Jusant - Sometimes You Just Need To Climb Some Rocks

 

Hey it's been a while! Sorry things have been a bit chaotic in my life at the moment, but I am back now and should hopefully be here to stay a while. So let's talk about Jusant.

Sometime a game comes to your attention and the perfect time. It may have been out for years but never fell into your hands until you really needed it. This was the case when I finally decided to play Jusant. I had been looking at the game for a while but I never got the urge to play it until I finally gave it a try a few weeks ago. You see my life has been pretty stressful and quite sad at the moment due to me going through a breakup with a very longtime partner so I wanted to play something not heavy or complicated but simple and pretty, what's more simple than climbing a giant rock. I played the game with Gamepass on my phone (since everything is an xbox) using the GameSir X4 A (a brilliant controller for phones). All I can say is sometimes you just need to climb some rocks.

Jusant is based on a dystopia world where water is incredibly limited and it no longer rains. This has caused the oceans to dry up and once bustling civilizations to abandoned their homes in search for somewhere that is stil livable. This is where you are introduced to the main character (I just realised we never know their name...), who is strolling through the remains of an ocean passing by ship wreckages and the few living creatures left. They reach a gingantic rock structure and look up to see it goes higher than the eye can see, they take a breath and then begin to climb. This is when we take control.

The game story is quite a depressing theme but it never feels like that when playing. A mixture of the beautiful art style of the game with its colourful palate and pretty textures as well as the chilled yet adventurous music provides the idea of more you are here to discover than here to morn. This theme is also combined with its story telling. The game does not provide any character dialogue with them only making sounds or gestures throughout the game, instead it relies on environmental surrounds, discoverable letters and absolutely stunning cutscenes to explain the ongoing story and the history of what happened. I wont go into much more details about the story itself as I went completely blind and got lost in it so I recommend you do the same. One thing I will say is you don't do this journey alone, you have a small adorable companion to accompany you during your climb. He provides a fun comfort as he swishes from side to side as you jump to your next hold or you can even pet him while relaxing at a more open ground area. He obviously is a big part of the story but you know nothing of his name or background which means you form you own bond with him. I ended up calling him bluey.

The gameplay itself is surprisingly interesting including all what you do in this game is climb and explore. You attach yourself to the wall with a climbing rope and then use both analog sticks to move the characters hands then the bumpers to hold onto the rock, you have to keep your finger pressed on the bumper until you want to release it. This is the basic bread and butter of the gameplay and while you learn one or two new moves the majority of the movements are the same throughout the game. As you climb you have to attach your rope to different sections of the rock to avoid falling from a large height, this does add a surprising puzzle twist to the game though as you only have a limited amount of rope and only 3 clips to attach it per reset (a reset is when you reach a part where you can stand or find a new main rope attachment which is almost like a checkpoint). This means that as you climb you have to be tactical of where you want to add a clip otherwise you will run out of rope and have to travel back to detach it. This only happened to me once during the entire game but it did make me think about it. You also have a BOTW style stamina bar as well, I am not sure if you can actually die in this game as I never fell from a great height but I don't think its possible due to the style of game it is.

Jusant was developed by Dont Nod which are one of the most on and off developers in the industry, when they miss they miss bad but when they hit it is always an incredible, powerful game. You just have to look at the incredible Life Is Strange series and then compare that to Vampyre.... yeah it'S all over the place. This time though for me it hit right where Dont Nod gets you best, the heart. It is strange how I really cared for the character and their journey without them saying a word, or how I was desperate to find out the story of one of the npc's who you only know from their diary entries that you find. It took my breath away when I entered new areas that where almost out of a fairytail and how a strong bond between the character and the companion was shown just through their body language and actions towards each other. The world felt alive and hurting yet you don't see a single character, only what is left of the villages on this gigantic rock. You could tell that the story of your character, companion and the world started way before you took control of it but you are there to witness the end and what a magnificent ending it is.

The game is only 6 hours long so if you want a nice sunday game then

 play this.