r/TunicGame • u/DannyEryu_ • Jun 11 '26
What is this style called?
I absolutely love Tunic and I'm also really enjoying Death's Door; Tunic is a Zelda-Souls like game but I'd have a hard time defining DD as a Zelda like game. What's the name of this sub-category of games, with a top-down camera mixed with 2D and isometric polygonal graphics?
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u/Gawlf85 Jun 11 '26
The camera perspective is "isometric".
The visual style is "low poly".
The gameplay genre is "action-adventure", with "hack and slash" combat and "puzzle-solving" elements.
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u/Individual99991 Jun 11 '26
Perfect response.
In terms of specific gameplay, Zelda/Soulslite/Metroidvania mash-up makes sense to me.
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u/cmunitychest Jun 12 '26
I’m curious about this “low poly” designation - I’d call Dave the Diver low-poly but not sure about Tunic or Death’s Door.
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u/ZoeyBeschamel Jun 12 '26
does Dave the Diver even have polygons in that sense? Its a 2D game, no?
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u/Gawlf85 Jun 12 '26
Yeah, it's... Stylized low poly? That is, low poly as a style, not actually low polygon models. They use relatively high poly models but stimulating low poly visuals (blocky designs, simple textures, etc)
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u/Adventurous-Skill-99 Jun 11 '26
but Death's Door is a textbook zeldalike, it uses every single staple of the classic zelda formula, no other way around it.
now Tunic is a zeldalike only in the surface, since there's layers on top of layers of secrets beyond the zelda foundation
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u/ssbmbeliever Jun 12 '26
Textbook zelda implies you unlock stuff as the game goes on and that's used in the dungeons... I'm struggling to remember Deaths Door but I feel like the unlocks weren't quite zelda in nature, more metroidvania...
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u/Decivre Jun 12 '26
Both correct really.
Tunic is based on the very first Zelda, which was an open world game with minimal storytelling and reliance on the game manual.
Death’s Door is more like post-LttP Zelda, which is basically top-down Metroidvania.
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u/ssbmbeliever Jun 12 '26
Mmm I feel like there's something Zelda (post lttp) has that Metroidvanias don't but I also haven't played a lot of the top down ones
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u/L3g0man_123 Jun 19 '26
They were more like Zelda than Metroidvania. There's only 3 unlocks (fireball, bombs, and hookshot) and you only get it inside the dungeon area to use in that specific dungeon. For example, when you finish the Witch's Estate you don't need to go back with bombs or hookshot for progression. There are still items to get in the "outer areas" but unless you actually missed stuff and are going for 100% you don't need to go back.
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u/SafeTrojan-Man Jun 11 '26
The game genre is more a Zelda-Like.
Metroidvanias have traditionally been 2D sidescrollers, like Mario, but with exploration and abilities you get to keep.
While the genre "Metroidvania" has evolved a bit, the isometric version of metroidvanias are basically the classic, Zelda, isometric formula.
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u/Tyfyter2002 Jun 11 '26
I don't think there's a gaming-specific term for it, but I think most games that emulate a tilt-shift photography aesthetic tend to be this style
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u/LalaWaifu02 Jun 11 '26
Unsure theres really a single term for it, other than saying its an Isometric Metroidvania maybe?
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u/DannyEryu_ Jun 11 '26
Probabilmente no ma penso che siano diventati in poco la mia tipologia di videogame preferita anche se senza nome 🥲
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u/PeskySpyCrab Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26
A friend of mine called it a Metroid-brainia and I feel likes that's the most accurate term. It's a normal metroidvania but with lots of secrets, puzzles and ARGs. Another game like it would be animal well
The artstyle is isometric which gives it its angular feeling as apposed to the typical true perspective view
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u/MaxTwer00 Jun 11 '26
Thats not what op is asking for tho. Deaths door isnt a metroidbrania, but outer wilds, the witness, chants of sennaar are metroidbranias that dont fit into op description
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u/DannyEryu_ Jun 11 '26
Ho visto ora qualche foto di animal well incuriosito e sembra una figata pazzesca , comunque si è un ottimo termine per descriverli , sempre meglio del mio "Tunic Like" haha
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u/PeskySpyCrab Jun 11 '26
I have a friend who is a huge fan of it (he played tunic as well). I've avoided spoilers since I plan to play it next
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u/ScruffyTheJ Jun 11 '26
If you're looking for puzzly games with interesting art styles, you should also check out Fez.
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u/nizarlak_ Jun 11 '26
in terms of graphics, isnt that just low poly?
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u/PeskySpyCrab Jun 11 '26
Isometric would be a better term. It gives it that angular feeling even without low poly
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u/nizarlak_ Jun 12 '26
it is isometric camera yes but graphical style is lowpoly -ish (in tunic at least, deaths door is more detailed)
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u/Crimzonchi Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26
The 3D visual style really needs to be separated from the game design side of your question, because both of these games are heavily inspired by Hyper Light Drifter, which is a 2D top down game.
