Nearly a year out from its release,Tunicstill has staying power. Despite being beaten out by tough competition at The Game Awards last month,Tunicstill has chances to nab some much-deserved wins at the upcoming DICE awards. While action-adventure games don’t typically have the replayability—and thus the staying power—of other genres,Tunicstill boasts a respectable daily player counter as it approaches its one-year anniversary.
In light ofTunic’s publisher’s vocal reluctance toward subscription services, the title may have to look toward alternative means to stay relevant and satisfy its legion of fans. As is, the best possible approach forTuniccould be to look at releasing a DLC pack.
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Tunic Leaves Enough Mystery For a Potential DLC
On its surface,Tunicis merely aZelda-inspired title about an adventurous fox, but hidden underneath its charming exterior is a game that is riddled with deep, sophisticated puzzles. To that end, there arestill puzzles and secrets to uncover inTuniceven a year after its release. One of these great secrets—and the most obvious road to a DLC or sequel—is the mystery of The Eyes of the Far Shore.
WhileTunicis riddled with hidden secrets, none is quite as intriguing as the message hidden in the Glyph Tower. After a lengthy in-game puzzle, fans were led to a website that contained a cryptic message. In the downloadable audio files on the site,Tunicplayers discover not only a hidden message but an entire language that could be potentially used as a cipher for future mysteries. It could be the case that these secrets are meant to be solved and understood with only the information available in theTunic, but it has at least whet the appetite of players for a potential sequel.
At the very least,Tunichas now equipped diehard fans with two in-game languages—dubbed Trunic and Tuneic—for which to work through future puzzles. Plus, now that fans are aware of the depth they can expect from Tunic’s puzzles, even more difficult and complex puzzles wouldn’t feel out of place in a follow-up.
What Should Change in a Tunic DLC or Sequel
It would be difficult to replicate the experience of afirst playthrough ofTunic. Fans would likely anticipate even the most sophisticated and difficult puzzles. Worse, the folksy charm of the original game might start to wear off given enough exposure. Still, the potential for aTunicfollow-up still exists.
If the tiny team behindTunicwanted to make a total departure from their original formula, it might be the perfect way to continue paying homage toThe Legend of Zeldafranchise that initially inspired the game. After all,Zelda 2: The Adventure of Linkwas a completely different game than the original and though it threw most fans for a loop, there are still fans who sing its praises. By learning from its mistakes,Tuniccould venture away from the original game while still staying true to the core elements that made it successful.
Interestingly, the finality of the game’s ending is still up for debate. The depth ofTunic’s world leaves the door open for a sequel or a DLC that has little to do with the original game’s beloved little fox. Even if an expansion was to zoom in on another part of the world and follow an entirely different protagonist, it could easily carry forth on the strength of its world-building alone. The lore that has already been established is rich enough to support almost any move that the developers would want to try.
Tunicis available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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