Actually a climbing game, and a good one
Jusant is more of a meditative game than anything else. Yes, there are perils, and there’s a story, but it’s all set up to make us self reflect. It’s set up so that we’re not going to die; there’s no combat… it’s just get to the top, albeit with environmental storytelling.
We’re climbing a mountainous region, but clearly something has happened here in the distant past. We need to keep climbing to find out what happened, with the story told via objects we see, notes we find, or (oddly) shells we come across that we can put up to our ear for memories of the past.
The game has real mechanics and they’re solid, and I find that the climbing is very, very satisfying. Each trigger controls a different hand, so we grab something and pull up, and then grab something else with the other hand and pull up. The stamina meter helps prevent this from turning into a race to the top, and lets us focus on the steps along the way.
Jusant is definitely designed to pace ourselves, to keep us enjoying the views and figuring out what’s happened — and what our purpose is by relation.
This review is based on a Steam code sent to SideQuesting by the publisher. All images and video courtesy Dont Nod. This video first appeared on The SideQuest Live! for November 2, 2023.
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