TUNIC - #23 - ROUND THREE

[@sofer2230]

These last two episodes are like cramming the history books for 7 hours before a PE exam :P

[@andy4an]

in my world, PE is the professional engineering exam, that i studied for 100 hours to pass, and the idea of studying only 7 hours at the last min gave me anxiety, lol. i was very relieved to figure out what you actually meant.

[@jacobwiley9873]

@@andy4an same hahaha

[@Fyrefrye]

Right at the start you said you wished you could grab the upgrades off the self by the bed. You never noticed, but those are the upgrades you ALREADY grabbed from the hero's graves. Those appear one-by-one as you collect them to become "alive" again. In fact, you can't sleep in the bed until you are alive again (and therefore have all 6 displayed on those shelves). It's the mirror opposite of what happened with the original upgrades. Those you offer at a shrine and they appear next to the Heir's prison in the "ghost world". But once you are a ghost and start collecting the Hero's upgrades, those appear back in the "normal" world by your bed.

[@harrison1735]

Infinite Stamina is sort of the middle difficulty in the Accessibility Options. It doesn’t totally trivialize fights like turning off damage but being able to block and dodge endlessly without penalty makes a big difference.

[@ArtArtisian]

I also suspect that you could look up some of the holy cross commands and get some things to be easier, curious about it at least.

[@NotaWalrus1]

@@ArtArtisian Not really, although that would be a cool, diegetic way to make a difficulty slider. The only Holy Cross spell with any combat utility is the one that gives you a full heal in exchange for your full magic bar (doesn't refill potions), and with how difficult it would be to input a Holy Cross command in battle, that spell is probably geared more towards use in the overworld.

[@ArtArtisian]

@@NotaWalrus1 missed opportunity

[@brandonporter8509]

@@NotaWalrus1yea I could see using it in the gauntlet to put off burning the health refil till a bit later but that’s the only “boss” I could see it being useable for

[@sirB0nes]

Watching Dan experiment with getting the Stick to combine with his magic attacks, I couldn't help but think, "What if The Heir is just super weak to Stick? Wouldn't that just be typical?"

[@ICountFrom0]

weak to stick? That would be a low stun combo requirement with a fast stun recovery, so you can stick enough times to stun, and then keep stun.

[@tamkish]

basically eating cinnamonbutterscorch pie in front of asgore

[@huttj509]

in terms of endigs, NOW (after a patch) if you complete the stuff for ending B, you can choose to go for ending A instead. Back when I did it getting the stuff for B locked you into B. But they changed that!

[@Imperial_Squid]

I'm kinda upset when I played it it was before the patch, I got the B end first, found out I couldn't do A on the same file and just made a new one and no fail moded through the entire run just so I could see the credits 😅

[@ACuriousTanuki]

@@Imperial_Squid exactly this 😅

[@JoyceW-Art]

Woah, learning to parry her really gave you the win in the end! Bouncing her magic back to her does so much damage!

[@UnevenMike]

Dan, I totally agree with your comments at the end about difficulty. I tried this game earlier in 2022, but quit halfway through because the bosses were too difficult (librarian and siege engine). Playing through the ruined atoll and eastern castle was so much fun and the discovery aspect was great; but not being able to beat the bosses was demoralizing and I couldn’t justify the time sink to finish. Because of that, I never even got to the puzzle aspect of the game and the holy cross. With all of that said, it has been very fun to watch you play through this beautiful game and showcase everything I would have otherwise missed. I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed playing this game as much as you have.

[@NotaWalrus1]

Okay, so something I just noticed looking around the options menu in my game. There is actually a "Reduced Difficulty" mode, which I think wasn't there before and was added in an update, but it's buried in "Extra Options" instead of "Accessibility", despite the No Fail mode and Infinite Stamina mode being there. I'm generally not a fan of lumping accessibility and difficulty together, but at least be consistent about it. Edit: Apparently it halves all damage to the player.

[@Stratelier]

I toyed around with it once (because I forgot to screencap the ending screen after defeating The Heir on normal difficulty) and it seemed to be more than just a damage modifier ... the boss seemed to be moving/attacking slower giving me more room to actually avoid taking so darn many hits.

[@AmewTheFox]

Congratulations Heir to the Heir You Have Defeated The Latter And Have Taken Your Rightful Place A Beacon and a Prision I Just Hope You Found What You Were Looking For Ruin Seeker.

[@sofer2230]

"Ruin Seeker", ohh that's a punny name for a player character.

