“A Captivating Independent Adventure”: Jusant Evaluation

Jusant is a captivating game with a compelling main objective because to its superb climbing mechanics. Here’s what we think.

It’s odd how climbing appears as a fundamental gameplay element in so many video games.

It’s an essential component of many gaming experiences, whether it’s the swift ascent up the victorious stairs of Assassin’s Creed Mirage or the fast-paced Mirror’s Edge.

 

Step into Jusant from Don’t Nod, where climbing is the primary mechanic.

 

DAY’S SCREENRANT VIDEO

The sole objective of the game Jusant is to ascend a massive tower. With the help of a darling little friend named Ballast, the player must scale a tower and investigate the ruins of the civilization that once called this globe home.

Rivers and oceans have vanished. Jusant skillfully transforms this simple premise—climbing the tower with just a safety rope for assistance—into an engaging independent adventure.

Jusant offers a really satisfying gameplay experience when it comes to climbing games. Its mechanism, in which the triggers govern every hand grip, is incredibly haptic, especially when combined with the input from the PS5 controller.

This isn’t a parkour or freerunning game; rather, it’s about making steady progress and using your intuition to choose where to lay your hand next.

Jusant’s original combination of stamina management and an almost puzzle-based style keeps the player’s mind engaged, even if this might have easily become monotonous.

Each chapter brings up more variance, such as harsh winds to deal with or critters that resemble glowflies and increase the player’s leap height.

Choosing to focus on a core mechanic over offering a variety of gameplay approaches was a wise decision made by Don’t Nod.

A few minor modifications exist, such as the player’s ability to find artefacts like letters and cairns along the route, although they are more closely related to the game’s exploration premise.

Ballast provides a rough idea about the region, but there’s no map or trail to follow. This makes collecting these artefacts an enjoyable pastime instead of a work.

The sole drawback is the exceedingly rare possibility that the player may become stuck on the landscape, which never happens when ascending.

A Stunning Perspective

 

It’s reasonable to remark that Jusant is a visually stunning game. The title explores its different biomes with a degree of brightness since it lacks photorealism and instead has its own artistic flare.

From the searing heat of its early terracotta phases to the subdued blues and oranges of its interior caverns and the breezy greens of its gale-force wind portion, Jusant boasts an amazing colour pallet.

Despite the hardships of living in a place where water is scarce, Jusant also has an excellent sense of nature.

There are many unusual creatures to find in the game world, ranging from odd insects and mammals to a wide variety of birds and other animals.

The gaming environment feels more realistic and inhabited in when you find other strange small creatures than ballast.The way Jusant shows the player where they may climb is possibly the finest aesthetic decision.

The dreaded yellow ledge that appears in games such as Horizon: Zero Dawn has been causing frustration for some gamers, even if a lot of games that attempt an alternative method fall short in terms of giving players enough cues about where they may climb.

 

Though it doesn’t interfere with realism, Jusant’s more subdued use of divots, bumps, and wooden planks nonetheless makes it obvious where the player may climb.

A Quiet Narrative

Jusant doesn’t have a very intricate plot, but there’s plenty here to pique players’ curiosity. Either tiny visual clues or secret notes placed throughout the tower reveal the game’s lore.

These notes, which are frequently dialogues between two persons, aid in the comprehension of the fate of the tower’s occupants as well as the connections between its many levels. It provides a little more background but doesn’t lose its mystery.

Although there aren’t many ties between the characters in Jusant, the player will become close to Ballast.

In addition to functioning as a mechanical point in the game by interacting with various things and giving directions, Ballast also makes appearances during significant plot points.

It’s charming, but not nearly as essential as Kena: Bridge of Spirits’ adorable Rots.

Jusant is therefore probably not a game for people who want a solution to every problem because it is mostly abstract throughout.

 

There is, however, plenty here for those who prefer atmosphere to explanation.

Our Review Rating and Concluding Remarks

Jusant is a beautiful journey through and through. Despite its linear nature, the game never becomes boring to play because of the emphasis on climbing techniques, and the way it moves smoothly from one biome to the next gives the player a strong sense of advancement.

In the year between Jusant and Harmony: The Fall of Reverie, Don’t Nod has experimented greatly and succeeded in attempting new things.

Source: YouTube / Don’t Nod

On October 31, 2023, Jusant will be available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. A PS5  code was given to Screen Rant in exchange for this review.