Jusant Review: There’s Much More to the Straight Path

While the high-budget and long-awaited adventure game Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden was released, the developers from the French studio Don’t Nod decided to postpone it until the beginning of next year, while Jusant was being created in parallel. on the last day of October. And although it’s a small game at first glance, it has a lot to offer. And even beyond rock climbing, which is a functional means to gain a deeper experience.

• Platform: PC, PS5, XSX (tested version) and S
• Publication date: 10/31/2023
• Developer: Don’t nod
• Genre: logic adventure game
• Czech localization: No
• Multiplayer: No
• Download data: 15 GB
• Game time: 5-8 hours
• Price: 720 CZK (Xbox)

Jusant is an old French expression for low tide. The game greets you with these words. Over the next five, if you take your time, the game will introduce you to its true essence in the plot over the course of eight to nine hours. It includes several meanings that you will begin to understand already in the lowest locations of the so-called Tower.

You will soon find out that the Tower was abandoned for a reason. Its inhabitants were struck by a disaster in the form of drought. You will learn about how the local community struggled with it, as well as how it affected specific people, through the reports and diary entries that you encounter as you try to conquer the Tower and get to the top. But don’t worry, the game will reveal all its secrets from the very beginning. Instead, clues about why and how everything happened and whether there is an opportunity to turn the tide are skillfully layered on top.

Despite the minimalist presentation, I developed relationships with the characters whose footsteps I followed as the protagonist. Everything is facilitated by the environment, which tells its own stories. Not to mention sound, which the authors also use as a storytelling device. Through the found shells you can literally hear echoes of the past. I perceive all this as a kind of mirror for the players in front of the screen. Of course, this is not a literal quotation of the real world, because fantastic elements permeate Zhusan, but there is certainly a certain parallel with the state of planet Earth.

One of the things that the writers pointed out long before release was the fact that the game doesn’t take you anywhere. And indeed it is. I got closer to the higher stated values ​​in my playtime, but I didn’t strive to collect all the collectibles and open every nook and cranny. Rather, I really liked the specific places, the atmosphere, the music… And all this despite the fact that even from the beautifully stylized graphics you can tell that the game is more of a by-product of the studio.

I also liked the central climbing mechanic. In fact, this is the only gameplay that Zhusant offers. But it’s challenging enough and the game isn’t so long that you get bored. Plus, as you progress through the game, you unlock new locations, and each one contains at least one original gameplay element that you’ll have to reckon with.

The climbing system perfectly combines a relaxing atmosphere and the fact that every step counts. On the one hand, this does not stress the player with the fear of falling, which, if it happens, will end up at the last installed bracket. On the other hand, this creates quite a difficulty when finding a way or working with energy, which must be constantly replenished with a short rest.

Finding the way up is something of an ecological puzzle. In most places there is only one way up, which you only need to go through so that you have enough safety rope or do not run out of the aforementioned energy. One of the minor hiccups when climbing is the legibility of the surroundings, which often caused me to miss footholds on the rock, especially in dark corners, and try to continue on a path that, of course, was impassable.

Sometimes it is more difficult to direct the jumps. I highly recommend placing a clamp in front of larger ones, almost like a quick suction cup in case of a fall. The camera is more to blame than the controls. While the character is doing exactly what you want on the rock most of the time, and the flow isn’t hampered by the fact that you’re controlling each hand with one of the triggers on the controller, it’s the camera that manages to get angry even as you walk in my own way. You may also get stuck here and there in the environment, but that’s really no big deal. Horizontal paths are important, and I associate them almost exclusively with pleasant experiences.

A certain element of the gameplay can also be considered a very interesting assistant that you carry on your shoulder and which is made entirely of water. It can revitalize the environment, making new paths available or reactivating images of a lost civilization. It can also turn on some sort of radar that will give you at least an approximate direction of travel. But small is much more important ballast for history.

Don’t Nod is a truly mature studio that has proven to be passionate about specific themes and genres, but also knows how to tackle them in a variety of ways, a little differently each time. Once again – like Life Is Strange or Tell Me Why – it borrows from pressing social and environmental issues and once again relies on powerful storytelling. Although he works much more with the environment and texts, he leaves out scenery and dialogue. It builds on the atmosphere of games like Shadow of the Collosus or Sable, and combines their mystery with sufficient accuracy. All this is complemented by complex climbing mechanics, which are the perfect way to get answers to all the questions that arise along the way.