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As I loaded up Tunic, I had high expectations. After all, GAMINGbible’s very own Ewan rated the title a very respectable nine noting that, “Tunic is a lovingly made tribute to classic adventure games that still manages to offer its own clever twists on the well-established formula to create an inspired meta-game of interconnected puzzles hiding one larger conundrum.” In fact, Tunic made it onto our mid-year best games list and if this Nintendo Switch port is anything to go by, it’ll be making our year-end list too.
Tunic is the creation of indie developer Andrew Shouldice, who’s crafted an intoxicatingly magical world that I’ve had so much fun getting lost in. Part of Tunic’s charm is its mystery. Players assume the role of a sword-wielding fox who arrives on the shores of a mystical island. Your purpose remains a complete mystery. What do you do? That’s for you to work out.
Check out the trailer for Tunic on the Nintendo Switch below.
At no point did this feel like a port. This is the definitive way to experience and play Tunic, with the Nintendo Switch enhancing the introspective nature of this title. I mentioned that Tunic doesn’t tell you what to do, which isn’t strictly true. The island is scattered with the pages of an instruction manual, albeit in a mysterious language. The more you collect, the more you’ll decipher what exactly it is you should be doing. The thing is, you won’t find them in the right order. It’s all down to how you, the player, decide to explore the island which leads to a unique personal experience.
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This is where the handheld nature of the Nintendo Switch truly elevates the experience. Everytime I stumbled across another page, Tunic’s mystifying secrets came to life in my own hands. I was holding the manual. I may not have immediately understood it, but I knew that I was holding the secrets I needed to decipher. Playing this game via a handheld console invited me to study the artistry and detail of these scattered pages in a way that I’m not sure I would’ve if I was staring at a screen halfway across the room. The result of this is that I became a better player because of my narrowed focus.
Tunic was described to me as Zelda meets Dark Souls, and I can’t say either of those franchises are my go-tos, but Tunic offers just the right level of challenge. It’s certainly difficult (although that can be adjusted), but the smooth controls never caused me to rage quit the way I might do whilst playing Elden Ring. Various weapons can be mapped to X, Y, B whilst A will allow you to run and dodge. The freedom with which I was able to map items proved to be massively helpful as I progressed and unlocked a wider arsenal. With the simple tap of the ‘L’ button, I was able to quickly alter my loadout with no need for over-complicated menus. Tunic’s secrets may be dizzying at times, but its controls on the Nintendo Switch are quite the opposite. A walk in the park.
If you want to succeed in Tunic, without the help of a guide I should add, you need to submit to its ways. Tunic rewards curiosity, perseverance, and ingenuity. With my headphones in and the world blocked out, my thoughts lay only with my new lil’ fox friend and the perplexing journey that lay ahead of us. If you’re looking for the perfect cosy puzzler, with a decent helping of challenging combat, Tunic on the Nintendo Switch is the perfect game to lose yourself in. It’s a port that truly transported me to another world, and we all need a bit of that from time to time.
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Review Code (Nintendo Switch) was provided by the publisher. Tunic is available now on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 / 5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC.
Featured Image Credit: FinjiTopics: Indie Games, Nintendo Switch