[@Riyshn]

@@sofer2230 It is actually the closest thing to a canon name the fox gets in the game. And yes, the dev has refused to clarify which interpretation is "correct."

[@generrosity]

@@Riyshn and I think we wouldn't have it any other way 🦊💚

[@LepidoliteMica]

@@Riyshn Given the tumultuous nature of the game's time loop, I wouldn't be surprised if both interpretations are equally true.

[@UnreasonableOpinions]

At this point 'final boss with big sword and plin-plon music' should be its own Steam store tag.

[@GameDevYal]

I found the Cyan Peril Ring helped a ton in this fight, the "defense up when in low health" effect actually means "you simply don't die the first time you reach 0 HP, you need to be hit again at 0 HP for it to count"... and since a lot of The Heir's attacks deal more damage than your flask can heal you paradoxically get tankier by keeping your health low and using that extra hit to save you. (Kinda wish the game would spell out some of this information better, since some of the accessories have negative effects it feels risky to experiment)

[@Stratelier]

Actually I think that's a standard mechanic even without the ring equipped --"stability" or something? But yes, if you can make it trigger repeatedly then the actual damage dealt becomes almost irrelevant.

[@siliconvalleygirl6595]

Accessibility is always such a tough and important discussion to have about all games. As someone like Carrie, i am always on the side for more accessibility features, but i can understand when a core feature to a game is its difficulty. I would have loved to discover Tunic’s secrets on my own but these LP’s are a next best. Also!! I finally can read that the subtitle to Tunic is “secret legend” how cool is that?? I both do and do not envy your having to translate the whole manual haha.

[@Imperial_Squid]

Dan's facts are out of date luckily, the dev has since added a bunch of options for tuning the difficulty rather than it being a straight up yes/no for god mode... Also, the Secret Legend thing is actually a nod to that being the working title of the game before the dev settled in Tunic, it's one of many little easter eggs you can find! 😁

[@siliconvalleygirl6595]

That’s so great to hear!! About the difficulty tuning :) thanks for letting me know!

[@Imperial_Squid]

@@siliconvalleygirl6595 no problem! In fairness, I played it back when they didn't exist and it did sour one aspect of the game (I No Failed the final fight since I'd already got the true ending on a different save and didn't want to trawl all the way through for just for the alternate ending and one cutscene) so I get the concern but both aspects (ie no difficulty tuning and no ending choice) are no longer a concern for new players! 😁

[@generrosity]

There are a few videos where people try to analysis on Souls difficulty vs help, and mostly how they are kinda incompatible ('hard problem') and/or if the devs wanted 'everyone to play the game' vs it being a pure difficulty unique experience 😓

[@gigabyte2248]

@@generrosity One of the things with most FromSoft games is that there are ways to power yourself up and get ahead of the power curve, rather than just gitting gud.There's obvious things, like grinding for levels, but also tricks like finding the drake sword in DS1 or the fire longsword in DS2, which are lateral ways of tuning down the difficulty. You could also say the summons also provide difficulty reduction options. Bloodborne is infamous for offering no difficulty modifiers until you've reached one of the first bosses and gained a point of insight, so the doll can level you up, and I think it's possibly the game's biggest misstep. Sekiro has this problem to a lesser degree in its earlygame. But lack of difficulty reduction options is also the reason why I, personally, bounced off Elden Ring's endgame: you have to fight the Godskin Duo, Malekith, Gideon, Godfrey and Radagon/Elden Beast in relatively short succession before you can finish the game. They're all hard, to varying degrees (I walked away when fighting Malekith), weaknesses are few (the Godskin Duo are weak to sleep but I don't think the others have similarly debilitating weaknesses) and the effective ceiling of player power feels quite low compared to their difficulty. Even using NPC summons, spirit ash and 'broken' weapons/arts/spells, these bosses are not easy. For optional bosses, like Malenia, Mohg and Placidusax, I wouldn't mind, but I find high difficulty on main story bosses with no weaknesses and a low power ceiling to be quite frustrating indeed.

[@linuxstreamer8910]

the learning tunic language episode was very fun

[@PaintingStallion]

I think a great way to help with the combat difficulty not pick would be for more hidden stat upgrades; I was surprised too to find that you were maxed out. Everything capping out at 7 may have been the edge that less skilled people would need to complete the later challenges.

[@insaincaldo]

Found it odd after all the gray fox in the infinity hall had full 8s.

[@PaintingStallion]

@@insaincaldo I didn't even notice it! Must be a reference to the infinity, but at least let us get all lucky 7's!

