Amidst all the huge triple A developer and publisher booths in Gamescom, just one sole Tunic game stand stood in the indie section. Almost tucked away from other indie games. It’s a shame that it only had this one stand (it might possibly have had more dotted around and perhaps in the Xbox area, but the place was huge, crowded and we didn’t spot any others in the wild) because Tunic is shaping up to be an absolute gem of a game.
Developed by Andrew Shouldice, Tunic is as stated by the developer himself “an action-adventure game about a little fox in a big world where you do not belong”.
Rather none descriptive, but when you see the fox in question and the world that this adorable little chap is in, you can start to see some inspiration which we’d hazard a guess comes from a rather famous Nintendo franchise.
In the demo that we played, you progress through what appears to be ruins with no weapon or shield to begin with. There are little puzzles around that involve lifting leavers and such in which you’ll receive your first weapon… in typical Zelda fashion (Breath of the wild certainly) it’s a tree branch.
The combat is very smart for this game. It’s not quite as simple as hacking and slashing your way at enemies as specific enemies do have their own attack patterns you need to figure out and counter. The game difficulty seems to be unforgiving too even in this demo as as you progress you are outnumbered 3 to 1 having to block, duck, avoid and attack in a specific timed manner that you’ll learn.
As mentioned the inspiration is clear as the playable Fox is adorned in a green tunic reminiscent of Link from almost every Legend of Zelda game. The sword and weapon combo also strikingly familiar.
The demo was brief, and upon clearing the stage and reaching a certain part, it appears the difficulty spikes deliberately as you face a boss that kills you in 2 hits. This we assume was done to ensure your time playing is up and the next eager gamer’s can get to try this wonderful little adventure or… I didn’t quite master the battle system as well as I’d thought.
A really gorgeous looking game which certainly feels like it’ll be an addictive one. Coming to Steam & XboxOne first in 2019 (with myself hoping and wishing it might see a physical PS4 release eventually).
Definitely one to keep an eye on. You can follow the game development progress via Tunic twitter here, and sign up to the mailing list from the official website here.
– Murr
