Tunic Player Discovers Soft Lock That Happens Early in the Game - GameRant

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Tunic has been in development for seven years, but it's finally out, and this adorable adventure game has been doing quite well for itself. However, this doesn't mean that fans haven't stumbled across any design flaws or other small details that could have been improved. One Tunic player recently discovered a soft lock that happens very early in the game.

In video games, a soft lock state occurs when a game appears to be playable, but actually leaves players trapped and unable to progress. This usually occurs as the result of a glitch, but design oversights can also lead to opportunities for players to get soft-locked. Whatever is behind the issue, it's usually quite frustrating to run into while playing.

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Redditor Warbleshnarf shared a short 26-second-long video of themself encountering the soft lock bug, which appears roughly 10 minutes into the game. The beginning of Tunic is modeled after charming old-school adventure games--in other words, it doesn't take it easy on players--but this glitch adds a whole new kind of difficulty. In the clip, the player enters the Path to Hero's Grave area, wanders up to a pathway mostly blocked by grass and shrubs, and manages to get stuck on an object. Trying to free themself has no effect, and they are forced to retreat to the title screen and restart the area.

Warbleshnarf runs through the area a second time to prove how easy it is to accidentally get stuck in the same spot. This appears to be the result of some questionable design choices, as once players unlock the shield in Tunic, the hitbox of the character reportedly changes. Adding some bulk to the hitbox makes it impossible to get stuck in the same manner. Unlocking the sword, meanwhile, allows players to cut through the grass and shrubs without a problem.

Apparently, gamers can also use bombs to clear this particular area, but the main issue is just a matter of hitbox size. Once the sword and shield are unlocked, players shouldn't have any trouble getting through the area. However, it's a possibility that players could encounter other soft locks later in the game. In that case, Tunic comes with a built-in escape function to make clearing soft locks easy: just pick the Quit to Title Screen option from the menu, then select Continue. This will allow players to restart at the last door they walked through and serves as a solid escape from soft-locking.

Tunic is available now on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S.

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