Tunic is the game with the fox that went to school on Dark Souls. What seems like a great insider tip, however, is not for everyone
So – as the year 2022 draws to a close, we want to once again give some special games their well-deserved attention that may have been a little lost between the big releases. And who can”t be left out? That”s right, the charming Souls-like adventure game Tunic.
Originally released in March 2022, Tunic has already managed to make a lot of fans and a lot of magazines shine, with almost 6,000 positive (Steam reviews), many happy Xbox Game Pass players and a Steffi very enthusiastic about the demo. What, a metascore of 85? Then it”s really high time for a test! But first we”ll show you some gameplay from the deceptively cuddly game, which quickly becomes hard as nails:
Tunic may look as cute as The Legend of Zelda: Link”s Awakening, but it”s got Dark Souls in its blood. You take control of a little fox warrior who has to save a mystical world. Presumably – because just like its role model, Tunic gives very few if any answers to the what, why and wherefore. The story remains interpretation, while the gameplay is a fascination of exploration, combat and puzzles.
A great insider tip for everyone? No, not necessarily, as we will show you in our test.
Table of Contents
Be a kid again and explore the world
Once upon a time there was a little fox who woke up on a coast … Fairytale-like, Tunic immediately draws us in – with its isometric low-polygon world, its cute models and its music that puts us in a veritable trance that says: “Just relax now, I”m a feel-good game”.
Visually, the whole thing is very reminiscent of our childhood adventure games, which is why we get all nostalgic, even though the game is freshly hatched. We have questions upon questions. Who are we? Where are we? What do we have to do?
Tunic doesn”t answer that, and when it does, it only answers in enigmatic glyphs and scenes with silent characters. It is and remains a mystery and it is up to us to decipher it. Our only help is the beautiful game manual, the individual pages of which, however, we first have to find together. And they are also cryptic. You have to be able to get involved with that.
Our playground is a cleverly interlocked world that invites us to explore and discover again and again with several levels, side paths, secret paths and shortcuts. Especially those who search the area that remains hidden from the camera are often rewarded with hidden treasures.
In addition, each new item opens up new paths for us: with the sword we can cut down little trees, with the lamp we can enter dark areas and with the bombs we can blow up secret corridors. Opening gates, unfolding bridges, lowering ropes, slipping through a gap and suddenly coming out again in familiar areas – the game world of Tunic caresses you for every fox step you take.
Tough battles lurk behind the facade
So – no more fun! Because Tunic can also strike hard with the hand it caresses with. The beginning may still be a bit tedious (we beat up Drops with a stick) and give you the feeling that the game might be too boringly easy after all. But after that, the difficulty level increases considerably and lives up to its Dark Souls model.
In combat, you rely on hitting and dodging, and your most important thing is to learn the enemy”s combat manoeuvres by heart. Unlike dodging, punching does not consume stamina, but constant punching keeps stamina from regenerating. So if you don”t give your panting fox a break, you won”t get off the ground and you”ll take hits.
Done enemies drop gems. If your fox kicks the bucket himself, he must leave most of his collected treasures with a ghost silhouette. Too bad, because the gems can be used to buy items from the bony ghost trader you trust.
At shrines you can save and rest, but – you know it – every visit fills the world with enemies again. Since the controls on the keyboard are very clumsy, we recommend using the controller from the start.
Difficulty level: Take it or leave it!
While the fights – especially the ones against bosses – are often challenging and fun despite many deaths, there are also some battles and situations that can be very frustrating due to some design glitches.
Whether it”s because every now and then the targeting prefers to focus on distant enemies rather than the raving ones right in front of us. Be it because we enter an area that is far too narrow for three snapping crocodiles and three drones shooting from a distance. Or be it because (in rare cases) we end up with a dodge roll in the infinite nothingness under the map or are pinned to death by a boss enemy”s large-scale attacks in a corner.
This is where the cryptic nature of Tunic also takes on an extremely bitter aftertaste: if you haven”t accidentally discovered on manual page X that gems and unmarked objects can be redeemed for improvements at the shrine by pressing a button that isn”t automatically displayed, you”ll be playing underlevelled for a long time without knowing it.
The save points are well and fairly placed, but this does not necessarily compensate for the frustration that sometimes arises. The menu aims to provide a perfect gaming experience for everyone with its individual difficulty settings. But while these options offer great challenges to hardcore players, everyone else might feel a bit fooled due to game-breaking options like invulnerability & But.
The perfect balance is not quickly found, especially since the settings have no effect on the bugs and inappropriate combat areas. Tunic seems like a perfect starter game for Souls newbies from the outside, but over the course of the campaign it”s aimed more at die-hards and the frustration-resistant, while all other players have to bite the bullet.
And beyond?
Although the cryptic world and plot do a great job of adding to the trance-like mood, they also – without satisfying resolution – squander a lot of potential to hook us to Tunic and suck us in even deeper. The fact that the game is so mysterious can also be perceived as an excuse by the developers not to have to come up with a big and interesting background story.
So Tunic remains just an entertaining gameplay playground with a pretty backdrop and a bit of lore. The entire pressure of expectation to entertain the player thus lies solely on the gameplay, which despite cool ideas cannot completely fulfil it for the period of 12 to 15 hours.
The final third of the game in particular turns out to be rather monotonous, culminating in the most frustrating final boss fight we”ve seen in quite some time. Tunic wears its idols proudly on its chest, but doesn”t come close to either – it”s too little The Legend of Zelda: Link”s Awakening (without its depth) and just as little Dark Souls (without its fighting complexity).
Editor”s Verdict
Games that are very good in principle have the problem that any minor mistake in important places can make them miss Olympus by a hair”s breadth. I had great fun with Tunic, even though the game had aroused completely different expectations in me. Visuals and gameplay drift completely apart here. While Minecraft Dungeons is for me the successful children”s version for Diablo – because it simplifies the basic principle without watering it down – Tunic could have been the same for Dark Souls.
Tunic has an incredibly clever world and an engaging look, but ultimately it comes down to the bottom line – balance in gameplay. At best, I can blame defeat on my own mistakes. But when bugs and comically arranged situations occur, my fate is no longer in my hands, but in those of a capricious system. And that kills the fun. Punish me only when I really deserve it, please!
With a broader and more controllable access, Tunic could have had a great unique selling point, the eagerly awaited Soulslike with Easy-Mode, but as it is, it now seems like Dark Souls” young child, who has the beautiful eyes of his mother Zelda, but is not yet ready for the big fight.
