilds. These games are very different, but my favorite parts of both are the parts where they overlap.
- Use the Discord if you want help. You might need it. The alternative is searching the internet, and you will run into spoilers :(
- If you like to speedrun, this game will have you well fed. If you're speedrun curious, this game might be your first. The strats I see don't involve frame-perfect exploits, just creative applications of the mechanics.
All in all, this game really makes you feel like a tiny fox in a big world.
A lot of games call themselves a "love letter". I don't think this is an overused term. Love letters are a great thing! Some love letters are better than others, and Tunic is one of the best love letters.