Jusant

One of the reasons I love playing video game is because it allows me a chance to do something that I never would have been able to do in real life. That can be as dangerous as barreling down a mountain at a hundred miles-per-hour on a snowboard, as mundane as working the control booth for a national news show or as unlikely as taking the stage as a world-famous rock star. In the new game Jusant, you’re asked to climb an impossibly tall rock tower with a minimal amount of safety equipment, something that you couldn’t pay me enough to attempt in real life. I would be too afraid that the rope or my upper-body strength would give out, sending me plummeting to the rocks and ground below. As a video game, however, I was able to overcome my completely understandable fears and fall in love with the long, tough and surprisingly meditative climb up that tower. I sure hope you’re not suffering from vertigo, because this is my review of the new game Jusant from French developer Don’t Nod.

In a world where the oceans have dried up and civilization has seemingly crumbled, a boy sets out to do the impossible – climb a massive tower to see what lies above the clouds. Equipped with little more than a rope, a few extra pitons and a small, blobby companion that is along for the ride, the unnamed hero is forced to use his wits and puzzle solving to overcome both the obstacles and the elements.

This is one of those adventure games that just throws you into the world with almost no information. What happened to the water? What’s above the clouds? What’s with your small, blobby companion? These are intriguing questions that are not immediately answered. As we climb the tower and pick up documents from the abandoned buildings, we’ll slowly piece together bits of the story and everything will start to come into focus. All this leads to an incredible conclusion that is every bit as emotional as it is satisfying.

At its core, Jusant is a game that is all about rock climbing. There are no crates to push or items to pick up, because almost everything you do in the game involves dangling thousands of feet off the ground while holding onto little more than a rock or a ledge. The game tackles this mechanic in a unique way, with the two trigger buttons representing the boy’s two arms. The idea is simple enough – you’ll hold onto a rock with one hand by holding the corresponding trigger button, while you’ll use the other arm and trigger to move to the next spot.

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What I like about this arrangement is how there’s never any guesswork involved in what you’re going to grab onto. If there’s somewhere to go that is within reach, then you’ll see our hero’s arm reach for it. If the rock or ledge is too far away, then you won’t even get the option to move, forcing you to rethink how you want to climb this tower. You’ll find that there are different ways you can tackle each part of the climb, including some paths that only a true madman would attempt.

And that brings us to the other thing I love about this game – how forgiving it is. When I heard that I was going to be climbing a massive tower full of challenging obstacles, I figured that I would spend a good chunk of my time falling to my death. Thankfully, that is not the case. In fact, I didn’t die even once. That’s because the safety rope is there to keep you safe. Once I realized that and put all my faith into that rope, I found that it opened up the game in big ways. I was suddenly free to attempt some of the crazier jumps. After all, even if I fail miserably, I could always try it again. There was no risk, only reward. This allowed me to experiment and push the mechanics to their limits, all of which is as much fun as it sounds.

Now, in case you’re concerned that all this rock climbing might get repetitive after a while. Fear not. The developers have done an excellent job adding to the formula with each new chapter. One of the ways they do that is by having you use your small, blobby companion to bring the world around you to life. For example, if your buddy sings his song, nearby vines will grow, giving you a new path up the tower. If you use the little guy around other types of plans, their peddles will bloom, giving you something to grab onto.

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In another part of the game, you’ll have to grab onto the various insects that call the tower their home and let them carry you to new locations. One of my favorite obstacles comes fairly late in the game and involves the heavy winds blowing our hero in all kinds of directions. I love the way this part of the tower is laid out, forcing you to use the heavy wind gusts to make insane jumps that would normally be impossible. Of course, by this point in the game, your rock-climbing skills should be second-nature, making the last act of this game so damn rewarding and fun.

This is one of those games I expected to like, but had no idea how hard it would hit on an emotional level. The more I explored the abandoned world and learned about the journey, the more invested I became. Even though neither our hero nor his traveling companion talk, I knew exactly what they were going through and wanted to see them succeed. In that sense, Jusant reminds me a lot of the games made by Team ICO, like Shadow of the Colossus, The Last Guardian and, of course, ICO. The charm is in the world building and the non-verbal communication. Sure, you can focus on getting up that tower as fast as possible, but poking around every nook-and-cranny of the tower is so much more rewarding.

That said, I’m not a huge fan of the way the story is told. While I understand the desire to fill in the gaps via small pieces of paper left around the tower, part of me wishes that they didn’t bother with any of that. The mystery is better than knowing, and I would have preferred all of the communication be done through the facial expressions or visual clues. Telling a story like this feels like a relic of the past, and I’m not sure it adds much in Jusant.

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Other problems include some weird camera issues in tight sections and gameplay that doesn’t always act like it should. The game may be forgiving, but it’s still frustrating when you make a giant leap and you holding the button doesn’t register. Oddly enough, my biggest complaint is probably the least important. While I love the world Don’t Nod has constructed, I am not a big fan of the look of our nameless hero. That doesn’t affect the gameplay or my enjoyment in any way, but I just don’t like his design. There’s just something about him that I can’t quite put my finger on.

Thankfully, the rest of the game is absolutely gorgeous. From the waterless world below to what lies above the clouds, every part of this tower is visually striking. The game takes the time to drop off small details that go a long way to flesh out this world, and there’s something haunting and beautiful about the long-gone civilization. The soft instrumental score and atmospheric sound effects also add a lot to the subtle presentation. Jusant is as much fun to look at as it is to play.

I can already tell that this is going to be one of those games that will really stick with me. I liked hanging out in this world, both literally and figuratively. Everything from the world building to puzzle solving to the non-violent gameplay helped to suck me in, and I wasn’t about to stop before I made it to the top. No matter if you’re an experienced rock-climber or somebody who is scared of heights, Jusant is an adventure game worth the effort.