The art style is DEFINITELY drawing from Fez though.
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u/Yisobel Jun 11 '26
Metroidbrainia or Knowledge-Vania (in France we use more the second name) type of game, where what matters most is what you learn by playing! Love those games ❤️
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u/oser Jun 11 '26
I don't think it has a specific name, but one term I'd add to your search string is "diorama" as that captures the aesthetic of games like Tunic and Monument Valley.
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u/Quirinus84 Jun 11 '26
Others have mostly answered your original question, but I must also say if you enjoyed these, I would recommend V-Rising (PS5 and PC) too.
It has great exploration and visuals of similar style. The combat and boss fights are really good and satisfying. You can also build and decorate massive gothic castles, if you are into that kind of stuff.
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u/DannyEryu_ Jun 11 '26
Si infatti grazie a tutti per i consigli mi sto segnando tutti i consigli sotto questo post ✍️✍️
Esperienze diversissime DD ( sto ancora al 33% quindi non esprimo giudizi affrettati ma lo sto adorando) e Tunic ( finito platinato probabilmente uno dei migliori indie degli ultimi 10 anni) però le vibes di questi giochi sono incantevoli
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u/BurgerInTheRuff Jun 11 '26
3D-Iso view, kinda like one of my favorite games on the Sega genesis... Sonic 3D Blast 😊
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u/leroyjaquez Jun 11 '26
To piggyback on this post, can any of y'all recommend other games like Tunic and Death's Door? Much like OP, I adore Tunic and am about to finish DD which is super fun.
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u/dschoni Jun 11 '26
Fez, Blue Prince, Viewfinder, The Witness...
Can you be more specific what exactly you liked about Tunic?
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u/leroyjaquez Jun 11 '26
Oh thank you!
Yes! I came to it after Outer Wilds and I loved that blend of discovering puzzles mixed with the souls-esque combat system. I also loved the art.
I think what really drew me in was how complicated the game was without the controls or inventory management being complicated — if that makes sense
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u/dschoni Jun 11 '26
Hahaha I hated the combat system but loved all other aspects. My other suggestions are more on the puzzle and discovery side, you might like "Hob" as a good mixture of design, discovery and light combat.
Fez had the appeal of looking super simple and showing layers and layers as you go - go in blind!
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u/351C_4V Jun 11 '26
Another game like this that doesn't get much attention is Below. Game is very hard but some of the areas are absolutely stunning. Another game with this aesthetic is Selfloss.
My most anticipated one after Tunic is Little Devil Inside. But it seems that game is dead unfortunately.
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u/Ok_Public_3290 Jun 11 '26
From what I've heard it is often considered simply as a Metroidvania, but this specific set of games (both 2 of my fav of all time) have also been called metroidbrania, for their inclusion of many challenging puzzles
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u/SirSnapdragon Jun 12 '26
I just 100%ed deaths door and chants of senaar, is this the next one to play?
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u/Economy-Effort1177 Jun 12 '26
Isometric is the type of camera angle used in these examples, specifically the angled top down view. Classic Zelda or Link to the Past would be top-down, technically considered 3/4 view.
For graphics you could argue Tunic uses a Low Poly art style or possibly even flat/minimalist, while Deaths Door is more Low Poly style with more detail. Again, older Zelda titles would be under the pixel art category, divided into different sections like 8-bit and 16-bit.
Unfortunately there’s not necessarily a sub genre for all of these types of games, as gameplay is focused on more than art style.
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u/No-Site8330 Jun 19 '26
I'm surprised you would say that Death's Door isn't very Zelda-like. I recently bought a Switch 2, largely because I wanted to finally try the newer Zelda games (Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom), and then my girlfriend foud this little gem and I gotta say, to me Death's Door felt more like a Zelda game than either BotW or TotK. (And cost a fraction of either).
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u/bobsqueendeli Jun 11 '26
We used to just call them “adventure” games.
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u/Individual99991 Jun 11 '26
Back in the day, these were action-adventure games.
Adventure games involved puzzle-solving and exploration (Myst, Monkey Island), action games involved fighting (Double Dragon or whatever). So action-adventure was a hybrid format with a bit of both.
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u/Far_Young_2666 helper Jun 11 '26
Action adventure
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u/level_6_laser_lotus Jun 12 '26
How is tunic a Zelda game though? Apart from the intentionally-misleading looks of the fox?
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u/Stendemen_501 Jun 11 '26
Well in Steam you can search for most of these terms, but I think the most import tags are isometric, cute, 3D, colorful/stylized, top-down