[@paulunga]

37:53 Yeah, that's why I love seeing people play it. It's wonderful to be able to relive all those "a-ha" moments. :D

[@rmsgrey]

Personally, I enjoyed the gauntlet - most waves have a trick that lets you beat them easily, and figuring out the puzzle of it was, for me, more fun than frustrating. On the other hand, the Heir I straight-up god-moded. Maybe I could have beaten her without it, given enough attempts, but I didn't care enough to find out.

[@BrewerM23]

I was the opposite. Trying to deal with the waves as a ghost was so frustrating I never noticed or considered that it was supposed to be a puzzle, so I god moded that fight. The Heir I kept going back to and eventually beat on standard mode though, once I figured out her weakness.

[@Stratelier]

I can agree that most of the waves have a specific strategy that will counter them easily (if not quickly) -- Wand for the flying enemies, running around bombing the skeletons as a group, etc. It also hurts that when you choose the items, you can't just summon the next wave and collect the items as you need them, you HAVE to pick them all up at once, before you can activate the next wave at all.

[@ediseverywhere]

Regarding your critique on difficulty spikes - I ended up getting stuck on that enemy rush segment that is impossible to bounce off of. This pretty much ended my experience playing Tunic. I was considering skipping the rest of this playthrough after that part of the game so I could figure out Tunic's secrets for myself, but I realized that I would probably never invest the time necessary to pass that skill check. So, yeah - for me, that's a real valid critique, and thanks for giving me the opportunity to see just how deep this game gets!

[@creamycoffee]

I 100% agree with you, but don't you dare say that on the tunic subreddit, where all people will downvote you to oblivion, stating that the game is perfect and/or you should just enable the accessibility options. The combat was especially jarring to me since I played Death's Door *directly* before this one. Death's Door demonstrates that a game like this *can* have much more fluid and satisfying combat. When I started playing Tunic after finishing Death's Door I immediately noticed how clunky the combat is, and this didn't improve for the entire playthrough. Despite the combat, I had a great time with Tunic. But I think there are one or two puzzles that a virtually impossible to figure out without a guide, which I find a bit annoying.

[@creamycoffee]

To add to my previous comment, I kinda wonder for what kind of player this game is made for. I doubt that there is very large overlap between players who seek brutal combat challenges and players who like to solve very tough puzzles (like deciphering a language).

[@Imperial_Squid]

@@creamycoffee "turn on accessibility settings" is a pretty valid reaction to "this game is too hard" tbf, just like Celeste, it's about customising your experience to be challenging but comfortable... Complaining that the base game is too hard is very fair, claiming you can't do anything about it is also fair though 🤷‍♂️

[@creamycoffee]

@@Imperial_Squid I disagree. Having the choice between "very hard" and "you are invincible" is not a choice at all. This just turns fights from being frustrating to being boring.

[@Imperial_Squid]

@@creamycoffee then it's a good job there's a bunch of options to tune the difficulty up or down slightly isn't it? Again same as Celeste, there's modular difficulty adjustment, it's not all or no challenge...

[@chrayez]

I just realized when the credits rolled that there’s a line of tunic script split above and below the game logo. I decoded it, and turns out it says: “Secret legend”

[@Imperial_Squid]

Explanation/spoilers (ish) Yep! Secret Legend was the working title of the game before Andrew settled in Tunic, the game window also says "Secret Legend" as the title if you don't play maximised, both are little nods to that easter egg

[@DCHutch8]

@@Imperial_Squid Also....! It's the name of the game that the Manual goes to. So WE are playing Tunic, which is the fox is playing Secret Legend.

[@generrosity]

@@DCHutch8 it really adds yet another layer to potential lore!

[@EphraimGlass]

I'm glad to be watching you do this. I had just started catching on to the Holy Cross stuff, had little interest in trying to translate Trunic, and I totally bounced off this boss fight. I admire everything this game is trying to do, and I'm happy for everyone that got excited by the layers of secrets. I felt like this game should be for me but the execution just left me cold.

[@cyclopsboi]

Felix was how i knew about tunic because i saw a bunch of screenshots from twitter and I am overjoyed that the game has reached this level of success

[@aenithharper2417]

I actually gave up on playing this game due to the boss difficulty. I loved the puzzles but I hate knowing how to beat a boss and not having the skills to execute my thoughts. All this to say, thank you for giving me the vicarious experience of playing this game. I would not have been able to experience it by myself.

