Upon discovering Tunic last year, I was so mesmerized by how deep it got: deciphering the language, the golden path, the biblical manual, the cyclical Dark Souls lore. All of it blew me away. Turns out, Tunic was just Zelda to the much older FEZ's Mario.

The soundtrack by Disasterpiece was actually super familiar with me as it somehow crept into my normal tunes. All so relaxing.

At first the platforming was cool but didn't blow me away. Then as you keep going and going you keep getting the rug tugged from under discovering a whole new aspect of the world. This would've been mostly a delight except for the fact that I was misled it was just gonna be 6 hours. Like sure, you can "finish it" but no one tells you you'll get addicted and do as much as possible.

So yeah, I did as much as was reasonable, everything but the silly stuff: first person puzzles, the clock, the binary, and the horrible riddle that's not a riddle at all.

That's kinda the rub of it all. For a lot of this, you invest so much time and energy for answers only to find trivial Easter eggs. I put particular blame on this game cause I feel like a bit of games since have followed this abuse of time. It's a cool rabbit hole to go down, but it's never worth it and trivializes your precious time.

That and the horrible backtracking system. The shortcuts are barely helpful.

So while I have mixed feelings on it, the fact that I wrote all this down means it stuck with me and is clearly influential, so major props there.

VODs

Really incredible game. Animal Well got so much attention for being completely original, when this game basically did the same thing 12 years prior. It's the granddaddy of games like Tunic, and 'metroidbrainias' as a whole.

My favourite thing about this game is the diversity in areas. There is so much variety in gameplay mechanics, aesthetics, and music. I can't really talk about the other great stuff without spoiling, so just take my word that the game will surprise you in many exciting ways (even beyond completion!).

I really wish that the 'base game' was a bit more complex. The core concept was so cool, that I wish the puzzling aspect was further explored. The game almost wanted to be a platformer, which was a terrible idea considering the sluggish movement.

A few late game puzzles are asking a little too much from the player. I can imagine a lot of players turning their back on the game before even completing it. Backtracking was also a mess. It's somehow even worse than in most metroidvanias.

Some of these faults can be forgiven considering how old the game is, however I don't think the game quite reaches the heights of Tunic and Animal Well. I still think it's a must play, and it's certainly a monumental game in the industry. Phil Fish revolutionized indie games as a whole, an entire gaming genre, and most importantly, getting cancelled on Twitter.

Say what you want about the creator, but Fez 2 was robbed from us, and it's partially the gaming community's fault.

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