The world of Jusant is beautiful. The dry deserts surrounding the tower you are climbing look amazing and the shipwrecks littering your surroundings add a layer of intrigue to the world. The tower itself is magnificent and gives off the sense that this was a real lived-in place that is now abandoned. It is perhaps one of my favorite worlds I have experienced in a game. I loved just exploring this world and piecing together why this place has become abandoned. That brings me to my first minor complaint which is the use of letters and notes to tell the story of this world. While they are of course completely optional to read (I honestly skipped over most of them), the story behind this world is so cool that I wish there was a more engaging way to convey the lore. Beyond that though, the way that the world is built it is pretty easy to get at least a basic idea of the story and it is actually super fun just trying to piece together what has happened purely based off of your surroundings.
The mechanics of Jusant are simple. You can climb and use your rope to swing to places. It is not the most exciting mechanic, but it is done very well and climbing in this game feels great. The fact that it is impossible to actually fall to your death in this game I think is great. Falling to your last placed Piton and having to climb back up is almost a more exciting motivation to not fall than I think simply dying and reloading a save would be. While the climbing is for the most part great, I do feel that a greater challenge might have suited me more, although that might ruin the flow of the game. There are some tricky sections but it is for the most part relatively easy to climb through the chapters. The most difficult part of climbing is determining where you must go next and what the best way up is, which is almost like a puzzle.
That being said, I think this is a wonderful game and one of the best I have played recently. The environments are so damn beautiful and the mystery of the world is enough to make you want to continue your climb. I think the game could have benefited from some more engaging storytelling and an increased difficulty, but that may be a matter of personal preference. The ending of this game is also quite beautiful and hit me harder than I expected anything in this game would. It's a beautiful little game that I really loved and I finished it sad that it was over.
Also, I love your little creature friend. The game is worth playing just for that.
The mechanics of Jusant are simple. You can climb and use your rope to swing to places. It is not the most exciting mechanic, but it is done very well and climbing in this game feels great. The fact that it is impossible to actually fall to your death in this game I think is great. Falling to your last placed Piton and having to climb back up is almost a more exciting motivation to not fall than I think simply dying and reloading a save would be. While the climbing is for the most part great, I do feel that a greater challenge might have suited me more, although that might ruin the flow of the game. There are some tricky sections but it is for the most part relatively easy to climb through the chapters. The most difficult part of climbing is determining where you must go next and what the best way up is, which is almost like a puzzle.
That being said, I think this is a wonderful game and one of the best I have played recently. The environments are so damn beautiful and the mystery of the world is enough to make you want to continue your climb. I think the game could have benefited from some more engaging storytelling and an increased difficulty, but that may be a matter of personal preference. The ending of this game is also quite beautiful and hit me harder than I expected anything in this game would. It's a beautiful little game that I really loved and I finished it sad that it was over.
Also, I love your little creature friend. The game is worth playing just for that.