Video games / review – written by Islara, June 11, 2023
After several months of waiting, Jusant, a climbing, adventure and exploration game, has finally been released. Since it lives up to our expectations in many ways, we regret the short lifespan even more.
In the preview version I was able to play up to Chapter 3 for about four hours and enjoy the immense qualities of Jusant: firstly, his ability in the command system to stick as close as possible to what climbing really is. (very special use). of buttons, attachment of hooks such as E.g., clips on quickdraws, endurance meters, jumps, abseiling or climbing, zip lines, etc.) while gradually adding difficulty and challenge; then its natural universe of huge colossal cliffs, overgrown, with traces of a completely abandoned human civilization, all peppered with a touch of magical fantasy, with all the dimension of discovery that entails.
A permanent immensity.
As I discovered the new chapters, they added what I was hoping for: new types of biomes and locations, such as underground caves with bioluminescent life that is as magical as it is fascinating, cliffs exposed to raging winds, or finally a snow-capped mountain. It is particularly exciting and captivating. The view is great and the completely free camera allows us to enjoy it to the fullest. Although the graphics aren’t particularly detailed, Jusant really impresses us. And that’s also the reason why people climb.
But these new biomes and landscapes aren’t just there to look pretty. New tools or other command combinations are integrated to create new game actions, which always enriches Jusing and increases its difficulty. So some fireflies allow us to go higher, or the wind significantly increases the range of our jumps. It is up to us, more than ever, to observe the wall, the windsocks, their rotation and their cycles of movement, paying attention to the measuring device. However, Jusant is not an extremely difficult game and you don’t spend your time falling down and getting back up again. However, we fail often enough to feel tension and relief at the end of the climb. Another successful little bet on the idea of staying as close as possible to what climbing can be. We even have pain in our little fingers every now and then.
Stunning new biomes.
The addition of the exploration dimension and the search for hidden texts, altars and frescoes to the game also highlights the climbing-specific need for exploration. If we are not constantly watching the wall to know which hold to grab – in this way the game ends up being quite easy and the character very often automatically grabs the next hold – then, on the other hand, we are constantly looking in all directions sure you don’t miss any secret entrances. We also do a lot of observation to generally know which path to take to make sure we have enough rope. More than once I screwed up and had to come back down completely or partially due to a lack of rope. Serious climbing mistake that can cost your life.
Scenario-wise, my initial doubts were also confirmed. The scattered texts are too long and boring to make reading enjoyable. We also regret that no thought was given at all to the few mechanisms to be activated, including the altars. One would have thought that there would be a big piece of machinery to understand and solve. But no, they are just collector’s items.
Difficulty observing everything.
We do our part, it doesn’t matter. Nevertheless, Jusant is captivating, so captivating and thrilling that I couldn’t stop, I wanted to keep climbing, jumping, fluttering, climbing ropes, abseiling, discovering new plant worlds, admiring the landscapes and magnificent views. From this point of view, the end of the game was brutal, like a blow to a beautiful dream in which we desperately wanted to stay. We barely exceeded the 7 hour playing time. A pity! We can replay certain passages to collect everything and relive the dream a little, but that doesn’t make up for the whole thing. Three or four additional chapters with different biomes wouldn’t have been too much to make a great game. We are therefore only waiting for one thing, a sequel, this time with great resources: more chapters, more biomes, more thinking, a stronger plot, more new mechanics. To you, the studios!
A new parameter, the wind.
Juant has to move on.