[@Fredrik_RS]

I loved the game but 100% agree on the combat difficulty at times being to high and that the Pary does not feel the best. I ended up turning on the easier combat option just because I did not like the feal of the fights and just wanted to get on with exploration and puzzles.

[@wearwolf2500]

The combat is probably the main reason I haven't picked this up.

[@wearwolf2500]

If you defeat the air, what will you breathe?

[@timothymclean]

Just git gud and grow some gills.

[@Kio_Kurashi]

If you defeat the hair, what will you brush?

[@ACuriousTanuki]

If you defeat the here, where will you be?

[@joemalo5335]

If you defeat the hare, are you the tortoise?

[@generrosity]

If you de-feet the heir, what will you OnlyFans?

[@marginaliana]

I think you have a really good point about difficulty - I knew almost immediately that I would be watching rather than playing this because of the combat. My dexterity is terrible and my frustration threshold low, so anything that involves really well-timed action is out.

[@Stratelier]

I was able to defeat The Heir on normal difficulty ... after like 20 or so deaths. But later when I set the combat difficulty to "reduced" I defeated them in a single attempt. It seemed like a night and day difference -- more than just scaling the damage numbers I think the boss's overall speed was reduced giving me more time to anticipate/react to each attack.

[@EzraBradford]

Am I a fox dreaming I'm a ghost, or a ghost dreaming I'm a fox?

[@ciary]

38:00 I agree. I would love this game but I just can't because I'm getting nowhere. but figuring the stuff out, like you did, piece by piece? that's absolutely my kind of game

[@ringlhach]

Pages we started with this episode: TOC/3-55 (Back Cover) Well, I know which one's missing, and hopefully it won't take too long to get to. We know exactly where it is, after all...

[@Landis963]

I just went for the Golden Path ending once I got bored of smacking my head against the wall that is the Heir.

[@TheIrishAlchemist205]

I wonder when Dan will find out how musically inclined little foxxo is. 🎵 Diagetic discussion time: I also find it really interesting that the Heir flashes with the same death aura as little foxxo when he dies. I wonder if all the other little foxxo's that were corrupt in the temple feed off the Heir's power in exchange for sacrifice etc. As for the talismans, Parry Time+ increases the buffer of time needed to make a parry input. (The amount of time between button presses can be longer.) The anklet reminds me of Hermes' winged anklet, must be something like that... ;) The dagger strap, well, you have something on you that already has a strap on it. Maybe it's a shorter strap? (This one isn't as intuitive of a hint but it's there.)

[@generrosity]

Quick hint - Dan has mentioned several times that commentors should try to hint as he sees straight through it and prefers folks to use spoiler space instead 😆

[@Stratelier]

When I played, that The Heir reacts to your death the way they do did NOT go unnoticed. Combined with what is readily shown on pages 7-8 of the manual made me suspicious of the battle as a whole, so the ending that followed was more of a "I knew it (close enough)".

[@obiwanpez]

I’ve found that you were rewarded pretty heavily for learning to parry her attacks. I’m pretty sure that all of the Cathedral Trials could be beaten easily by actually thinking about and finding weaknesses, but I tended to just go hard with shotgun or sword.

[@huttj509]

10:30 how hard was it to not say "that sounds like a Dan Jones option"?

[@ironmilutin]

Lady Jingle would like to know Dan's location

[@kvm6]

Pretty much the first patch the game got, removed the softlock of Ending A being unavailable if you do Ending B. The most Overpowered and easy way of beating the Heir is having the Scavenger Mask, blue berries, Tincture, Perfume and maybe Inverted Ash on. Then just freezing her with your wand (which uses much less MP). The fight is cakewalk then. Which is why I personally don't see "certain parts being too difficult" as a valid criticism of the game. Each fight has a strategy, parrying is one of them, blocking and dodging another one, and using the items and tricks the Manual teaches another. You can guess which makes the game easier or harder. But, congratulations on defeating The Heir! Wondering whether you'll be able to find that secret or not. It's not really a secret because NPC talks about it, but a cool thing to do nonetheless.

[@alfadorfox]

This is the first time I've seen Ending A. The credits hit way different, having seen what they're supposed to be.

[@jameshart2622]

Lonely and depressing, aren't they?

[@claytonleverrier6096]

My feeling on the difficulty is that the combat isn't quite fun enough for how hard the fights get. There's nothing wrong with the combat per se, but it's just slightly too imprecise/floaty for me to really enjoy spending time getting good at it.

