Let’s get this out of the way first. Jusant is an absolutely gorgeous game. I’d say it’s a stellar showcase for UE5 technology, but it’s rather a showcase for brilliant artistic design. The choice to eschew traditional textures for flat-shaded materials not only gives Jusant its stylised look but also makes it so beautiful that I spent many minutes simply standing around and taking in the grandeur of its vertical scenery. Like the game’s protagonist, art and world design have climbed to the stratosphere.
In the world of Jusant, the tide began to ebb one day, the waters receding never to return, leaving behind vast, arid plains and the beached wreckages of ships and boats with nowhere left to go. The oceans weren’t the only things that were left, the rain did as well, over time, plunging the world into desperation. Humanity began to live in massive towers carved into mountains with people eventually wondering whether or not rain was something real or just a myth told by the elders.
As the water began to dry up, some climbed down the towers to brave the endless plains of sand in the hopes of finding hidden springs while others climbed up the towers even further, searching for a mythical place in the clouds where water was said to be.
You take on the role of a wanderer, coming to this massive, abandoned tower to climb it and reach the summit. Why are you taking on this arduous journey and what will you find at the top?
Jusant is a game about climbing, rock climbing specifically, which, essentially, makes it a platformer. But it’s also a slight puzzle game and a narrative-driven story that aims to tug at the heartstrings about the many things that make us human. Its beauty doesn’t only lie in its visuals but also in its sublime and addictive gameplay that makes the journey just as important as the destination.
Your main tools here are your hands, with the grip for each hand controlled by the left and right triggers respectfully. Rounding out your arsenal is a rope that can be mechanically looped back in and spikes to create extra tethers. The first obstacle to overcome is getting used to alternating between trigger presses when you want to move and jump. The faster you press, the faster you can move, hand over hand, and hold over hold. It’s a very specific mind space to get into but once it clicks, it becomes an almost rhythmic sense of Zen meditation.
Climbing from handhold to handhold, stopping to regain stamina, planning your path, wall running with your rope and jumping from point to point, are all extremely enrapturing. You can place more spikes to make sure that, if you fall, you won’t end up dangling right at the beginning of the path. There’s a steady flow of extra abilities and environmental mechanics introduced until you have to use all of them in one go.
Direct sunlight makes your stamina reduce faster while also withering plant handholds, scrabbling animals that provide moving handholds slow down the longer you hold onto them and extreme wind can either push your jumps further or hinder them if you don’t time it right.
Jusants puzzle elements come in the form of figuring out which is the best route to take on longer climbs and finding the hidden murals, diary entries and correspondence scattered across the tower. The game itself is never very hard or terribly trying. Death is never an option and the hardest moments were on the climbs that required me to be fast and precise when the sun was withering plant handholds.
The game’s story is told through the murals you uncover and the letters and diary pages you find. Each one is a personal story of hardship, loss and love in a world with no more hope. There are no hard answers on why the rain and water disappeared, rather the thoughts on it and how it’s impacted everyone from those searching for a soul mate to whether or not it’s time to give up and move on. The lack of answers leaves the game open to interpretation, which may not be enough for some, but let me enjoy it all the more.
Jusant is an enthralling, enrapturing, calming game that feels akin to meditation. Its simple gameplay and open-ended story, along with some truly stunning visuals create an experience that is like nothing else I’ve played this year. The journey to the heavens is nearly perfect and you should take it.
Jusant Trailer
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