# *[[Tunic]]* Notes An isometric exploration and puzzle game with a splash of combat. Abundant inspiration form the likes of *The Legend of Zelda*, *Fez*, and classic adventure games, with a profound admiration and respect for the Instructional Manual, something near and dear to my heart. It offers a unique overall experience with uneven combat and mental gymnastics that might be better experienced alongside friends than alone; at the very least with a pad and pen. > [!warning] > Spoilers below! ![[Tunic Notes.pdf]] As a bonus, I decided/needed to take my own notes and mark up the maps. So I tested Freeform on my iPad. It worked wonders. I took screenshots from my recordings and marked them up. Good times. This was a process I thoroughly enjoyed. ![[Tunic Scratch Pad_Med Comp_251112.pdf]] ### Stats - Started Playing: 11/2/2025 - Beat: 11/12/2025 - Total Playtime: 17:07:19 ### Legacy - A notable indie for its love of the instructional manual and intricate—at times obtuse—puzzles. A game best experienced blind, but perhaps alongside a friend or two. ### Overall - So all I know about Tunic before playing is that it used to be an Xbox-featured game and that there was an in-game physical style game manual that unveiled secrets and mechanics as you discover them. - I’m getting a lot of Fez, Death’s Door, Zelda - A game of observation and intuition. - How do you design a game to illicit that playground myth and mystery conversation with maps and drawings in the age of YouTube, guides, built-in trophy guide support? You make obtuse puzzles and invent a language. ### Story - A magic fox is captured in an RGB prism? - Honestly, not far off. ### Gameplay - Isometric perspective with a dodge roll, sword, and shield. Think Zelda, Death’s Door, etc. - Mysterious text and instruction manual pages that reveal more of how the game works. - It seems to be a test of the player’s knowledge of game design. - There is a stamina bar and a health bar. When stamina is out, more damage is taken. - Do I need to be taking notes? Do I need my own Rosetta stone to transcribe these runes? - I am *this* close to trying to translate. - I think I will grab a notebook. There are clearly symbols, pictures, runes to remember. I wish I could write on a map. Maybe this is a good test case for the iPad. - Forcing experimentation through obscurity/obfuscation. - The lock-on is fluid. It shifts between foes like water, but leaves the fox facing the wrong way. It’s…odd. - There is a parry but it is quite the wind up. Not a tight, precise parry. - I’ve discovered magic weapons. A magic meter. - The ambiguity forced by the foreign language forces experimentation. - Every discovery feels like a pop. - I am going to have an aneurism if I don’t find this heavily hinted at grapple hook soon. - FINALLY - The game has gotten fairly linear, clear. Feels like it is rapidly coming to a close. - So far, all the bosses have been fairly easy. This Rat Scavenger is ridiculous. - The combat feels uneven, Now I feel so powerful that normal enemies are no threat at all. The final boss is tough, but it seems you can just stun/pin her on a wall and get the kill. The Rat Scavenger really was the outlier. - Gonna be honest, the parry is cheeks. Slow wind up parries are the worst. We need tight window, instant parries. - Multiple endings, of course. Sucks a bit of wind from the sails. Need to find 3 more pages apparently. How to get back to the “overworld?" - I am getting a bit fed up with the made up language. I can’t tell if that is puzzle solving frustration or legitimate frustration. - While I love the manual, it’s more difficult deciphering the scribbles and scrawls than solving in-world puzzles. It’s an interesting layer/separation. Is the manual “in-world”? Who writes on it? Who is laying down the path of clues? - A world filled with Konami-code secrets for the true ending?? - Or maybe just some secret trophy item? This is frustrating now. - The problem with secrets like this (hidden corners, Konami-code observations) is that if the player is correct in their thinking, but executes a code poorly or cannot find a hidden corner’s entry point, then they assume the gained knowledge is wrong and begin seeking alternatives that do not exist. - “What I learn here will help someone who needs it later.” - Lyria, Light Bringer pg 118 Pierce Brown - Seemingly was never meant to be solved alone, but rather as a community. But the machine that is SEO and guides makes that collaboration a one time thing. - It was never solvable by myself. I think that is the point though. Collective brain power. Sharing stories on the playground. Rumors, myths, easter eggs. - It’s really sucked the wind out of my sails here, having to look stuff up and realizing I never could have solved it. ### Music/Sound Design - Techno, lo-fi soundtrack is my speed for sure. ### Graphics/Performance - I love the way little trees/bushes move when the Fox walks in them. They splay out in a super cute way. ### World - A top-down colorful forrest - I love the way the world connects with ladders and passages. All revealed in satisfactory due time. - Every hidden connecting path is a “No way!” revelation that doesn’t feel cheap. - There’s a hidden techno city/quarry? What is the purple stuff man? - Doesn’t seem like there is a portal to the overworld. Once in nighttime land, you seem to be stuck there. - Or you can just sleep in the bed apparently. Which I tried, but perhaps at the wrong time/part?