[@sigmid4302]

Dan, I'm glad you did this game because the isometric secret hunting is something i find very frustrating :)

[@113Sikaru]

It was at the Scavenger Boss where I first decided to change the combat difficulty to 'reduced' for the bossfight. Turned it back up afterwards, because the overworld stuff felt fine on 'normal'. But went back to 'reduced' for the arena and the Heir.

[@Stratelier]

Oh, that Boss Scavenger ... it was such a long and dangerous trek down there I insisted on NOT leaving until I defeated him (despite obviously unlocking the nearby fast travel point). Turns out he was the hardest of the trio, because when I went to face the other two bosses they crumbled in just 2-3 further attempts each. (To be fair, the Siege Engine was the first of these bosses I even discovered, and I had died to it several times before deciding to take a mental break and go explore elsewhere -- leading of course to The Librarian next, and Boss Scavenger last.)

[@AVeryTiredChild]

The "one HP build" really reminds me of the F.E.A.R. strategy you can use in pokemon

[@Kram1032]

The blue ring gives you a free hit before actually dying, right? So I guess that would basically make it like FEAR, assuming the flaming sword is strong enough to make that a realistic advantage... Perhaps flaming sword plus both rings could get you there quite a bit. What would be the other cards for a build like that?

[@NotaWalrus1]

Or the Danger Mario build from Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door.

[@user-uf3nq9up4p]

@@Kram1032 Inverted Ash to use your potions and Tincture to have attack up and defense not matter.

[@Kram1032]

@@user-uf3nq9up4p oh right, why have health potions when you don't have health. That was an easy thing I missed. Not sure I quite understand Tincture here.

[@Kram1032]

@@user-uf3nq9up4p Oh you mean because defense doesn't matter anyways. Now I get it. That probably is quite a potent combo then

[@IRFine]

One of your favorite games and you haven’t even finished it yet. The golden path awaits!

[@inconnn]

Honestly I like how difficult the bosses are, I almost wish there was a HARDER difficulty since I feel like I've pretty much mastered the combat to beat all the bosses (I replayed the game and beat most bosses within like 1-5 tries about). I wish the normal enemies were something to actually be afraid of, but they're mostly super easy to beat.

[@WildFyreful]

I love having Tunic back for my lunch break! :3

[@Imperial_Squid]

Woot for Tunic = meal time club, Dan's uploads line up perfectly for having dinner where I live! 😂

[@liashamir4261]

Is there any chance you'll consider like actually leaving on screen the guide you & Carrie made for the language while you translate things? I know your concern is like about how some people might have not cracked it yet but want to Crack it on their own, but I guess in that case they probably aren't watching a playthrough that tells them the translation of said text anyway? Like I totally get it if not, it's probably tons of extra work anyways, I just think it might be cool!

[@aaron2718w]

There's other translation guides online that would be easier to read than something on screen

[@Inferryu]

It is completely possible to finish the game and find all of it's secrets without learning to read, so it's a proper concern.

[@Stratelier]

@@Inferryu Agreed. For example, my playthrough currently: - No actual translations of the Tunic runescript - Collected all 28 pages of the manual (including the front cover/page 1) - Opened the mountain door (I had correctly assembled the solution myself but was like 2 button presses off from the correct execution; I did compare it to a guide somebody assembled from their screenshots, but only to figure out what I was getting wrong ... which turned out to be just 2 or 3 sections where I thought a button should be pressed twice in a row, when the correct answer was once) - Found 19 of the 20 fairies/souls (the hint on page 48 took some time to identify _how_ it worked, but it did reliably lead to several secrets. The last remaining one I know exactly where to look, and am just trying to identify the correct button sequence to unlock it) - Found 6 of the 12 hidden character trophies (and the trophy room) - Stat levels upgraded: 5/5/4/7/3/3

[@ttakenokon]

I also beat the game and got grumpy with the difficulty of the bosses that left me more grumpy than feeling appropriately challenged. I think part of it is the combat doesn't feel as polished as it does in Dark Souls

[@generrosity]

I think they would take it as a compliment that an indie game is compared to Dark Souls

[@meetansh-7608]

Not me pausing the video every time I see the TUNIC language and trying to decipher it based on their cheatsheet.

[@dashalpha]

This ending is so dark. I agree w/ others, if the combat gets too difficult and tedious in some of the boss battles, don't be afraid to cheese it by reading hints about what works well or just turning on an accessibility option or two. That's what they're there for, so can get past the really difficult parts that are blocking you to get onward to the good stuff. You can always try to beat it w/o those options on the NG+ perhaps.

