A Beginner’s Guide to Tunic
Tunic‘s sprawling map and old-school design will remind you of the NES-era Zelda titles. The deep combat, navigation, and certain mechanics draw comparisons with the Souls genre. The action-adventure video game, available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Steam, and Game Pass, is the best of both worlds.
If you’re looking to play it on the Xbox consoles, grab some Xbox Live Cards from OffGamers here today for easy access!
It’s a charming game about a small fox on a big adventure, but beware, Tunic can also be deceptively difficult. The range of enemies will test your stamina management. The blocked paths and hidden secrets will test your wits and patience. And it prioritizes gameplay and survival over the story.
However, it is also a world worth getting lost in. That’s why we have shortlisted the important tips and tricks as well as all the information you would need to succeed in this foxy campaign.
Know Your Enemy
Don’t get fooled by the cutesy art style. Tunic can be tough, and the enemies can quickly overwhelm you. Flailing and button-mashing wouldn’t get you far. You need to learn the attack patterns and timings of various enemies and capitalize on each opening. Managing the two resource bars — health and stamina — is key. Blocking attacks with a shield and dodging can help you survive, but they will also deplete your stamina. Remember, dodge rolling towards the enemies can be more effective in certain situations.
You can get severely outnumbered trying to engage a lot of foes. Instead, clear out areas by taking out smaller groups. You can also lock on to specific targets to make life easier.
Use Your Enemy
Upon dying, you will lose your money. But don’t lose hope. Once you’re back where you died, you will see your ghost in the air. Attacking it will not only recover your hard-earned money but also damage any enemies lurking nearby.
A lot of skirmishes in Tunic are also resolved with wit. If you’re faced with a large group, stay on the move and the enemies might accidentally damage each other. Similarly, they can also accidentally help clear your paths. During the early goings, your stick won’t be able to cut through obstacles. Enemies carrying swords, however, could be lured into hacking the bushes for you! Hiding underneath could be goodies or passageways. Speaking of which…
Hidden in Plain Sight
The isometric design of Tunic means that there are things literally around the corner. Often, there would be chests and secrets and sometimes, you might find hidden entrances and passageways blocked from your sight. Ensure you check behind any such obstacles (one way to do so is by making a rule to touch every wall).
And while there is no way to tilt the camera during exploration, you can actually do so using the aforementioned lock-on mechanism. Just hold down the left trigger button and the camera will move upwards, revealing any possible secrets.
Then there are the secrets in the non-obvious places. While the way straight ahead may appear to be blocked, there perhaps is a secret nook or cranny you left behind. There are also straightforward puzzle doors with large, grey murals. Just match the symbols with your controller’s D-pad and you’d be on your way. Similarly, there are interactive switches that could unlock alternate routes.
But always remember, Tunic is a game of patience. Sometimes the path that appears blocked will be available to you later, once you are experienced and better equipped.
Manuals & Manual Notes
You must have already understood that Tunic doesn’t hold your hands. But it doesn’t leave you be either. One of the most beneficial collectibles is an instruction booklet. Throughout the zany world, you will be picking up glowing crystals that are, in fact, pages for the game’s manual. It would be incomplete. The pages would be out of order and, sometimes, written in another language.
While you’ll uncover the clues as you play, you can still take a shot at the indecipherable pages by simply looking at them. Focusing on the images can point you toward your next destination. You might find the solution to a nearby puzzle, a gameplay mechanic or a visual cue telling you about the enemies near you.
One of the pages of the manual is the actual Overworld Map, and you should be able to see your location through a fox icon. Sometimes, the missing pages would be the hint. Think about what pages, what images are missing, what items are missing, and where you might locate them.
The map still won’t be enough and with no navigation system, Tunic might feel a bit obtuse. You can beat the lack of information by jotting down notes, taking screenshots, or printing out the map for some manual notetaking. After all, it is a game that encourages old-school problem-solving.
Stat Boosts & Treasures
Throughout your journey, you will be picking up items with unclear usage. You will find flowers, mushrooms, powders and even teeth. These are items that can be offered at the many fox shrines (along with some cash) to boost your stats.
Make sure to find these crucial items — Pink Flower (HP), Jagged Tooth (Attack), Fox Statue (Defence), Blue Mushroom (Mana), Pink Powder (Potion Strength), and Green Feather (Stamina) — and raise your stats as early as possible. When the game throws the tougher enemies at you, these stats boosts will prove to be the difference.
There are also treasures to find. Twelve, to be exact, scattered throughout the world. While some will be visible but tough to reach, others will need matching button presses. Then there are the ones that will test your knowledge of the entire Tunic map and environment. Once found, these hidden treasures will be located in a room inside the Old House and will provide a satisfying sense of achievement.
Tunic will test you in more ways than one. It is, however, a challenge worth undertaking. And if it gets too daunting, you can use the Accessibility menu to enable ‘No Fail Mode’ and ‘No Stamina Restrictions’. You can thus enjoy the game without the fear of failure. And since you can turn the settings on and off, you can dial up the difficulty whenever you want! We hope our beginner’s guide to Tunic will further your enjoyment.
