Tunic gives Legend of Zelda fans a lot to love, and it's much more than green tunics and sword-slashing. Judging a book by its cover is a fool's errand and writing Tunic off as just another Zelda clone is doing just that. There is much more than meets the eye with this cute little fox and while the master sword may not make an appearance, there's plenty of greatness packed in for Zelda fans to savor.
Andrew Shouldice knew exactly what he was doing with Tunic's original reveal as Secret Legend back in 2015. A cute little fox? In a green tunic? Donning a sword and shield? He had his target audience and over the next six years, that core fan base grew to the extent that Tunic was a cult classic before players even got their hands on it in December 2021. When they finally got their hands on the game, it became obvious Tunic was going to satiate the hunger the Breath of the Wild sequel's delays left in their wake.
7 The Legend of Zelda: Link's Metroidvania
Tunic starts players off with an unarmed but full-charmed fox dressed in green garb with a taste of adventure. Follow the path and open a chest to find a wooden stick. After that, the player is on their own. Time to explore! Shouldice has allowed the player complete autonomy like all the best Metroidvanias do.
Sure, there are gateways and limitations but finding out how to pass through them, or in some cases finding a secret path around, is one of the things that Zelda fans have grown to love over the decades. A lot of the beauty of these games comes from the labyrinthine world design disguised as a linear path. Ocarina of Time, for example, presents itself as an open-world but features prevalent gating, a technique used to prevent players from reaching certain areas/ features until other requirements have been met. Tunic utilizes this technique to great effect and Zelda players should feel right at home.
6 It Takes Toon To Tango
When The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker first hit the screens, vocal backlash over the franchise's new cel-shaded art style was impossible to ignore. Since then, many games have found success with cartoon-styled animations, especially with indie games, recent examples include Bug Fables and Sable.
Contrastingly, Link's Awakening's remake captured hearts with a cute cartoon-esque style and garnered general praise, which would have been great news for Finji, publishers of Tunic. Tunic's toon art style is wholesome and fresh while also provoking notes of nostalgia to adventures of old.
5 Master Sword Versus Shotgun
Tunic may appear lacking in weapons being a much shorter game than most mainline Zelda games, especially if a 100% completion of Breath of the Wild is on the cards, but players will find plenty of tools at their disposal to get the job done.
While there are magical weapons to be found, including a shotgun, the item that will capture the hearts of veteran Zelda players is the instruction manual. The fox begins with a measly couple of pages but through exploration and various conquests, the manual starts to fill out revealing mechanics, maps, abilities, and much more. The gorgeous art style of the instruction manual also deserves a mention.
4 It's So Fluffy I Wanna Die
In Tunic, gamers will be dodging and diving attacks from slimes, spiders, autonomous turrets, and many more dastardly cretins with a vulpine hunger! In The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Guardians, Lynels, and Octoroks try to thwart Link with a determination set to quicken the players' pulses.
Legend of Zelda fans will love fending off the many beasts Tunic has to throw at players, and will feel so very relieved after vanquishing them. And remember: No matter how cute the critters may seem, they are not to be cuddled, under any circumstances!
3 Speak Friend And Enter
Players will find themselves walking into walls 90% of the time to try and discover hidden entrances throughout the world. From Software took major inspiration from the Zelda formula of world design with Dark Souls and their other Souls games, and it appears Tunic has taken inspiration from From Software.
Down these paths, players will find time-saving shortcuts, plenty of coinage, and occasionally entire areas of the map otherwise unreachable. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and who better to imitate than some of the greatest creators in the Soulslike and action-adventure genre.
2 You Gotta Get A Gimmick
Breath of the Wild has the Sheikah Slate, Ocarina of Time has... an Ocarina of Time and Tunic has an instruction manual. That may not sound as enticing, but the instruction manual is what makes Tunic unique from other adventure games of its ilk. The art style of the instruction manual harkens back to the days of yore when players would sit in the backseat of the car, holding their newly purchased game and leafing through that chunky manual.
Every entry in the Zelda franchise pivots on new essential mechanics, such as traversing to alternate worlds or sailing on a small dragon boat, and Tunic's instruction manual is intrinsic to the exploration of the world, and gaining a new page can feel as rewarding as defeating a boss battle on the 20th attempt.
1 The Chosen One
The (mostly) silent protagonist destined to save the princess is a pretty standard affair just like how Link saves Zelda. That's the formula, and it's a formula that has largely worked for decades. Tunic takes the 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it.' approach. Link and the fox aren't the greatest conversationalists, but their games flourish in many other aspects giving the players a memorable adventure.
Both franchises boast powerful foes, interesting mechanics, and glorious, inviting worlds begging to be explored. The player can place themselves in the boots of the hero and defeat the big bad bosses to save the distressed damsels.