[@Kram1032]

Well done with that boss, looking forward to the hunt for secrets!

[@Raith017]

I'm sure other's will have already said this but, there is a reduced combat difficulty option in the other options menu.

[@fictionalortrue541]

If I remember right, you used the Holy Cross at one point to spend your magic for a potion bottle refill? Maybe that will help you against the Heir.

[@kentonroush]

Unfortunately, while that's what he *thought* he did, that spell is actually just a single weak heal, and takes forever to input mid-fight. Just about the worst use of your MP there is.

[@Imperial_Squid]

@@kentonroush iirc it's full HP for whatever is left of your MP, it's not a bad trade if you're using a spell heavy build like inverted ash + gun + etc, it's worth noting that everything that takes MP can work with even a tiny drop of magic so doing it when you're low works very well

[@LepidoliteMica]

As I understand it's somewhere in between these two answers; you get two bars of HP at the cost of two bars of MP.

[@hhfractal]

I will be watching this...as soon as I finish the fight myself!

[@ICountFrom0]

The combat difficulty of Tunic feels similar to trying to fight the mechanical bosses in Ittel Dew 2... and those are secret dungeons.

[@FalcoGer]

broken sword, tincture, orange peril ring, inverted ash and then perfume or bracer as the 5th card for a glass cannon. My favorite loadout is bracer, perfume, anklet, lucky cup and the [redacted]

[@bluefish239]

I think for this fight instead of trying to parry I just dashed through her cause yeah parrying doesn't feel nice, and just going through her is enough to avoid quite a few of her attacks. I also had to use one of the things that would boost power too, it still took a couple tries. I don't think I bothered trying to learn to parry for this game at all. My biggest beef with the bosses is it felt like you were fighting the camera more than the boss a lot of the time (and the one underground actually gave me serious motion sickness so I had to find a way around that ontop of the fighting the camera).

[@gigabyte2248]

I feel so vindicated hearing Dan say that the bosses are too hard. I struggled a fair bit and was about to blame myself getting old and rubbish. I even decided that fighting the Heir wasn't worth it, and just skipped straight to ending B. I'm glad to know that it's not just me.

[@argenteus8314]

I disagree about the difficulty being overtuned, but I agree it certainly can't hurt to give people more options. Not every game's default experience needs to be suited to everyone, but it does literally no harm to include easier difficulty options even if you don't want to play them, as long as the game is still designed primarily around the intended experience. I also don't think it's particularly relevant that hard combat isn't it's primary "thing" like it is for Dark Souls. Sure, it's important to have a clear idea what your game is and what it isn't, but that doesn't mean you can't make a game that's hard along multiple distinct axes like Tunic. That's one of the things I like about it, that it's not just one thing.

[@twilightvulpine]

I so wish the stats capped at 8 like the special save, but I guess that was just a reference to infinity ♾️

[@StephSinalco]

This ending reminded me of the one in the first Diablo... (pretty shocking back then for the young player I was !)

[@aimelle3]

I can also think of a few games that have similar "you take the place of the final boss" endings... (spoiler space) . . . . Hollow Knight is one. Also, I haven't played any From Soft game but I believe it's a common ending for a them - I think Bloodborne and Elden Ring have this as a possible ending, maybe others do as well.

[@thaddeusgenhelm8979]

@@aimelle3 It's sort of a thing in the first DS game? But less a thing in the subsequent ones, as the thematic meaning of that choice changes. Like, in every game you can choose to Link the Fire or not, but only in the first one are you doing so immediately after facing the guy who did it before you (sorta).

[@variables494]

(Spoilers for endgame/endings) Personally, I think the difficulty of the Heir fight specifically can be justified. I never beat it, the more puzzle oriented, less skilled player I am. Because if you're really into the puzzle aspect, you never have to get this ending. I just went straight to the second one.. With some of the other bosses I did struggle a lot though. I kinda wish I would have figured out that the assist mode sooner.

[@aimelle3]

Yeah, I think the Heir can be justifiably hard. If you like tough battles, do ending A, if you like puzzles, do ending B. But man did I ever struggle on the Siege Engine! (The game didn't have a Reduced Difficulty mode when I played it and I didn't want to go all the way down to Invincibility mode).

[@pennyfarting]

To be fair, you could also make the argument that the puzzles you have to solve for ending B are also unjustifiably hard. Like you will literally have to spend hours, if not weeks, taking detailed notes and drawing things out on graph paper to solve that last puzzle if you decide not to look anything up. Anyone unable or unwilling to invest the enormous amounts of time and effort this game requires won't be able to see either ending on their own.

