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Tunic (video game)

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Tunic
File:Tunic video game title.png
Developer(s)Andrew Shouldice
Publisher(s)Finji
Composer(s)Lifeformed
EngineUnity
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
macOS
Xbox One
Xbox Series X/S
ReleaseMarch 16, 2022
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Tunic (originally named Secret Legend) is an action-adventure game developed by Canadian indie developer Andrew Shouldice and published by Finji. The game released in March 2022 on Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X, and on the Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox One as a timed exclusive for consoles.

Gameplay

Tunic is played nominally in an isometric view, allowing the player to maneuver their character, an anthropomorphic fox, around the game's world, interacting with objects and fighting enemies; if necessary the player can switch to a more top-down view in combat. The game is structured similar to The Legend of Zelda, with progress limited to certain areas of the game world until the player has collected a new weapon or ability for the fox to use. The game's purpose and method of playing are somewhat oblique; what dialog is presented to the player is generally of an undecipherable language though selected characters or words will be legible in the player's language that may hint towards puzzle solutions, and some of the items that the player will find are pages that make up the game's manual.[1]

Development

Tunic has been developed by one person, Andrew Shouldice. Shouldice had been a developer at Silverback Productions for about six years. In 2015, having participated in a few Ludum Dare events, he wondered what he could produce if he could spend full-time on the product rather than just on weekends. He considered the state of his own career at Silverback and decided to quit to pursue this development.[2]

Shouldice stated the game was inspired by "certain classic triangle-seeking games", obliquely referring to The Legend of Zelda series.[2] As he started working on the game, he gained interest from Finji, Adam Saltsman's publishing label. Finji offered to publish and help refine the game, taking some of the experience they had in preparing Moss for the PlayStation VR release.[1] The game's soundtrack was composed by Lifeformed, who previously composed music for the 2012 game Dustforce.[3]

At the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2017's PC Gaming Show, the game, previously developed as Secret Legend, was renamed Tunic, along with Shouldice's collaboration with Finji to help publish it.[4] The game was subsequently featured during Microsoft's presentation at E3 2018, where it was announced as a console launch exclusive to the Xbox One, alongside its planned release for Microsoft Windows.[1][5]

Tunic was surprised-launched on March 16, 2022, announced during an ID@Xbox presentation stream that day. In addition to Windows, mac OS, and Xbox releases, it also was added to the Xbox Game Pass the same day.[6]

Reception

Tunic received "generally positive" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. Several review outlets heavily praised the game's sense of exploration and instruction manuals as its strongest elements, favorably comparing the experience to several video games from the 16-bit era such as The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, while likening its combat to Dark Souls.

Destructoid lauded Tunic's "celebration of long-forgotten design practices", praising its sense of exploration that hearkened back to classic titles of the past.[10] IGN praised the game's aesthetics, instruction manual, enemy variety, moveset, boss battles, and world, while calling its narrative an interesting yet unsatisfying.[9] Game Informer commended the amount of accessibility and combat options present, while also praising the Tunic's challenge, combat, puzzles, and attention to detail, writing that the game "...[was] so well designed" to the point where "...the obscureness that [made] it uniquely rewarding [could] lead to genuine frustration."[12] Eurogamer gave the game an 'Essential' rating, writing, "...Tunic is the understanding gained by playing both and really thinking about why they are the way they are - how they create, as a magician might put it, their particular effects."[11] GameSpot and Shacknews cited the visual style, world, language barrier, instruction manual, and enemy design as the game's positives while taking minor issue with some particularly obtuse puzzles, minor enemy AI issues, and restrictive fast travel.[13][15]

References

  1. ^ a b c Smith, Mat (June 11, 2018). "'Tunic' is more than just a 'Zelda' clone with a cute fox". Engadget. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
  2. ^ a b Priestman, Chris (March 5, 2015). "Why Secret Legend's Developer Left His Job To Work On The Game". Siliconera. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
  3. ^ Clayton, Natalie (August 29, 2020). "Elusive fox adventure Tunic is playable this weekend". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  4. ^ Reynolds, Matthew (June 12, 2017). "Isometric fox adventure Secret Legend is now Tunic". Eurogamer. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
  5. ^ Finji (January 29, 2019). "TUNIC is an Xbox One Console Launch exclusive - they did not buy our studio". @FinjiCo. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  6. ^ https://www.polygon.com/22981380/tunic-xbox-game-pass-release-date
  7. ^ "Tunic for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  8. ^ "Tunic for Xbox Series X Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  9. ^ a b McCaffrey, Ryan (16 March 2022). "Tunic Review". IGN. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  10. ^ a b Handley, Zoey (16 March 2022). "Review: Tunic". Destructoid. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  11. ^ a b Donlan, Christian (16 March 2022). "Tunic review - it's a marvel". Eurogamer. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  12. ^ a b Grodt, Jill (16 March 2022). "Tunic Review - A Dyed-In-The-Wool Treasure". Game Informer. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  13. ^ a b Wakeling, Richard (16 March 2022). "Tunic Review - Fox Die". GameSpot. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  14. ^ Wakeling, Richard (16 March 2022). "Tunic review: A perfect 'palate cleanser' game in a year of huge releases". VG247. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  15. ^ a b Mejia, Ozzie (16 March 2022). "Tunic review: A fox in Dark Souls clothing". Shacknews. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
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