Tunic is one of the best games I’ve played this year. No, scratch that – it’s one of the best game I’ve played so far this generation. Between some wonderfully oblique puzzles, its own glyph-based language, some tight combat mechanics, and some vaguely sadistic game design, its foxy little head pokes up above the glut of games we’ve had the pleasure of playing since the start of the PS5/Xbox Series generation.
But even within Tunic, there’s one puzzle that stands out. Once you get a certain way into the game, certain skills anb abilities start to become clear to you; it becomes clear that your lupine avatar is capable of more than you first thought. And so combing back over the hostile island you find yourself on becomes not only an attractive prospect – but a necessary one.
After a few hours of cutting down shrubs, poking at walls, and sniffing around the corners of the world, you’ll unlock one of Tunic’s biggest ‘a-ha!’ moments: the ‘Holy Cross’. Referenced multiple times throughout the adventure game’s in-game booklet, the ‘Holy Cross’ actually refers to your D-Pad. Your little hero can use inputs on the D-Pad to ‘sing’ to the world, so to speak, and interact with objects that would otherwise be useless to you.
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