[@variables494]

@@pennyfartingI totally get that. To me *that* was done in one evening and was probably the most satisfying part of the game (compared to the optional puzzles which I could not finish without looking some things up) since I'd started noticing the hints long before I realized what it was actually about, and once you have all the pieces, it's just a matter of putting them together. But for some people clearing the boss might be the easier, less time consuming option for sure. I guess what makes it fair in my mind is the fact that you get to choose which difficult challenge to take, and if you want to see the other one, you can still do it (assist mode/looking things up)

[@OlxinosEtenn]

2:30 don't worry about doing too much, you can't lock yourself out of an ending

[@OlxinosEtenn]

Ah you got ending A already, nevermind :p

[@aimelle3]

You could when the game came out (it was fixed in a patch), that's why you can find conflicting information about it online. Dan's info was probably a little out of date.

[@meej33]

Is there a reason why youtube has stopped providing automatic subtitles? They were quite useful, and I do not find them in the most recent videos.

[@Freiya-]

Congrats on no cheesing the boss, I ended up using freeze knife to bait a predictable attack for phase 2.

[@Dinuial]

Yeah the only option being "turn off the aspect of the game I don't give a shit about" (i.e. god mode for those who aren't into combat, puzzle assist for those who aren't into puzzles) ain't great. Kind of the flip side of a game requiring ONE particular style of play in order to succeed (any tactical strategy/warfare game that requires me to think like Doug Haig [i.e. just throw bodies at the enemy, win by attrition] is not one I want to play).

[@GKLechuguilla]

I usually agree with Dan. And now is not different. My time playing Tunic was a blast except in the boss fights. Especially in the Heir. The only way I could, barely, win was using the ice ball cheese.

[@TheIrishAlchemist205]

That one and the Scavenger boss were the only two to really hurt my hands. A Z target lock would've helped me a lot. (Hint hint Andrew if you're here at all)

[@ErekLich]

All your comments about the difficulty - YES! all my yes!

[@Manduck2k3]

@PlayFrame look at the ice item carefully. It should look very similar to something else in your inventory...

[@jesselferguson]

What was that item called again?

[@The-EJ-Factor]

If you go to extra settings you can set the battle difficulty to reduced, and it’s not cheating as much😅

[@Binidj]

I agree with your criticisms Dan, the difficulty of this and FromSoft games puts me off to the extent that I just don't buy/play them but equally I don't want a free ride, invinvibility isn't the answer.

[@TheAdarkerglow]

Finished the fight with Lazer Focus and Burning Passion. Fire Wand jokes aside, nice. I'd argue there is something of an 'easy mode' to Dark Souls, but since it isn't obvious, it's easy to see how someone will just never know.

[@LashknifeTalon]

I agree wholeheartedly with the difficulty of Tunic's combat being too high at points. I got through it, certainly, I beat the Heir with...significantly worse stats than Dan did, but while that means it's POSSIBLE, I think it's a bit much. Specifically the Heir having so much life in her first phase, Scavenger Boss in general (might be biased on this one; I went straight to Scavenger Boss after the two bells), and the boss rush in the Cathedral are too much.

[@markwilliams779]

Amazing game. I've really enjoyed watching it!!

[@stevethepocket]

I wonder how you're supposed to figure out the bed thing _without_ going through all the rigmarole of learning the language. Just randomly think to walk up to it and notice that there's a prompt, I guess? Also by the last fight I decided to keep an eye on the health bar to see if your beam deflect was doing any actual damage on top of its stun effect. BOY DOES IT EVER. It's the most damage you were doing in one hit by a wide margin; it was like a sixth of the whole bar.

[@celestesimulator6539]

well, there's a picture of the bed, and given there's important stuff nearby, you can definitely notice the prompt. another youtuber figured it out by noticing the prompt

[@aimelle3]

There's a picture of the bed on the Hints & Clues page. Even if you don't speak the language, that might prompt you to investigate it. At least it did for me...

[@ACuriousTanuki]

The prompt was what got my attention. "Wait, that didn't pop up before..."

[@NotaWalrus1]

This game puts me in a weird state. I don't think it needs difficulty options, it just needs to be easier. The difficulty curve is just way too spiky and no difficulty slider will fix that. The bosses just need to be considerably toned down.

