I have loved everything about this game and unlike my normal way of operating, I have very little bad to say about it. To me it is just a perfect game. However, since I am a pessimist of a gamer that can find fault in everything - including things that I like - there is on thing that I really wish was different about the game.
That is the fact that there are times where you will go down a ladder or an elevator of sorts and end up in an area that is quite tough, only to discover that there is no way of getting out of there other than to defeat it.
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Normally, when I have been playing this game I will make sure to thoroughly explore every area to make sure that I didn't miss anything regardless of how hidden it is. Since enemies don't respawn unless you save the game / recharge your items and health, there is no reason to not explore all around once you clear out the enemies. There are very few environmental dangers that can result in accidental death, so once you have killed everything you might as well stick around and look at everything. There can be some pretty nice stuff hidden in chests.
This is a great way to experience this game because a lot of the optional powerups are hidden in precisely these places.
Last night though, Because I was tired, I just went through the straight-and-narrow and blazed through an area called the Quarry and didn't explore it fully. This turned out to be a mistake and i ended up going down some sort of lift that was created and I went against my usual way of operating and the next thing I noticed I was in a VERY difficult area that I perhaps am not powerful enough to be in yet.
It was at this point that I realized there is no way to exit this area and I am going to have to either figure out how to get past these enemies that are just absolutely wrecking me, or give up.
I am not going to choose the latter option because I've come so far and I want to ride this game out to the end.
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There are these enemies here that jump out of the poisonous goo that surrounds the platforms and if they strike you, not only do they drain your health but they drain your health BAR as well, thus disabling your ability to heal. There is no way to prevent this and other than firing at them from afar and draining your MP, there doesn't seem to be a safe way to dispatch them. They move quickly and attack en masse as well.
I think I somehow accessed this part of the map before you are meant to and that is all fine and dandy, but every other area I have entered at all point in the game had a way of you to escape, return to the surface or previous area and then go around and powerup a bit and then return to the difficult area later. This is not an option here and now I am going to have to frustratingly make my way through this somehow even though in 3 tries at the area boss and being careful to try to figure out his moves, I just get worked by him every time.
There have been other games in that past that I had played that "trapped" you at a boss area that was more difficult that I cared for it to be and several days would pass because I was not looking forward to trying again and then weeks would pass, I would lose all skill at the game, and now I have no choice but to walk away. Darksiders comes to mind.
Unlike times past though, it is my solemn vow that I will make it through this hell or high water. Tunic is the best game that I have played in a while and even if I have to start the entire game over after trying to defeat this boss a dozen times or so, I will still not walk away from Tunic.
I just wish there was a way to bail on this particular area, because all the other ones had a way to backtrack if you wanted to and I can't figure why they wouldn't do that with this area as well :(
Oh well, I guess "quit yer bitchin" and git-gud! Right?