What do the Resident Evil remakes, the Disney Star Wars movies and the new Ghostbusters reboot all have in common? They all try to capitalise on nostalgia. From recycled quotes and self-referential dialogue to cameos from frankly paleolithic actors, the aim of the game is to poke your brain’s memory centre so hard that all your cash comes falling out of your pockets.

Tunic, however, is a game that does nostalgia right. Rather than recreating an old game and charging you for the pleasure of replaying it, Tunic recreates the joyful innovation and wondrous journey of discovery that made the experience great in the first place.

Early top-down Zelda games, and more specifically The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, were obviously a huge inspiration for Isometricorp Games, who developed this title. Indeed, the fact that the vulpine protagonist hasn’t faced a boss fight against the notoriously litigious lawyers from Nintendo is perhaps among the most impressive aspects of this game.

After waking up by the shore, a green-garbed fox equipped with a sword, a shield and some bombs proceeds to roll about town smashing pots, slashing at anthropomorphic pigs and solving puzzles in dungeons. Whilst that may all sound rather familiar, Tunic is not a copy of these kinds of games, it’s a romantic sonnet that has been carefully constructed using all the best elements of past top-down games, along with some modern twists, to evoke a truly irresistible call to adventure that you haven’t experienced since you were a child.

A word of warning: combat in Tunic is not easy. Due to the lock-on, dodging and stamina mechanics, some will inevitably make the comparison to Dark Souls or even call this game a ‘souls-lite’. However, whilst the combat is genuinely challenging at points and there’s undoubtedly some inspiration there (even in the form of the bonfire save points), Tunic lacks a little of the complexity that comes with the ‘souls-lite’ moniker.

Although combat never feels trivial, the difficulty starts off relatively forgiving. However, soon you’ll find yourself needing to monitor your stamina bar and implement all of the power-ups and items you’ve collected along your journey so far. The good news is that combat is not overwhelming either, and you’ll never feel as though you’re at a complete dead end with bosses.

In the context of the wider theme, the difficulty of the game is perfectly balanced to conjure this child-like perspective again, in which every encounter with an enemy feels authentically dangerous and important.

As with combat, exploration is brilliantly captivating in Tunic and, whilst you may exhaust some routes and come to some dead ends, it feels like there are always alternative paths that you can continue along. The metroidvania layout of Tunic means that backtracking to find secrets and access hidden paths is also incredibly rewarding. Moreover, some hidden paths are completely accessible from the outset; however, the intelligently designed isometric perspective means that you won’t necessarily notice them until you approach them from another direction, which almost always leads to a satisfying moment of realisation that you’ve discovered a new shortcut.

In fact, the isometric world is itself a huge motivating factor when it comes to exploration. Although this unique art style is not necessarily as immediately endearing as the cartoonish charm of Hollow Knight or the pixelated simplicity of Celeste, it definitely grows on you, and there are some truly beautiful dream-like sequences. Everything in the world is clearly designed with intention and in a way that makes sense within the context of the setting and story. Enemy creatures are also well thought out and varied, and there are quite a few areas with different aesthetics in the game too (from damp, dark dungeons to picturesque, sunlit forests).

One particularly enjoyable world-building aspect is the fictional language that appears throughout the game world. Tunic is incredibly intuitive and teaches the player how the game works via context, game art and trial and error. The unintelligible glyphs that appear instead of explicit dialogue really lend a mystique and quaintness to the game. The pinnacle of this fantastical charm comes in the form of little pages from an NES-style instruction manual that can be found throughout the land and that feature helpful tips conveyed through the medium of cute illustrations. More nostalgia, anyone?

However, this lack of explicit explanations is also the game’s biggest weakness. There’s often no explanation or description for the power-ups and items you discover, which means that sometimes you’re reluctant to use them in case you end up wasting an incredibly useful item on a basic enemy. Likewise, it’s not immediately clear which consumables replenish upon resting at a fire and which don’t. In a game that seemingly prides itself on the pleasure of discovery, it’s a real shame to have a system that inhibits the use of newly discovered items like this.

This gripe is also applicable to the game’s story as, without a method for direct revelation or exposition, the plot is slow to unfold and more implicit than immersive and engaging. There are a few fun twists and turns along the way (without giving any spoilers), but don’t expect a groundbreaking epic or nuanced intimate dialogue here.

In conclusion, Tunic is incredibly delightful to play. More than anything else, Tunic is fun. Yes, it’s artistic and innovative and endearing, but its true appeal lies in the complete abandon and tummy tingling joy that it manages to inspire—the kind that makes you want to run to the park, climb trees and swing around a stick like a sword.

Whilst it’s true that Tunic sometimes lacks a little depth in the narrative sense and can leave you stumped due to a lack of explanation at times, it’s not trying to be a narrative masterpiece in the first place. It’s trying to respark the joy that has been gradually whittled away by long shifts in the office, responsibilities and money troubles. So, if you’re looking to do your inner child a favour and let loose, Tunic could be the game for you.

Score: 8.5/10