[@ElNicoDallas]

Hey Dan, I’m crazy or you can still get a few upgrades from the vendor? You still have a few piggie banks for more money

[@Imperial_Squid]

I don't remember if there's more potions out there but his stats are definitely maxed without new game

[@aimelle3]

The only thing he can still upgrade are his number of card slots. His stats and number of potions are maxed out for a single playthrough (they carry over to NG+ so you can increase them further that way).

[@AVeryTiredChild]

Every cell in my little lesbian brain is telling me to make a dagger strap joke, but I know I can't

[@Imperial_Squid]

Never in my life have I seen a Tunic/kink overlap joke but I love that 😂😂

[@timothymclean]

Day 3 of arbitrarily counting days because I haven't gotten bored of it yet. And nobody's told me to stop yet.

[@bentfishbowl3945]

Maybe I'll be the one to tell you to stop, just because I like your annotated comments

[@SystemBD]

Please, stop. For your own sanity.

[@timothymclean]

@@bentfishbowl3945 I haven't been watching the Tunic videos, aside from yesterday's deciphering one. (Decoding?) I'll probably leave something like that on tomorrow's one-shot, though.

[@inkmaster5480]

The Magical Echo doesn't heal, it just drops magic.

[@ScubaSctimpy]

theres a hidden card not listed in the manual tucked away behind a cracked wall dan...it does something certain frames.

[@Kram1032]

A sword is not a dagger~

[@SystemBD]

The hourglass is the "granular difficulty option". But it is true that it is not properly explained.

[@believe2000]

Checkout your accessibility options, so we can all see, please.

[@the_shadow_hog]

There's a difficulty setting

[@TheRyujinLP]

I have to second your critique on the combat. Something just feels off about it. Normally I love learning how to do perfect parries/dodges in game but in Tunic... I just... found the balance off. It's to much effort with too much risk for too little reward. Why risk taking damage when you're better off just dodging and spacing our your hits better. I also felt like I was fighting the controls more then I was fighting the bosses. I gave up on trying to do the magic combo or roll attack since I the game just wouldn't read my inputs and I would only pull them off in about one in five times (though this might just be an issue with either my well used controller or the switch port or a combo of the two). But for someone's first game, I'm not to made in the end (though there were parts I almost gave up at). My other critique are on some parts of how this game handles secrets and conveys information. Some times the game does an amazing job, then you have things like bombable walls. If I didn't accidental my way into finding one then I would never found out. I tried bombing almost every wall at the start of the game but once I saw nothing happening I just figured that bombing walls just wasn't a thing in this game. Then there's the walls with switches that are used like, what, two times. The game gives you zero indication that you can do that and if you just had bad luck with bombing walls you're not even trying to find walls to interact with that don't have golden cross riddles or hidden doors. Then there are some of the riddles. Like with how the game handles information, 90% of them are great and once you get how the game thinks you'll knock them out in no time. Then you get the ones that go against the games normal logic and you just rage (especially when you ask google to look up non spoiler hints and it just gives you the answer right there >.>). So great game, love the almost everything about it. Just a few things would of made it perfect for me. The combat side is somewhat subjective so that might just me not jelling with the style and that's ok but I do hope that Diecy takes the lessons he learned from this one into the next game and just files off the handful of rough edges.

[@tzisorey]

I wonder if we'll need to give Dan a spoiler so he can find *_that_* hidden staircase. I mean, its not really going to ruin gameplay or lore - it's just a bit of fun...

[@Imperial_Squid]

It's been patched such that if you can do both endings you can choose which thankfully

[@Lycanthromancer1]

You can get the fight ending even if you've 100%'d the game. Just attack the Heir instead of talking.

[@Theonesthatwaits111]

Have you played the game touch my Katamari

[@generrosity]

👁️

[@FireallyXTheories]

I really wish the cards had info on what they did exactly, because you always end up guessing one to three wrong. I always have to look up what they do and even then don't know any of the numbers. Really made my Stick and Gun playthrough more obnoxious than I would've liked.

[@FireallyXTheories]

I thought the difficulty was perfect. Yeah, the gauntlet was really hard my first playthrough but I breezed through it on Stick/Gun playthrough. Tunic has you look at all your options for a boss, like the pepper doubles damage, the vine helps stamina usage, blue berries for mana. I did my Heir fight and once I tapped into those resources, I knocked out The Heir in the next attempt after that analysis. But that's just my 2 cents.

[@hazemahmed3040]

Why didn't u start god of war ragnarok i am waiting it especially from u