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A game from award winning studio

Don’t Nod (also known as DONTNOD) studio is very well-known in the gaming industry. It is a multiple award-winning studio that has made games such as Life Is Strange, Remember Me, Twin Mirror, and Vampyr. Their newest game Jusant was released at the end of October. Looking at the other reviews and Steam user reviews, it received overwhelmingly positive feedback. So, let’s dive into this game and see what the fuss is all about.

A peculiar story

Jusat is one of those kind of games that doesn’t tell you much, it just throws the player into the world and amongst characters. The game starts with a young person who has an odd little creature with them. Then you must start climbing up a tall mountain-like tower, where used to live people, right at the edge of it. The story of Jusat is rather difficult to explain. The protagonist is silent and the only things that are left to read are the notes left behind by the people that are now gone, for some reason. The whole ensemble is mysterious and many things are left for the player to understand in their own way. But, as I played the game—and especially in the end—some things became clear.

Gameplay, Controls and Visuals

The gameplay of Jusant is climbing. Yes, it’s a climbing game, but there is so much into the gameplay than just climbing straightforwardly up. The player must use the climbing gear in a specific way and there is also a stamina meter. The character can also make moves such as jumping and swinging, but they use more of the stamina meter so everything must be used wisely. There are some puzzle elements, but they are left rather little in the game. I didn’t find the gameplay to be overly difficult; there were some spots in the game that required more thinking. If you want, there are options for the gameplay such as infinite stamina, so you can take it easy and enjoy the game. There are also things to collect: letters, shells, and murals to be found. They are all hidden in the game very nicely. I didn’t find all of them, but I got most of it.

Controls worked fine. But there were some spots that got on my nerves a little, well, I think every game has that. The player has a rope that they have to use in climbing and it must be attached to the wall first before you can start climbing. You can also attach more save points with the rope as you climb, so if you fall down, you don’t fall all the way down. You can also interact with the little creature that the character has. It can show you the next objective and it can also interact with the surroundings, for example, to make plants appear so you can climb along them.

Visually, Jusant is very artistic, almost like an animated movie. The game is beautiful, but if you are waiting for realistic graphics, well, this isn’t it. I think the art style is very intentional, and it suits the game, its atmosphere, and story. Technically, the game ran smoothly.

In the end, there was a reason

Jusant is a nice little game from game studio that does have a good track record for publishing and making video games. I stronlgy believe that Jusant is one game to add to that list. Jusant was about 4 hours long and even though the story was cryptic I did enjoy the game a lot. Jusant is for everybody and I strongly suggest you try it out.

Jusant is available on PS5 (reviewed), XboxSeries X|S and Windows.

(Review copy kindly provided by the publisher)

SCORE:

5/5

“The whole ensemble is mysterious and many things are left for the player to be understood by their own way”

RELEASE DATE: October 31, 2023
GENRE: Adventure
DEVELOPER: Don’t Nod
PUBLISHER: Don’t nod
PLATFORMS: PS5 (reviewed)
Xbox Series X|S
Windows

 

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