The experience I had playing this game was not much unlike when I first found my parents' NES and played Legend of Zelda for hours without knowing what the heck I was doing. I went in knowing nothing, and it was a better experience for it, full stop. I cannot stress how important it is to go into this game knowing as little as possible. I'm honestly mad I didn't play this game until now, because it has easily guaranteed a spot in my top 5 favorite games of all time.

The combat is brutal but fair, the music is as immersive as the visuals, and it feels like such a breath of fresh air when compared to a lot of modern games I've played. Too often I have to consciously tune out some "helper" NPC or notifications that are trying to keep me progressing at a smooth pace. In Tunic, being stuck on a fight or wondering how to continue progression is practically the entire point. Sometimes it's because a critical path was overlooked, and sometimes it's simply because a tool that helps with a situation just isn't being utilized.

Ultimately, if I was to summarize this game in as abstract of a concept as possible, it's like someone grew up playing A Link to the Past, then found joy in the nail-biting combat of Dark Souls, and wanted to emulate the experience of "playing" A Link to the Past with that type of combat.